Category: North Atlantic Treaty Organization

The Secretary General’s visit came one week after the unveiling of the United Kingdom’s Strategic Defence Review, marking a shift toward warfighting readiness and a ‘NATO first’ defence policy spurred by innovation.

The factory in Sheffield is a key catalyst for British plans to make their defence industry a driver for growth. There, the Secretary General met members of staff, including apprentices, whose specialist skills are contributing to the manufacture of nuclear-grade steel components for Royal Navy submarines.

Later, in London, Mr Rutte met Prime Minister Keir Starmer at 10 Downing Street to discuss increasing defence investment and production as well as continued support for Ukraine. Speaking at Chatham House shortly afterwards, Mr Rutte thanked the UK for “more than seven decades of continuous commitment to NATO” and outlined his priorities for the upcoming NATO Summit.

“This Summit will transform our Alliance,” Mr Rutte stated. “We will build a better NATO, one that is stronger, fairer and more lethal. So that we can continue to keep our people safe and our adversaries at bay.”

He continued with a call to action. “The fact is, we need a quantum leap in our collective defence. The fact is, we must have more forces and capabilities to implement our defence plans in full. The fact is, danger will not disappear even when the war in Ukraine ends.”

The Secretary General stressed that major new investment was needed Alliance-wide and urged a 400% increase in air and missile defence alongside the doubling of NATO’s enabling capabilities including logistics, supply, transportation, and medical support. “We all benefit from the protection our transatlantic Alliance provides and it is vital that every member of NATO pulls their weight” he added.

To streamline the growing number of applications for Multi-Year Projects (MYPs), the SPS Programme has introduced a new two-phase application process applicable to the recently opened call for proposals.

In phase one, applicants are invited to submit a short-form proposal, which will be evaluated by the SPS Office and the Independent Scientific Evaluation Group (ISEG). Only applicants whose proposals have been recommended for further development by the ISEG will be invited to participate in phase two of the application process by submitting a full proposal for second evaluation. Once submitted, phase two proposals will be evaluated and those recommended for award by the ISEG will be shared with Allies for final approval.

The application process for Events has not changed.

The simplified proposal in phase one will allow applicants to present their innovative ideas with fewer administrative requirements during the initial step, while those invited to participate in phase two will benefit from increased engagement with the SPS Programme during the further development of their research proposal. The new two-phase application process for MYPs will provide more opportunities for engagement with applicants early in the process, leading to higher-quality research proposals, clear relevance to SPS priorities, and the improved likelihood of successful and applicable outcomes.
 

The decision to open the Office, which will be the Alliance’s first diplomatic office in the Middle East, was announced in July 2024 at the NATO Summit in Washington D.C. It builds on three decades of deep-rooted bilateral relations between NATO and Jordan, and on the recent decisions taken by Allied leaders to strengthen NATO’s approach towards the southern neighbourhood. This includes increasing presence and visibility in the region in the framework of the Southern Neighbourhood Action Plan.

The NATO Liaison Office will bring NATO and Jordan even closer together, enhancing political dialogue, practical cooperation and shared understanding of the regional context. It will also contribute to the development and implementation of partnership programmes and activities, particularly in support of Jordan’s Defence Capacity Building (DCB) Initiative, among other projects.

The signature of the agreement will be followed by the upcoming opening of the NLO in Amman. This builds on a year of significant accomplishments in the NATO-Jordan partnership, including Special Representative Colomina’s visit to Amman last November, and last week’s visit of the Partnerships and Cooperative Security Committee to Jordan.

In a session titled “Transatlantic Defence: Who Pays? Who Acts?,” moderated by Claudia Major, Senior Vice President of the GMF, the Deputy Secretary General emphasised that European and US defence efforts must remain transatlantic and complementary. In addition, Ms Shekerinska highlighted that European Allies and Canada are “taking more responsibility and this will make the Alliance a more formidable military partnership.”

She outlined that the upcoming Summit in the Hague will create the grounds for a stronger, better, fairer and even more lethal NATO.

The Brussels Forum is an annual event organised by the German Marshall Fund (GMF) of the United States. The Deputy Secretary General participated in an on-stage conversation with other panellists, including  Andrius Kubilius, Commissioner for Defence and Space at the European Commission, Maria Malmer Stenergard, Swedish Minister for Foreign Affairs and Nadia Calviño, President of the European Investment Bank.
 

For the first time as Chair of COMEDS, Brigadier General Petter Iversen (Norway) welcomed participants, underscoring the importance of this meeting as a turning point for the medical community: “Over the past months, we have elevated the profile of the medical support domain across the Alliance. Now we must demonstrate that COMEDS is not only visible, but also influential and impactful.”

In his keynote address, Major General Luc Vanbockryck, Director of the NATO International Military Staff’s Logistics & Resources Division, echoed this call for transformation, highlighting that: “Civilian plans for energy, transport, communications, and medical support must connect seamlessly to our regional defence plans, so that a shock to one sector does not paralyse the rest. Logistics and medicine share one purpose: safeguarding people so that strategy can succeed.”

A core focus of the 63rd Plenary was the implementation of the NATO Medical Action Plan (MAP), with a special session dedicated to COMEDS restructure, in order to best align the Committee with the scope of the MAP and COMEDS’ core mission.

Additionally, like previous plenary’s, a session was dedicated to Ukraine, where views, lessons identified and best practices on military medical capabilities were exchanged.

COMEDS remains NATO’s highest military medical authority, providing strategic advice to the Military Committee and helping ensure the Alliance is medically prepared for today’s threats and tomorrow’s challenges. The 63rd Plenary reaffirmed COMEDS’ role as a driver of readiness and a critical enabler of NATO’s collective defence posture.

Piers Cazalet, Director for Defence and Security Cooperation at NATO Headquarters in Brussels participated, together with high-level representatives of Bosnia and Herzegovina and of the International Community, including Zukan Helez, Minister of Defence of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Borut Sajovic, Minister of Defence of Slovenia, Brigadier General Matthew Valas, Commander of NATO Headquarters Sarajevo, and Ambassador Vladimir Vucinic, Head of the NATO Political Engagement Support Cell.

“Today, we take stock of an important milestone in NATO’s cooperation with Bosnia and Herzegovina,” Mr. Cazalet said. “Slovenia’s steadfast leadership has been key to complete this programme. Slovenia is the first NATO Ally that stepped up its support to Bosnia and Herzegovina, when the NATO Defence Capacity Building Package of assistance was agreed; thanks to Slovenia, the Armed Force of Bosnia and Herzegovina are now better equipped and trained to conduct military police tasks, to cooperate with civilian authorities in the event of emergencies, and to be interoperable with NATO in operations and missions; this is a win-win for all,” he added.

In February 2023, Allied Defence Ministers endorsed a new Defence Capacity Building package for Bosnia and Herzegovina. This assistance package will strengthen the country’s defence and security capabilities, including in areas such as crisis management, cyber defence, aero-medical evacuation and countering terrorism.

The NATO Science and Technology (S&T) Strategy stresses the importance of science and technology “to enable the Alliance to outperform strategic competitors and potential adversaries in inserting scientific knowledge and adopting emerging technologies across all NATO core tasks”. It further emphasises the role that defence and security-related science and technology plays in the development of capabilities and enhancement of military interoperability, as well as in the further reinforcement of societal, political and industrial resilience.

The Strategy sets three mutually-reinforcing strategic goals for the NATO S&T Enterprise:

• To “Anticipate and Invest”: notably through enhanced foresight and increasing investment in critical S&T areas, such as AI, quantum and biotechnologies, and support for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education.
• To “Safeguard and Protect” the NATO S&T Enterprise against hybrid threats such as interference.
• To “Orchestrate and Energize” S&T, including by  promoting “denser, deeper and more agile coordination” and  exploiting S&T results across all NATO core tasks.

The new Strategy supersedes the NATO S&T Strategy released in 2018. It supports NATO’s 2022 Strategic Concept and takes accounts of the science & technology macro trends that the Science and Technology Organization (STO) has identified as important for the Alliance for the next 20 years, and outlined in its 2025-2045 report (hyperlink).

The Strategy is available here.

The Military Committee was welcomed by the Chief of Defence General Steve Thull, and received briefings on Luxembourg’s contributions to NATO operations, missions, and activities, most notably Luxembourg’s significant contributions in cyber and space capabilities.

Following this, the Military Committee visited SES, a global leader in satellite-based content connectivity, which included a briefing on GovSat, a public-private partnership between the Government of Luxembourg and SES. GovSat provides secure and reliable governmental satellite communication services to Allied nations and NATO. The visit highlighted the importance of strengthening strategic partnerships in satellite communications, cyber security, and resilient connectivity.

On the second day, Admiral Cavo Dragone met with Minister of Defence of Luxembourg, Yuriko Backes, to discuss the global security environment, focusing in particular on Luxembourg’s contributions to NATO. Their meeting also addressed the outcomes of the recent Meeting of NATO Ministers of Defence and Luxembourg’s approach to implementing its capability targets.

The visit concluded at the NSPA, where the Military Committee was briefed on how the NSPA links industry and nations’ requirements to find the most efficient, effective and responsive solutions for the Alliance, its nations and partners. This included a briefing on the NSPA’s strategic initiatives in supporting Ukraine. Admiral Cavo Dragone emphasised that NATO’s strength lies in its unity, and that “more defence investment should always lead to more security’. He underscored the importance of a collective approach to planning and praised the NSPA for its close involvement in these efforts.