NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg praised the cooperation between NATO and New Zealand and described how the partnership strengthened international security. Speaking alongside Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, Mr. Stoltenberg highlighted that over the years, NATO and New Zealand have worked together to end conflicts in the Balkans, fight piracy off the Horn of Africa, and patrol the Mediterranean. The Secretary General also discussed with the Prime Minister New Zealand’s important contributions in the fight against terrorism, including its role in NATO’s training mission in Afghanistan

Transcript

Moderator: Prime minister and Secretary General will make a few comments and then we’ll open the floor to some questions. Over to you, Prime Minister.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern: Thank you. Morena, good morning everyone. Secretary General, can I start by saying I’m very pleased to welcome you to New Zealand, in your first official visit as NATO Secretary General. Of course, we’re aware that you previously visited New Zealand before in 2011, while you were Norway’s Prime Minister, and we’re very happy to welcome you back in your different role. It does seem like an extraordinary amount has happened since our last meeting in Brussels in January, and we were reflecting on that before our meeting began. Since then, our country experienced one of its darkest days, when our Muslim community was attacked in Christchurch. We sincerely appreciated the messages of sympathy and support we received from our friends from around the world, and I include in that our messages of support from NATO. I also want to acknowledge that you spent the day yesterday in Christchurch, meeting with members of the Muslim community and also the Mayor of Christchurch, and I know that your words will have been a comfort, particularly given your experience in Norway and the leadership role you had at the time that you experienced an attack on your soil. And I was reflecting again today, that was something that we spoke about when I met with you in January. And that really brought back to me the effect that this what we experienced in New Zealand was something we would never have anticipated at the time I had that conversation with you. Again, I acknowledge the experience that, not only Norway, but many other Alliance members have experienced when it comes to the horrors of terrorism. And we’re not only united in our grief, but united in our absolute determination to work together to halt the vicious cycle of extremism breeding further extremism. Global threats like terrorism require global responses. And effective global responses do depend on partnerships and strong collective action. New Zealand and NATO, although separated by distance, are indeed connected through our close partnership and the many values we share in common. And these values include, of course, an abiding respect for democratic freedoms and human rights and a commitment to upholding the rules-based international order. NATO has contributed to the longest sustained period of peace in post-war Europe and this highlights the importance of multilateral institutions and the success they can achieve, something New Zealand has spoken often about. This is also important to New Zealand. Many of us, of course, have family ties to Europe, our businesses export there and NATO plays an important role in ensuring these trade and people-to-people ties are underpinned by a peaceful order. This order and the certainty it provides is coming under increasing stress from a variety of challenges and we spoke about some of those today, ranging from terrorism, climate change, cyber security, and issues such as maritime security. I’m grateful for the insights, Secretary General, and also the willingness identified to further the ways that we can work together. And we also exchanged perspectives on issues of regional concern and I updated the Secretary General on issues like the Pacific Reset and New Zealand’s role in the Pacific. New Zealand’s primary cooperation with NATO at the moment is through our deployment of New Zealand Defense Force military trainers to NATO’s Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan. In June, I announced the extension of this deployment to December next year, mentioned that we were exploring ways to contribute to NATO’s Women, Peace, and Security initiatives. This followed discussions I had with the Secretary General earlier this year in Brussels relating to the importance of integrating gender perspectives into conflict and peace situations. Today I am pleased to announce that the New Zealand Defense Force will be taking up to three roles focused on Women, Peace, and Security issues within NATO’s mission in Kabul. Two positions will be filled by NZDF personnel from September 2019 for one year, while the third will be for a six-month period from May 2020. With a fledgling peace process underway, these roles will contribute towards safeguarding the hard-won gains Afghan women and girls have made since 2001, and to supporting women’s participation in the peace negotiations. I do want to thank again the Secretary General for NATO’s continued leadership in Afghanistan, as the international community seeks to bring about stability and to create the conditions for a sustainable peace. Today’s conversation underscored the value in exchanging perspectives with trusted partners. We work together to strengthen the rules-based order that we’ve all benefited from. And I do look forward to continuing such exchanges in our work together, both in areas where we are both deployed, such as Afghanistan, but also deepening in our connections in other areas of peace and security, where we have a mutual interest.

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg: Prime Minister Ardern, Jacinda, first of all, thank you for the warm welcome and it is really a great pleasure to see you so soon after we met in Brussels at the NATO Headquarters in January. And it’s great to be back in New Zealand. While the North Atlantic and the South Pacific are far apart on the map, New Zealand is one of NATO’s closest global partners. Over the years, we have worked together to end the bloody conflicts in the Balkans, to fight piracy off the Horn of Africa and patrol the Mediterranean Sea. Today, we discussed New Zealand’s important role in our training mission in Afghanistan, including our shared efforts to protect women’s rights. And I welcome the offer from New Zealand to step up its efforts when it comes to Women, Peace, and Security in Afghanistan. And I want to thank you, Prime Minister, for your decision to extend the New Zealand’s deployment in the NATO training mission. Your trainers at the National Army Defense Academy in Kabul are helping the Afghans to create the conditions for peace and preventing Afghanistan from ever again becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. We now see a real chance for peace in Afghanistan. We are closer to a peace deal than ever before and NATO strongly supports all efforts to achieve a negotiated political solution. New Zealand also plays a valuable role in the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. And I welcome New Zealand’s training efforts in Iraq, which complement NATO’s training mission there. Terrorism comes in many forms and wears many different guises, as we saw in Christchurch in March and in my own country of Norway in 2011. Yesterday, as you said, I visited Christchurch and met with the Mayor and with first responders. And I visited the Al Noor Mosque, where I expressed my deepest condolences to everyone affected by the terrorist attacks. I was moved by the resilience of the local community. In the face of the tragedy, the people of New Zealand stand strong for diversity, democracy, and tolerance. And I stand with you. Prime Minister, I commend you for your response to the terrorist attack. Your outstanding leadership and courage have inspired and impressed people around the world. You have shown that freedom prevails over oppression, tolerance over intolerance, and love always prevails over hate. Many of the threats and challenges we see today are truly global, including terrorism but also cyber-attacks and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. So today, we discussed a range of areas where NATO and New Zealand could step up cooperation in the future, including cyber defense, maritime security, and women’s full participation in decision-making and security institutions. New Zealand’s values are NATO’s values. Together we stand for democracy, individual liberty, and the rule of law. And together we defend the international rules-based order, which makes us all safer and more secure. So, Prime Minister Ardern, thank you. I look forward to continuing to work with you to strengthen the close cooperation between NATO and New Zealand.