NATO Secretary General stresses the importance of partnerships in today’s competitive world

Faced with the most dangerous crisis for European security in a generation, NATO’s partnerships are fundamental to defend our shared values and security, NATO Secretary General said in his virtual address to a seminar on NATO’s future Strategic Concept on Wednesday (23 February).

“So we face a fundamental question about the world we want to live in. One where big powers dictate what others do, through aggression and ultimatums. Or a world where everyone is free to choose their own path. Able to live in freedom and democracy. This is the world we want and the one we are working for”, the Secretary General said. “We are stronger and safer when we stand together”.

Entitled ‘Stronger Together – NATO’s partnerships’, the event was co-hosted by Germany and the Netherlands and co-sponsored by Canada, Italy, Portugal and Spain, together with Finland and Sweden. It is the third of four Allied-hosted seminars that inform the preparation NATO’s next Strategic Concept. Each seminar brings together NATO’s civilian and military leadership with officials from Allied capitals, think-tanks and academia.

Over the last three decades, NATO has developed a broad network of partnerships with countries around the world, as well as with international organisations. In the next decade, as part of NATO’s 2030 agenda, the Alliance will continue to broaden and deepen its relations with like-minded partners, notably through increased training and capacity-building, as well as enhanced dialogue.

At the Brussels Summit in June 2021, NATO Leaders agreed to develop a new Strategic Concept in time for the Madrid summit in June 2022. It will set the Alliance’s approach to defence and security for the years to come based on the current security environment and future challenges and opportunities. The last Strategic Concept was approved in 2010.