Jens STOLTENBERG, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is invited to the Committee on Foreign Affairs (AFET) meeting to discuss EU-NATO cooperation, the outcome of the NATO summit in Madrid and the Finland and Sweden completed accession talks at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on Monday 4 July 2022.

Brussels

exchange of views

meeting

McALLISTER, David (EPP, DE)

EU - NATO (T)

STOLTENBERG, Jens (NO)

AUŠTREVIČIUS, Petras (Renew, LT)

North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO)

BÜTIKOFER, Reinhard (Greens/EFA, DE)

PICULA, Tonino (S&D, HR)

foreign affairs and security policy (T)

Exchange of views with Jens STOLTENBERG, Secretary General of NATO on EU-NATO cooperation and the outcome of the NATO summit: extracts

Title: Exchange of views with Jens STOLTENBERG, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on EU-NATO cooperation and the outcome of the NATO summit: extracts

Arrival of Jens STOLTENBERG, Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) 2 shots

SOUNDBITE (English), David McALLISTER, Today we would like to discuss with you the outcome, the results of the recent NATO summit in Madrid. So we as European Parliament have called for the swift work on an EU NATO joint declaration. We hope that you can tell us more about the way forward on this matter

SOUNDBITE (English), Jens STOLTENBERG, NATO Secretary General, As you know, NATO allies provide unprecedented level of military support to Ukraine action. NATO allies and NATO have been there since 2014, trained, equipped and supported the Ukrainian armed forces. But of course, since the invasion in February, our allies have stepped up significantly. And we also agreed a comprehensive assistance package also on how to help Ukraine to move from Soviet era equipment to more modern NATO standard equipment and also how to provide more support also for the longer term building, defence and security institutions in in in Ukraine

SOUNDBITE (English), Jens STOLTENBERG, We support Ukraine, highly valued allied, but NATO is not be directly involved in the fighting on the ground in Ukraine.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jens STOLTENBERG, The decision to invite Finland and Sweden to join. That's an historic decision. And and it was important that all twenty or thirty allies agreed to invite Finland and Sweden. And now what remains and we have signed the accession protocol and now we need the ratification in thirty parliaments. And as soon as that happens, Finland, Sweden will be members of of NATO. 

SOUNDBITE (English), Jens STOLTENBERG, And it also demonstrates that NATO's door is open. You have to remember that as as late as in December, President Putin proposed to NATO, its so-called security treaty that we should sign saying many things. But amongst the things he wanted us to sign was, first of all, to guarantee no more new members of NATO signed. Second, that we should remove all troops and infrastructure from members two that have joined after 1997, meaning that all the members in Eastern Alliance should not have NATO troops not only to infrastructure. Introducing second class NATO membership. Of course, we didn't accept this. He invaded Ukraine because he wanted less NATO on his borders. What President Putin is getting is more NATO is getting exactly the opposite, more NATO military presence in Eastern Alliance and two new NATO members 

SOUNDBITE (English), Michael GAHLER (EPP, DE), . You pledge to step up support for Ukraine now and for the longer term, as long as it takes for Ukraine to have an acceptable bargaining position. I support that wholeheartedly. But how do you want to sustain the constant flow of weapons?

SOUNDBITE (English), Jens STOLTENBERG, ,Many asked about the importance of  flow of weapons. I could just I cannot I will not go into the specific national debates, but just rest assured, I am pushing NATO's pushing strongly for more support, the constant flow of support and more heavy weapons, advanced weapons. 

SOUNDBITE (English), Tonino PICULA, How do you see the role of China and Russia in the Western Balkans? Furthermore, along with the strategic concept at the major summit declaration decided on new measures to step up tailored political and practical support to Bosnia and Herzegovin 

SOUNDBITE (English), Jens STOLTENBERG, You asked me about the Western Balkans. Yes, of course. We are working together with European Union, Western Balkans. It is extremely important. NATO has a history there. We hope to end to brutality, ethnic war supposed to go over, not in Kosovo. We have a military presence that we work together with the European Union over there in Bosnia-Herzegovina and they are closely monitoring the situation in the Western Balkans in general.

SOUNDBITE (English), Petras AU&#352;TREVI&#268;IUS (Renew, LT), I welcome two new members of NATO as Finland and Sweden to come. How about the others who might be, you know, expressing their wish and readiness to join and asking for our political as well as technical support in this regard? I would you expand on the as you said to the door of NATO remains open.

SOUNDBITE (English), Jens STOLTENBERG, The main focus now is on Ukraine to provide support to help Ukraine prevail as an independent sovereign nation. And the that's the main focus. The focus is not on membership now, but, of course, everything we do to help and support and also modernise Ukrainian defences, good institutions also move them closer to membership at some stage

SOUNDBITE (English), Reinhard B&#220;TIKOFER (Greens/EFA, DE), How many names Section, are on the Turkish list of extradition requests from Sweden and Finland?

SOUNDBITE (English), Jens STOLTENBERG, The agreement between Finland, Sweden, the joint memorandum is public. You can read it. And what they have agreed is what state is there? Not not nothing more. Nothing less. And are not able to quote it. They can now. But but the main message there is that they are going to work more closely together in fighting terrorism. Any extradition or any expulsion of individuals will be and that's a dialectic is also addressed in the agreement will be done in accordance with the European Convention on extradition and of course, based on Swedish and Finnish law 