MONITORING (SW) – Afghanistan was one of the agenda item at the EU Defence Ministers’s informal meeting with the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the alliance has said.
In his remarks ahead of the moot on Wednesday, Stoltenberg said the fact that the NATO Secretary General attends the EU Defence Ministerial meeting demonstrates the close cooperation between NATO and the European Union.
“We will address missions and operations. I will update the ministers on NATO's presence in Afghanistan. We stay committed to our presence there because we believe that's the best way to support the peace efforts and we see some encouraging progress”, he said.
Stoltenberg added when it comes to moving towards starting inter-Afghan dialogue, inter-Afghan negotiations to create a lasting and peaceful solution to the crisis in Afghanistan.
Stoltenberg said he would update the ministers on NATO's work on how to step up our presence in Iraq. “Training local forces, training Iraqi security forces, building local capacity is the best way to prevent that ISIS is able to return, and both in Afghanistan and Iraq, NATO and the European Union are working very closely together, and we are now stepping up our efforts in Iraq” he said.
He added the Alliance was following the crisis in Belarus very closely. “It evolves at our borders. The people of Belarus must have the right to decide their own future. All Allies respect the sovereignty, the integrity, the independence of Belarus and NATO remains a defensive Alliance. We are vigilant, we are ready to protect and defend all Allies. But there is no military NATO build up in the region. So any attempt by the regime built in Belarus, to use NATO as an excuse or as a pretext to crack down on the demonstrators in their own country is absolutely wrong, is absolutely unjustified”, he said.
The Secretary General said the Alliance is concerned about the situation in the eastern Mediterranean. “What we need is de-escalation, is dialogue. Turkey and Greece have both been important NATO Allies for many years. And we need to find a way to resolve the situation in the eastern Mediterranean, based on the spirit of Allied solidarity and international law, and I welcome the efforts by Germany to mediate to find a way forward. And I'm also personally regularly in contact with both Ankara and Athens. I spoke recently with the Greek Prime Minister Mitsotakis. And we continue to provide NATO as a platform for Allies to meet and discuss how to find the solution to this situation in eastern Mediterranean”.
He added it’s absolutely clear from all NATO Allies that the people in Belarus have the right to decide their own future without interference from abroad, interference from Russia.
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