NATO Secretary General doorstep message at the EU Foreign Affairs Council, 23 MAY 2023

Doorstep statement by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg ahead of the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council of the European Union with Defence Ministers, Brussels, 23 May 2023.

🗣 | NATO Secretary General:

Good afternoon.
I look forward to meeting the EU Defence Ministers.

NATO-EU cooperation has been close to my heart for many, many years and we are making a lot of progress.
The war in Ukraine demonstrates the importance of NATO and the European Union working closely together and NATO Allies and the EU has delivered unprecedented support to Ukraine.

Just over last months, we have delivered heavy battle tanks – the Leopards, the UK British Challengers but also now the US Abrams and then the last weeks, United Kingdom has delivered advanced long-range cruise missiles, which are already making a difference on the battlefield.
And then of course, over the last days, we have heard an announcement from several Allies including the United States, United Kingdom and several European Allies that they will start the training of pilots on NATO-standard modern western fighter jets.

This demonstrates our readiness to stand by Ukraine and to be prepared for the long haul.
But of course, to continue our support to Ukraine, we also need to ramp up production of weapons and of ammunition, and therefore, one of the issues that we'll discuss with the defence ministers is how we can work even more closely together, NATO and the European Union on increasing and strengthening our transatlantic industrial base.

I welcome the work the EU is doing.
This is making a difference, is helping our joint efforts.

At the same time what NATO does, is also critical because we are setting the standards to ensure interoperability, interchangeability.
We have the NATO guidelines, the capability targets for each and every Ally and we are now in the process of revising the guidelines, the capability targets for battle decisive ammunition which includes also 155mm ammunition which is a critical piece of ammunition in the war in Ukraine.

And we are engaging closely with industry.
I met them several times, we have engaged with them.
And I see now that more and more NATO Allies actually signing contracts, which is what we need to ensure that production actually increases.
We need to avoid creating new barriers between NATO Allies, we need to strengthen the transatlantic industrial base to ensure that we can both replenish our own stocks, to ensure our own deterrence and defence but also to continue to support Ukraine.

Then another topic which was also related to the war in Ukraine is the protection of critical infrastructure.
We have seen the vulnerability of infrastructure, especially undersea infrastructure.
We have established a joint task force with the European Union, NATO and the European Union on resilience including infrastructure.
NATO has established a cell at NATO to coordinate the efforts of different countries, different Allies and the public and the private sector to step up what we do to protect critical infrastructure, and I expect also new announcements and decisions at the upcoming NATO Summit.

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[normdyer]

The mathematics of war says the faster and greater the allies (all allies, all democracies) feed in overwhelming support, the shorter the war will be. The shorter the war, the fewer people die because there is no time for second and third waves of recruits and draftees. The poorest outcome is when allies feed in just enough to keep Ukraine fighting for a decade or more, as this results in attrition over a long enough time to grind up every asset the national has, especially its people, but also its cities.

[sumiland]

I've been saying USA my country must start new production sites all across the country. We have areas that need jobs, and we should start NOW!! Like a year ago!!

[annikkituominen]

This is a great news! Keep it on, your activity's to make the defense stronger. 😊

[stevenhart]

Alliances are a good policy and alliances with friends even better. Keep your feet planted deep and do what ever it takes to stop Russian terrorism forever. Ukraine deserves to be free and safe.

[jannmutube]

> Perhaps the best conclusion to draw from the attack on Belgorod is that people who are given weapons and abandoned can change sides even in a repressive regime. The coalition should stay together. Perhaps this why Putin invests so heavily in "meat-wave" attacks.

[belavjack]

Please nothing will be left of Ukraine and the Ukrainian people…..this has to stop…..

[jeffersonb.]

Good Job NATO.. thanks for saving the world, Dictators and autocracys are worried..

[ja-auch]

NATO❤ 🙏🏽 thank you for the shelter for democracy!

[irmanv.]

Great work! Thank you for the updates
General Stoltenberg!
#StandWithUkraine 💙💛🇺🇦🇺🇦💙💛🙏🙏🌍🌎

[Brannee]

Thank you so much NATO secretary ~ your pinpoint remainder will strengthen the NATO alliances become stronger and united~ ❤ God bless Ukraine 🇺🇦 in practice variety of military defense strategies at field and towards to a defense battle victory ~

[jrgenholteng]

He struggles to find the words he looking for, that is why he talks like that. Besides that, he does a very good job!