Q&A session given by the Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg following his speech at the Iraqi Defence University
Transcript
[Audience Member] Thank you and welcome, our college at our university. Member of Iraqi parliament and now a student in the college. (audience member speaks faintly)
They’re asking to speak in Arabic so everyone else would understand.
[Audience Member] OK.
Dr. Riad, Dr. Riad used to be a member of the parliament and right now he is a new student at the National Defense College. My question is what is the future strategy for NATO in Iraq, especially that we have no project. In the time of the Daesh war against Iraq, we’ve noticed that there were no, well, there were no clear support of NATO troops to the Iraqi troops in their war and their fight against ISIL.
Well, the future strategy of NATO in Iraq is to help you to help yourself. Is to enable you to fight terrorism, to stabilize your own country, and the best way we can do that is to train, assist, advise, and to train your trainers, build military schools. And of course, all NATO allies participated in the fight against Daesh, because all NATO allies are members of the global coalition, and NATO is also member. So, as you know, the Iraqi soldiers, they were at the forefront, and they showed and demonstrated courage, bravery in the fight against Daesh, and they were liberating the territory, but we supported you. And also NATO provided AWACS surveillance planes to support the air operations. And of course NATO allies asked United States, United Kingdom, France, and many others, Germany, participated and still provide support to your forces. But as I said in my introduction, I strongly believe that in the long run, it is better that we enable you to strengthen your capacity to fight the terrorism instead of we having to engage in big combat operations in your country. So that’s the reason why we help to build military academies, military schools, so you can educate your own soldiers, your own officers, and also help you to strengthen your defense and security institutions, as we do, so you can create sustainable, inclusive, and effective Iraqi security forces and institutions. So in short, the NATO’s strategy for the future in Iraq is to strengthen Iraq. (audience member speaks faintly)
So that’s Al-Sadr, a member of the Artist’s Council, that’s been on the council. Maybe my question would be on a political matter, and not a combat matter. There is a convention that was held, that was held in 1987 between the U.S. and Russia, and this convention was canceled in 2017 because of the violations of Russia of this convention regarding their nuclear weapons and ballistic weapons, ballistic weapons. What is your role, do you have any role in this convention or in this matter per se? Thank you very much.
Yes, this is a very important issue for NATO, because what you are referring to is the INF Treaty that was signed in, as you said, in 1987 banning all intermediate-range, land-based weapon systems. And that convention or treaty that was signed by President Reagan and Gorbachev in 87 led to the destruction of close to 3,000 missiles on both sides. And this has been extremely important for the stability, the security of Europe, but also the rest of the world. And NATO supported and participated in the development of this treaty, the banning of the intermediate-range weapons in 87. And we have supported the treaty ever since then. The problem is that some years ago, Russia started to develop and deploy intermediate-range, nuclear-capable missiles in Europe. And these missiles are mobile, they are hard to detect, they lower the warning time for any use of nuclear weapons in armed conflict, and therefore the threshold for use of nuclear weapons. And it was the Obama administration that first raised the concern with Russia about the Russian violations of the INF Treaty. And then last year, all NATO allies supported the United States when the United States announced that if Russia didn’t come back into compliance, they will withdraw from the treaty. But Russia has not come back into compliance, they continue to develop and deploy these new weapons in violation of the treaty. And this is something not only United States states, but it’s also supported by all the NATO allies based on independent intelligence. So on the second of August this year, the INF Treaty ceased to exist. But NATO will continue to work for arms control, because we believe that arms control is in the interest of all of us. But of course, arms control agreement which is only respected by one side doesn’t provide any security. (audience member speaks faintly)
Now we’ll be moving to the War College, that was the National Defence College, this is War College. (audience member speaks faintly) Nobody has any question, and the dean of War College is making this one, create some questions for you, sir. He don’t. (audience member speaks faintly) Staff for (speaks in foreign language), student of War College. Our knowledge of NATO alliances was established in 42, 1942, and it was expanded to 29 countries later on, but most of them are European countries, but Senator Brandenburg is an American Senator who proposed to have America join the alliance. My question is can Iraq join NATO alliance in the future, and what is the mechanism that would be in place for us to actually join, or be able to join?
First of all, we very much welcome the very, the partnership we are building between Iraq and NATO, which is also reflected then in the NATO training mission here, and the support many NATO allies provided to Iraq. As you said, NATO was established in 1949 and then we had 12 members. Today we are 20 today we are 29, but we will soon become 30, as you mentioned, because North Macedonia will join in the coming months. In NATO’s founding treaty, the Washington Treaty, which we signed in 1949, it is clearly stated that NATO is for United States, Canada, and Europe. So I have to admit that based on our founding treaty there is no way we can open up for countries outside Europe. But I think that we can do much more together. We can work together, we can support each other, and NATO has many partners which also contribute into different NATO missions and operations. So we can have very close partnership, as-
No, sir, please continue.
As we for instance have with countries in Europe like Sweden, Finland, Austria, Switzerland, they are not NATO members, but they are very close partners. So as I suggest that we focus on that, and NATO will always respect the sovereignty, the territorial integrity, and your right to design your own puff. So I welcome the partnership, and I really hope that we can do even more in the future together. I think we can have one more question, then I have to leave.
One more. (audience member speaks faintly) Dean of War College. There was a convention signed between Iraq and the U.S., maybe in 2005 or 2006, yet we have noticed in last period there was a lot of violations of the Iraqi airspace. Thus, what is NATO role in, towards protecting the airspace of Iraq or developing, or developing the Iraqi army capabilities into saving or protecting their airspace.
First, when it comes to the NATO presence in Iraq, that’s about training and building your capacities, your capabilities, building military schools, building military institutions. We don’t have any mandate when it comes to protecting your airspace. And of course, NATO’s a member of the global coalition, but I will be careful speaking on behalf of the global coalition, but I know that the global coalition, they don’t have a mandate to protect the airspace, they have a mandate to fight Daesh. So by providing support to you, you have been able to fight Daesh, and we all recognize the importance and the sacrifices you have made in that fight. So I can just conclude with my main message for today, and that is that the best way we can help you also when it comes to protect your airspace is to help you build capabilities, to train your trainers, instructors, build military institutions so you can uphold the sovereignty and the territorial integrity, including The airspace of your own country yourself. Then I have to say thank you so much, it has been really a great pleasure not only to be here and to be able to speak to you, but also to listen to your questions, and next time I have to stay much longer, so then I can answer many more questions, but thank you so much. Thank you.