Category: North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Why is NATO important for the United States?
Are we in a more dangerous nuclear situation than we were during the Cold War?
What is the credible path back to peace in Europe?
What was the significance of serving as the first woman and only second American Deputy Secretary General of NATO?

In this episode, Rose Gottemoeller reflects on her time as NATO Deputy Secretary General during a pivotal time for the Alliance. She discusses her previous experience working on arms control policy in the US State Department, shares her opinions about Russia’s nuclear sabre-rattling and her thoughts about the role of the United States in NATO and the strength of the transatlantic bond between Europe and North America.

The podcast is available on YouTube, and on all major podcast platforms, including:

“I expect heads of state and government will agree a substantial package for Ukraine,” said Mr Stoltenberg​. “NATO will take over the coordination and provision of most international security assistance,” with a command led by a three-star general and several hundred personnel working ​at at NATO headquarters in Germany and at logistical nodes in the eastern part of the Alliance, he said. He added that Allies will agree a financial pledge for Ukraine, and that he also expects more immediate military support to Ukraine; more bilateral security agreements; and work on deepened military interoperability. The Secretary General said that all of these elements “constitute a bridge to NATO membership and a very strong package for Ukraine at the Summit,” adding: “Ukraine is moving closer to NATO”.

“Deterrence and defence will be another important topic for our Summit,” Mr Stoltenberg said, saying that NATO has been fundamentally transformed over the past decade, including with  500,000 troops on high readiness, improved capabilities, combat-ready battlegroups and the accession of new members. At the Summit, Allies are due to endorse a pledge to strengthen transatlantic defence industrial cooperation, to boost production. He added that NATO will further enhance ballistic missile defences with a new Aegis Ashore base in Poland. He welcomed that 23 Allies are now spending at least 2% of their GDP on defence.

Global partnerships will be the third topic for the Summit. The Secretary General has invited the leaders of Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea to the Summit to further deepen cooperation, including on support to Ukraine, cyber and new technologies. “The closer that authoritarian actors align, the more important it is that we work closely with our friends in the Indo-Pacific,” he said.

A majority of Allied respondents continue to agree that their country should defend an Ally if attacked (63 per cent), and 70 per cent would vote for their country to remain a NATO member in a referendum.

Support for maintaining or increasing defence spending stands at 76 per cent. Support for increased defence spending continues to rise, and is the most frequent spending preference response (41 per cent).

Favourability towards Russia and China remains low, with most Allied respondents holding unfavourable views of Russia (62 per cent) and China (48 per cent).
As in previous pre-summit surveys, questions were included regarding Russia’s war against Ukraine. Around two thirds of Allied respondents consider Russia’s war against Ukraine to have affected the safety and security of their country (63 per cent). There is substantial majority agreement among respondents that their country should continue to provide support to Ukraine (61 per cent).

The Transatlantic Quantum Community is Allied led but participation is voluntary. More than half of Allies are already involved, including the United States, Canada, France, Italy and Czechia and the initiative is championed by Denmark as the first national chair. The Community will bring together quantum experts from national governments, industry, academia, funding bodies, and research institutions and will help encourage Allied innovation enabling NATO protect its technological edge.

The role of quantum technologies in the security environment is growing and the Community will help NATO engage with critical issues. These include funding and technology challenges, talent development and partnership opportunities.

The Transatlantic Quantum Community’s first annual plenary is expected to take place this autumn.

 

Five new challenges have been identified in the areas of: Energy & Power; Data & Information Security; Sensing & Surveillance – which build on the first three pilot challenges -; as well as Human Health & Performance and Critical Infrastructure & Logistics. 

For all these challenges, innovators are encouraged to consider how their solutions can enhance resilience; develop the potential of space for discovery and innovation; and support environmentally friendly technologies and practices.

DIANA provides dual-use innovators with funding, accelerator programming, mentorship, testing facilities and access to investors and end-users. 

In 2023, 44 companies from 19 countries were selected to join DIANA and work on the first three pilot challenges in the areas of Energy Resilience; Sensing & surveillance; and Secure Information Sharing. Selected technologies ranged from innovative fuel cells, micro wind and hydro-turbines, to secure optical communications and drone identification technology. The startups completed the six-month accelerator’s programme on 25 June and are now preparing to compete for Phase II of DIANA’s programme, which will select most viable, promising and advanced technologies for further adaptation to defence and security needs. 

Applications for the five new challenges will close at 1200 UTC on Friday 9 August 2024, giving applicants approximately six weeks to prepare and submit their applications. Proposals will be assessed against criteria such as alignment to the challenge, novelty, feasibility, dual-use potential, and commercial viability. Further information is available on LinkedIn and on the DIANA website: diana.nato.int.

Media advisory

13:00 (CEST)  Press conference by the NATO Secretary General

Media coverage

• Media representatives who have annual accreditation to NATO for 2024 can attend the press conference in person.

• Media representatives without annual accreditation but who wish to cover the press conference should email NatoAccreditations@hq.nato.int. This Ad hoc Accreditation may not be guaranteed.

• The press conference will be streamed live on the NATO website, EBU Worldfeed, to EBU news exchange, as well as on NATO News on YouTube. A transcript of the Secretary General’s remarks, as well as pictures taken by a NATO photographer, will be available.

For more information:

Contact the NATO Press Office
Media representatives with accreditation queries must contact NATO Accreditations via NatoAccreditations@hq.nato.int.

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In his keynote speech Admiral Bauer highlighted that we face the most dangerous world in decades where a number of conflicts have global consequences. “The biggest one is Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine. Our message is clear: Moscow cannot wait us out. Our support to Ukraine is unwavering,“ Admiral Bauer said, adding that in many ways NATO is now in uncharted waters.  “But essentially, this war places NATO firmly back in its roots.  We are once again in an era of collective defence,” the Chair said. Noting the importance of the NATO Summit in Washington in July he underscored how Allies have created a shield of deterrence “that has been a foundation for peace, stability and prosperity on our soil, for 75 years.”

Reflecting on the changing security landscape Admiral Bauer said that China presents a growing challenge by building up its military capabilities without any form of transparency and providing critical components for the Russian defence industry. “China cannot have it both ways: you cannot expect to have a fruitful economic relationship with the West and at the same time fuel a war in Europe.” he said.
The Chair underlined the need to strengthen the Euro-Atlantic Defence Industry Capacity. “NATO and national military planning are integrated like never before.  In order to be successful, these plans will have to go hand in hand with much higher stocks of ammunition and spare parts, made possible by a steep increase of production capacity in our defence industries.  Which is not the case yet,” Admiral Bauer said. Following the speech he also answered questions from participants.

The Senior Executive Seminar was hosted by the NATO Defense College in collaboration with the Aspen Institute Italy. The speaker´s expertise in defence and security and active engagement by participants, fostered strategic thinking and collective understanding, contributing to the strength and resilience of NATO.

Mr. Stoltenberg commended Slovakia for being a “dedicated NATO Ally”, strengthening NATO’s collective defence by hosting one of NATO’s battlegroups and contributing to another in Latvia. He welcomed that 23 Allies, including Slovakia, invest at least 2% of their GDP in defence in 2024.

The Secretary General said that the Summit will take important decisions for the future on deterrence and defence, Ukraine and partnerships. These decisions will “ensure that we have the capabilities, the forces, the readiness to deter any aggression”, since the purpose of NATO is not to fight, but to prevent war and to preserve peace. 

Mr Stoltenberg emphasized that the support for Ukraine will also be high at the agenda of the Summit in July. “I expect Allies to agree a lead role for NATO in providing security assistance and training and also a long-term commitment” he said, adding that “the stronger our support to Ukraine is, the sooner this war can end.”

Media Advisory

12:00 (CEST)   Warm words by the Secretary General and the President of Slovakia

Media coverage

• Media representatives who are annually accredited to NATO in 2024 can cover the press event in person.

• The pool of media representatives covering the event will meet in front of the Press Shop at NATO HQ at 11:30.

• The event will be streamed live on X @NATOPress and on the NATO website, and broadcast live EBU News Exchange.  A transcript of the Secretary General’s remarks, as well as photographs, will be on the NATO website.

For more information:

For general queries: Contact the NATO Press Office

Follow us on X (@NATO, @jensstoltenberg and @NATOPress)