The Foreign Ministers of the Allied countries discussed the future of the Alliance by videoconference on Tuesday 1 June, ahead of the NATO summit to be held on 14 June in Brussels.
At the end of the meeting, Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg explained that ministers agreed that the summit would be a “historic opportunity to strengthen the transatlantic link” and to prepare NATO for a more predictable and contested world. “This is an opportunity we must seize”, he insisted.
The NATO leaders’ meeting could be an opportunity to adopt a strategy for the Alliance for 2030.
At the meeting, according to Mr Stoltenberg, ministers agreed that NATO’s collective defence should be strengthened, the 2014 defence investment pledge—including defence spending of 2% of GDP—should be reaffirmed and all decisions taken to strengthen the Alliance should be fully implemented.
They also discussed the need to raise the level of ambition on resilience “[with] a more integrated and coordinated approach to protect” critical infrastructure, the Secretary General added.
The meeting also focused on concrete ways to sharpen the technological edge of the Allies and to prevent technology gaps between them. To this end, the ministers are considering, according to Mr Stoltenberg, the creation of a “defence innovation accelerator”, a new centre designed “to foster greater cooperation among Allies on technology”. This would be funded by the participating Allies.
Ministers also discussed the importance of strengthening existing partnerships and establishing new ones, particularly in the Asia-Pacific, Africa, and Latin America, and of stepping up training and capacity-building efforts in partner countries.
“NATO 2030 will also enhance our role in preserving the rules-based international order, which is challenged by authoritarian regimes, like Russia and China”, the Secretary General said.
Mr Stoltenberg also reiterated, despite criticism from his own country (see EUROPE 12730/15), that the Alliance should act on the issue of climate change. "While NATO is not the leading organisation when it comes to combating climate change, we do have a responsibility to manage those aspects that relate to our security”, he said, adding that the Alliance “must set the gold standard in understanding, mitigating, and adapting to the security implications of climate change”.
Finally, according to the Secretary General, there is “broad agreement” among the ministers on the need to start working on NATO’s next strategic concept. The previous one dates from 2010 and “our strategic environment has significantly changed since [then]”, Mr Stoltenberg said.
The Defence Ministers also met by videoconference to prepare the summit (EUROPE will come back to this). (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)