On Thursday 19 March, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg presented the Alliance’s rather positive assessment for the year 2019.
“2019 has been a year in which we have made great progress in NATO’s adaptation”, Mr Stoltenberg said.
He recalled that last year the Allies had further increased their defence spending by 4.6%.
In addition, the Alliance has continued to strengthen its deterrence and defence and has delivered on the readiness initiative by increasing its ability to move forces across the Atlantic and into Europe, the Secretary General said.
“We remained united in the face of Russia’s violation of the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Forces (INF) Treaty. We have remained committed to the fight against terrorism with our training missions in Afghanistan and Iraq”, he added.
Finally, the Allies strengthened their resilience by updating the basic requirements for telecommunications infrastructure, including 5G, and declared space as the fifth operational area, alongside land, air, sea, and cyberspace, Mr Stoltenberg said.
In addition, the Secretary General highlighted an independent survey of 29,000 citizens in the 29 Allied countries and in North Macedonia, which will soon become the organisation's thirtieth member country. According to the survey, 81% of respondents said that collaboration between North America and Europe on safety and security is important. Seventy-six percent agree that all allies should defend their country in the event of an attack, 71% agree that their country should act in defence of another ally, and 60% agree that being a member of NATO makes their country less likely to be attacked. “If a vote were held, 64% would vote to remain in the Alliance and only 9% would vote against”, Mr Stoltenberg said.
See the 2019 report: https://bit.ly/394TdwD (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)