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Source: NATO
On Tuesday, 25 June 2024, the NATO Secretary General, Mr Jens Stoltenberg, will receive the Minister of Foreign Affairs of North Macedonia, Mr Timčo Mucunski, at NATO Headquarters, in Brussels.
There will be no media opportunity.
Media coverage
Pictures from the meeting will be available on the NATO website.
For more information:
Contact the NATO Press Office
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Source: NATO
On 20 June 2024, the North Atlantic Council approved the nomination of Admiral Pierre Vandier, French Navy, to the post of Supreme Allied Commander Transformation.
Admiral Pierre Vandier is currently serving as the Vice Chief of Defence. Admiral Vandier will succeed General Philippe Lavigne, French Air and Space Force, at a change of command ceremony at the Headquarters of Supreme Allied Command Transformation in Norfolk, Virginia in September 2024.
On behalf of all Allied governments, the North Atlantic Council expressed deep and lasting gratitude for the distinguished service rendered by General Lavigne as the Supreme Allied Commander Transformation.
Source: NATO
NATO and Moldova continue their dialogue and cooperation to strengthen resilience in the energy sector, against cyber and hybrid threats. Experts from Moldova and NATO met in Chisinau to take stock of current efforts, on Friday (21 June 2024).
“We need to meet, engage and raise awareness about the energy sector resilience and the risks it faces. Moldova is open to all support by international partners, who can assist us with capacity building in this area,” said Cristina Pereteatcu, State Secretary within the Ministry of Energy. Samu Paukkunen, Head of the Climate and Energy Security Section in NATO’s Innovation, Hybrid and Cyber Division, said: “The NATO Resilience Advisory Support Team’s Report of 2023 and the Table Top Exercise in 2024 provide strong foundations for continued dialogue and practical support to enhance energy resilience in Moldova. These efforts will help Moldova be ready to face the risks and challenges of today and prepared for emerging security challenges of tomorrow.”
Today’s event built upon previous important initiatives within the framework of NATO’s enhanced Defence Capacity Building Package for the Republic of Moldova, including the first joint NATO-Moldovan exercise on energy and cyber security held in in Chisinau from 12 to 14 March 2024.
Source: NATO
On Friday (21 June 2024), NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg wrapped up his trip to the United States and Canada, in preparation for the upcoming Summit in Washington D.C. in July.
During his visit, Mr Stoltenberg unveiled new defence expenditure figures across the Alliance, highlighting the biggest increase in defence spending across European Allies and Canada for decades – up 18 percent this year. He further announced that 23 Allies will invest at least 2 percent of GDP in defence this year.
On Thursday, Mr Stoltenberg met with U.S. National Security Advisor, Jake Sullivan. Their discussion focused on strengthening Allied resilience, further boosting transatlantic defence industry and supporting Ukraine for the long term. He also met with Congressman Mike Turner and Congressman Gerry Connolly.
On Wednesday in Ottawa, Mr Stoltenberg thanked Canada for its many contributions to NATO, and stressed the importance of Allies spending at least 2% of GDP on defence. He met with Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly, and delivered a speech at an event hosted by the NATO Association of Canada and the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association.
On Tuesday, at a joint press conference with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington D.C., Mr Stoltenberg welcomed an historic improvement in burden sharing within NATO. He outlined that since 2014, Europe and Canada “have added over 640 billion extra in defence spending.” The Secretary General also met with members of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, including Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell and members of the Senate NATO Observer Group.
On Monday, Mr Stoltenberg met with U.S. President Joe Biden at the White House where he announced the new defence spending figures and outlined priorities for the upcoming Summit, including urgent support to Ukraine. He also delivered a speech at the Wilson Center, emphasising that keeping Europe safe and NATO strong is in the vital national interest of the United States.
Source: NATO
On Monday, 24 June, the NATO Secretary General, Mr Jens Stoltenberg, will travel to France.
The Secretary General will meet with the President of France, Mr Emmanuel Macron, in Paris.
Media advisory
17:00 (CEST) Statements to the press by the NATO Secretary General and the President of France.
Media coverage
The Secretary General’s press statements will be streamed live on the NATO website, and broadcast live on EBU News Exchange.
Transcripts of the Secretary General’s press statements, as well as photographs and video, will be available on the NATO website.
For more information:
Contact the NATO Press Office
Follow us on X (@NATO, @jensstoltenberg and @NATOPress).
Source: NATO
On 20 June 2024, the Chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, attended the first Senior Executive Seminar (SES) at the NATO Defence College in Rome, where he delivered a keynote speech on “NATO at 75 and the Changing Security Landscape.” The SES focused on pressing military and security challenges directly influencing political decision-making in NATO. Panel discussions included Russia’s war on Ukraine, NATO deterrence and defence strategy and the Euro-Atlantic industrial capacity. The seminar is designed for senior advisors to Heads of State and Government in Allied nations and was opened by NATO Deputy Secretary General Mr Mircea Geoană.
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.
Source: NATO
Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited Ottawa on Wednesday (19 June 2024) to meet with Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and discuss final preparations for the Washington Summit in July.
The Secretary General delivered a speech at an event hosted by the NATO Association of Canada and the Canadian NATO Parliamentary Association. He praised Canada for its role in strengthening NATO’s deterrence and defence, including in Latvia, where Canadian troops lead a multinational battlegroup. He also paid tribute to the Canadian armed forces for their commitment, skill, and professionalism and welcomed Canada’s indispensable support in the face of Russia’s aggression, noting Canada has provided “billions of dollars in aid to Ukraine including air defence systems, battle tanks, and F-16 pilot training.” He underscored that strong support to Ukraine will be “the most urgent” priority for the Washington Summit.
Mr Stoltenberg welcomed that Canada is increasing defence spending, “and will add billions over the coming years, including by purchasing high end new capabilities, modernising NORAD, and by investing in fifth generation F35 aircraft.” He added: “I continue to expect that all Allies SHOULD meet the guidelines of spending two percent. I know that this is not always easy … but when we reduce defence spending when tensions are going down, we must be able to increase spending, investments in our security, when tensions are increasing and are high as they are today.”
Canada has long prioritised global partnerships and the Secretary General highlighted these as another priority for the Alliance ahead of its 75th anniversary Summit. “The war in Ukraine demonstrates that our security is not regional, our security is global,” he emphasised, adding that “the growing alignment between Russia and its authoritarian friends in Asia makes it even more important that we work closely with our friends in the Indo-Pacific.”
At the event, the Secretary General was presented with the Louis St. Laurent Award for his “outstanding service to peace and security”. The honour is named for Canadian Prime Minister Louis St. Laurent, who was premier at the time of NATO’s founding in 1949, and a strong proponent of the Alliance.
Source: NATO
On 15 May 2024, the International Board of Auditors for NATO (IBAN) held a meeting with representatives of the Supreme Audit Institutions of NATO member countries to discuss the IBAN 2023 Annual Activity Report (AAR). The meeting also covered ways to strengthen cooperation between the Supreme Audit Institutions and IBAN, as well as other audit-specific topics such as audit methodology and the audit of international organisations.
Each spring, IBAN issues its AAR, detailing its audit work, achievement of key performance indicators, and the use of its human and financial resources from the previous year. Before sending the report to the North Atlantic Council (NAC), IBAN meets with representatives of the Supreme Audit Institutions (SAIs) of NATO member countries to discuss their comments on the AAR and other audit-related topics. The SAI representatives are traditionally referred to as the Competent National Audit Bodies (CNABs), and the annual meeting is known as the CNAB meeting. The AAR, along with the comments from the CNABs, is then issued to the NAC and the Resource Policy and Planning Board (RPPB). Once the NAC notes and approves the AAR for public disclosure, it will be published on NATO’s website.
This year, the CNAB meeting took place at NATO Headquarters on 15 May 2024. Those attending included representatives from 26 SAIs of the 32 NATO member countries, namely Albania, Belgium, Canada, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, North Macedonia, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Türkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States.
In addition to discussing the IBAN 2023 AAR, the IBAN explored ways to strengthen cooperation with the SAIs. This included the potential increased use of Voluntary National Contributions, professional training missions, and possible cooperation with SAIs on audits of the NATO Security Investment Programme.
Furthermore, three presentations elaborated on the following topics:
The SAIs representatives acknowledged the productive discussions and noted the IBAN’s efforts to enhance international cooperation opportunities with their national audit institutions.
Source: NATO
Representatives of the NATO Defence and Security Cooperation Directorate met recently with officials from Azerbaijan’s National Defence University in Baku to take stock of the reform efforts undertaken by the country’s military education institutions within the framework of NATO’s Defence Education Enhancement Programme (DEEP).
At the meeting, which took place on 29 and 30 May 2024, Major General Arif Hasanov, Deputy Director of the National Defence University (NDU) and Rector of the Military Research Institute, briefed his NATO counterparts on the progress made to date, including the use of new technology for an e-library which is supporting all defence education institutions. At the request of Azerbaijan’s Ministry of Defence, NATO and Azerbaijan will prioritise their cooperation on faculty development, academic exchange programmes, sharing of best practices, reforms of the defence and security sectors, and the development of the corps of Non-Commissioned Officers.
Major General Hasanov expressed his gratitude for NATO’s continued support for the modernisation and professionalisation of Azerbaijan’s Armed Forces’ education system.
Source: NATO
US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken
Good morning, everyone.
In just a few weeks time, we’ll gather here in Washington for NATO’s 75th summit, celebrating 75 years of strength, of unity, of growth, of innovation in our Alliance, but also critically looking forward to make sure that NATO is fit for purpose for the challenges of today and the challenges tomorrow.
Making sure that this Alliance continues to do what it’s done so effectively for the last 75 years. And that’s protect our people. And I think it’s an opportunity as well, to remind all of our citizens about the power of collective defence, the power of collective defence as the best way to prevent conflict, to deter aggression, to avoid war. Because at the heart of NATO is a commitment from each Ally, to come to the defence of any other Ally, that may be the victim of aggression, and that means that it would be aggressor.
Considering taking action knows that, if they pick a fight with one, they pick a fight with all. And that is the most effective, powerful way to do what we all want to do, which is to prevent war from occurring in the first place. So these investments that we’re making, in our defensive Alliances are the best possible investments we can make, in preventing conflict, avoiding conflict, deterring aggression. Secretary General and I were together in Prague with all of our Allies just a couple of weeks ago, working through the key decisions ahead of the July Summit, and of course, critically, Secretary General was here with President Biden yesterday, working to help finalize these details and very important ones, we continue that conversation today.
We have very ambitious commitments that we’re making as an Alliance going forward. We’re demonstrating our enduring support for Ukraine and providing a strong bridge to Ukraine’s membership and the Alliance. We’re establishing a NATO command in Wiesbaden, coordinating training, security assistance equipment, its transfer, its repair its maintenance, for strengthening our collective deterrence and defence.
We’re implementing the robust plans that Allies agree to the most robust plans for defence and deterrence since the end of the Cold War, meeting the long term challenge that Russia poses to the Transatlantic Alliance and security. We’re growing our defence industrial bases to make sure that all of our countries can effectively produce what’s needed for our defence. And critically, and you heard, President Biden and Secretary General addressed this yesterday. We are boosting our burden sharing making sure that every Ally is standing up and carrying the weight of our collective defence as the Secretary General announced yesterday.
23 Allies, 23 Allies out of the 32 now meet the 2% target the target of spending 2% of GDP on defence, a target established in 2014 at the Wales Summit, when President Biden took office in 2021. Nine Allies were meeting that mark, now it is 23. And we’ve also seen as the Secretary General said yesterday, an 18% increase in defence spending across the Alliance. That’s the largest in a decade, and it is necessary to meet the challenges of this time.
We’re also making sure that our Alliances strengthening partnerships with other countries, including countries out of the transatlantic area, particularly deepening coordination, deepening cooperation with partners in the Indo Pacific who were present at the at the summit, as well as within the transatlantic community with the European Union, a critical partner for all of us. The Alliance recognizes that security challenges, in one part of the world, impact another and vice versa.
So what’s happening in the transatlantic space has real consequences and implications for the Indo Pacific and other areas, just as what’s happening in the Indo Pacific space has real implications for our Allies. And there’s a recognition of that, and that recognition is turning into concrete and strong partnerships. Prime Minister Kishida may have said this best in the context of Ukraine when he said what’s happening in Ukraine today, may well be happening in East Asia tomorrow. We’re also adapting and building resilience to emerging threats and this is also something that you’ll see underscored at the summit.
Cyber hybrid attacks and threats, as well as other challenges to security that we’ve seen manifests themselves in different ways in recent years, including things like pandemics NATO has to be fit for purpose to deal with all of these.
Two other points I want to make quickly before turning it over to the Secretary General. I mentioned already that the summit will focus on bolstering Ukraine’s long term success. From day one, as the battlefield has evolved, so too as our support for Ukraine. Partners, the Alliance the United States, have all adapted and help Ukraine deal with what it had to deal with in terms of warding off this Russian aggression. Now, thanks to the supplemental, which passed Congress after many months, but it did pass and it passed with overwhelming bipartisan support.
We’ve now been working these recent weeks to speed all of that assistance to the front lines to make sure that Ukrainians have what they needed in hand to deal with the ongoing Russian aggression. And we’ve seen I think that the very effective in terms of stabilizing the front lines and making sure that the Russians could be stopped in their offensive so they can get the big prints of course as we settle on what makes the biggest difference is the extraordinary courage and resilience of Ukrainians themselves, both in dealing with the challenges in Kharkiv and in the east, but also taking the fight as necessary to Russia and Crimea, as well as in the Black Sea.
The bilateral assistance agreement that the United States signed just a few days ago, President Biden and President Zelenskyy, that marks now the I think 17 bilateral security agreement has been signed since President Biden announced this initiative on the margins of the G7 a year ago. And by the time of the summit, we expect that the NATO Summit, we expect that some 20 countries, and maybe more will have concluded their bilateral security agreements with Ukraine. This is proof, clear proof, that all of our countries are with Ukraine for the long haul. And that if Mr. Putin is counting on outlasting Ukraine, for outlasting any of us, he is misguided. He’s wrong. And again, I think you’ll see the summit, further emphasis on that.
We’re also as necessary, imposing new sanctions on Russia to keep the pressure off so that the aggression ultimately ends. And among other things, we’re looking at countries that are supporting Russia’s defence industrial base, which is allowing Russia to continue the war, including China’s. President Biden’s make clear. We have a real concern not with not with weapons being supplied by China. To Russia. That’s not what they’re doing. But they are doing, as you’ve heard me, discussed many times, is providing critical support to Russia’s defence industrial base. So 70% of the machine tools that Russia is importing are coming from China. 90% of the microelectronics coming from China and that has enabled Russia to keep that defence industrial base going, to keep the war machine going to keep the war going. So that has to stop.
We, as well are doing everything we can to provide the necessary support to Ukraine beyond the supplemental. You saw partners come together across the G7 and beyond to be able to use effectively some of the Russian sovereign assets that are primarily in Europe, and that now are being leveraged to provide some $50 billion to Ukraine in additional assistance, and we’ll continue to look at that. We had a very effective recovery conference just a few days ago as well, looking at other forms of injury support for Ukraine, including in the energy sector. The bottom line is this.
The Ukraine strategy that we’ve had, and that we’ve been acting on, individually and collectively now for nearly two and a half years, is showing effective results, effective results in making sure that Ukraine can ward off Russian aggression. And it’s done that remarkably, keep in mind Putin objective from day one was to erase Ukraine from the map, to his existence as an independent country, to subsume it into Russia. That has failed. But going forward, we want to make sure that Ukraine is a success that it stands strongly on its own feet, militarily, economically, democratically. And that’s exactly what we’re enabling Ukraine to do. And that is the mark of success going forward.
Again, decisions that will be made at the summit will further that effort, and more to be said in a few weeks time. Finally, heading into the 75th Summit. We have an alliance that is stronger that is bigger, that is more fit for purpose than at any time in recent years. That’s thanks to the effort that every Ally has made the commitments that every Ally has made. But it’s also fundamentally thanks to the leadership of one individual, and that is the person standing beside me. The Secretary General of NATO for this past decade, Jens Stoltenberg. Jens, you have led the Alliance at a time of historic change, historic challenge, and the results are there for everyone to see. This would not have happened without your leadership. And it’s truly been extraordinary.
Now, some of you know that Secretary General is particularly fond of numbers wise to recite them. I understand that you even told one interviewer that if you could bring just one book to a desert island, it would be a book on statistics.
I have things I could say about that, that I won’t. But let’s just remind a few numbers of usage statistics because they do show what’s happened over this remarkable decade with the Secretary General’s leadership. Four new Allies in our lives North Macedonia, Montenegro, Finland, Sweden. Multinational battle groups in eight countries, enhancing NATO’s for defence posture. 75% of the citizens in allied nations say that NATO is important to their security. These numbers speak powerfully for themselves.
At every step, Secretary General has set the tone. He’s built consensus among the 32 countries. His vision, his achievements, will pay dividends for this Alliance far into the future. So, Jens’ contributions ultimately can’t be fully quantified. But neither can the gratitude of the United States and all of our Allies to you, Mr. Secretary. Thank you.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg
Secretary Blinken,
Dear Tony, thank you for your kind words and thank you for your support throughout these years in different ways.
Thank you also for your very strong commitment to NATO and to our transatlantic Alliance. And also thank you for your tireless efforts to end the suffering in the Middle East.
NATO was founded in Washington 75 years ago. Since then, the Alliance has been the ultimate security guarantee for all our members.
Standing together, we prevent war and preserve peace.
In NATO, the U.S. has 31 friends and Allies. Together, Allies represent half of the world’s economic and half of the world’s military might.
Advancing U.S. interests and multiplying America’s power,
NATO makes America stronger. Yesterday, as you mentioned Secretary Blinken with President Biden, I announced that NATO Allies are making major increases in defence spending.
This year, defence spending across Europe and Canada is up 18 percent, the biggest increase in decades.
23 Allies will meet the target of spending at least 2 percent of GDP on defence. This is more than twice as many as just four years ago.
Since 2014, Europe and Canada have added over 640 billion extra in defence spending.
This demonstrates a historic improvement in burden sharing within NATO.
It shows that the United States does not need to shoulder the burden alone.
And that the U.S. has a strong Alliance in which Allies are stepping up, year after year.
And much of this increased defence spending is spent right here in the United States.
Over the past two years, European Allies have signed contracts with American companies worth $140 billion.
Since 2014, NATO has undergone the most significant transformation in our collective defence in a generation.
We have put in place the most comprehensive defence plans since the Cold War.
We have 500,000 troops at high readiness, and we have doubled the number of battle groups in the eastern part of the Alliance.
And with Sweden and Finland as members, we are stronger than ever.
Russia’s war on Ukraine is a brutal assault on a peaceful democratic nation.
This war is propped up by China, North Korea and Iran.
They want to see the United States fail. They want to see NATO fail.
If they succeed in Ukraine, it will make us more vulnerable and the world more dangerous.
So our support for Ukraine is not charity. It is in our own security interest.
We all want this war to end. But a Russian occupation of Ukraine offers no peace, And capitulation to Putin offers no security.
The stronger our support, The sooner the war will end.
Which is why I welcome the 10-year bilateral security agreement between the United States and Ukraine.
Europe is also doing its part, matching U.S. efforts in Ukraine.
And at the NATO Summit this July, here in Washington, I expect European allies and Canada to come forward with more financial and military support.
And that leaders will agree that NATO takes the lead in coordinating the security assistance and training for Ukraine.
All of this will reduce the burden on the United States.
Secretary Blinken, I thank you and the US for hosting the Summit, which we all are looking forward to attend.
At the Summit we will celebrate the 75th anniversary of the most successful Alliance in history, but also make important decisions for the future.
Thank you.