NATO Secretary General begins official visit to the United States
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg began an official visit to the United States on Tuesday (12 November 2019). During his visit, he will meet with President Donald Trump and other top US officials, participate in a meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS, and deliver a keynote speech at the NATO Industry Forum.
On Wednesday, Mr. Stoltenberg is meeting with members of the Senate NATO Observer Group, the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and the Senate Armed Services Committee. He is also meeting with members of the House Armed Services Committee, as well as members of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly. The Secretary General’s day will conclude with a reception hosted by the US Department of Defense, and a meeting with a group of chief executives focused on the defence industry.
Secretary General Stoltenberg will meet President Trump at the White House on Thursday, in order to help prepare the meeting of NATO leaders scheduled for 4 December in London. He will also meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, and participate in a small group ministerial meeting of the Global Coalition to Defeat ISIS. The same day, he will deliver a speech at the NATO Industry Forum, setting out how the Alliance’s cooperation with industry has been at the forefront of NATO’s adaptation over the decades.
At the start of his visit to the United States, the Secretary General was honoured by the «Diplomat of the Year» award from Foreign Policy magazine on Tuesday night. Accepting the award from editor-in-chief Jonathan Tepperman, Mr. Stoltenberg made a case for “relentless transatlantic diplomacy, backed by credible transatlantic defence”. Calling NATO “a unique diplomatic ‘force multiplier’”, he said: “when 29 nations speak with one voice, their voice is more powerful than any other in the world”.
