NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg opening remarks at Meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of Foreign Ministers, November 20, 2019.
Transcript
Okay, then I hope we can start. So, if you’re, find your seats, okay. So good afternoon and welcome to all of you. Today we will prepare for the NATO leaders meeting in just two weeks time. We will discuss NATO’s continuing adaptation, including our approach to hybrid fits, black sea security, energy security, and space. We will also address the issue of burden sharing, where we are making substantial progress. For the fifth consecutive year, European allies and Canada are increasing their defense spending. This is making NATO stronger and we are, that’s wrong, and we are determined to keep up the momentum and to do more. Finally, we will review NATO’s role in the fight against terrorism. Our missions in Afghanistan and Iraq play an important role in helping these countries fight terrorism. And our support to the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS helps bring security to all our nations. I thank the media for being here at the beginning of the meeting and we will continue the meeting in just a moment. So many thanks to the media.