Opening remarks by NATO Secretary General Mr. Jens Stoltenberg at first session of North Atlantic Council in Defence Ministers’ session, October 24, 2019.
Transcript
Good afternoon. I think we are ready to start. Today we will discuss NATO operations and missions, as well as the situation in Northeast Syria. NATO is a platform for dialogue, including all issues where we see disagreements. NATO remains committed to the fight against international terrorism, and our training missions are key to preventing Isis from reestablishing a foothold in Afghanistan, or coming back in Iraq. We will review all our missions and operations, and discuss the readiness of allied forces, including the readiness initiative agreed at out summit in Brussels last year. We will assess our progress and what more needs to be done. This concludes the public part of this meeting, and I thank the media for being with us. And we will continue the meeting in just a moment. So, thank you.