On Thursday 29 June, the President of the European Council, Charles Michel, and the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, stressed the importance of cooperation between NATO and the European Union, ahead of a meeting of the European Council at which the EU27 discussed, among other things, support for Ukraine (see other news) and the situation in Russia and Belarus.
“The EU and NATO share the same values and work closely together”, emphasised Mr Michel. In his view, “by strengthening European capabilities, we are strengthening NATO, because strong allies make strong alliances”.
For his part, Mr Stoltenberg felt that the EU/NATO partnership was “extremely important at a time when we are facing a real war in Europe”, in Ukraine. “The NATO Allies and the EU are providing unprecedented support to Ukraine. This shows just how complementary we are”, he added.
According to a European source, the main message was that Ukraine could not win the war without NATO and the EU, so it is necessary to stick together.
In addition to support for Ukraine, the EU and NATO are working together in a number of areas, including resilience and critical infrastructure (see other news item), and the situation in Kosovo.
Following the discussion with Mr Stoltenberg, the Heads of State or Government discussed the progress made in European defence, calling for it to be continued (see EUROPE 13211/6).
See the European Council conclusions: https://aeur.eu/f/7u9 (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)