Jens Stoltenberg: Zapowiedź wzmocnienia obrony NATO przed Madrytem

Wielkie prawa do Przegnika Mette Fridriksson i NATO-sekretary-general Jens Stoltenberg. Mette and I, we are the co-hosts of this evening, and we are so happy that also our colleagues are here from Belgium, from Portugal, from Poland and Latvia. President Klaus-Johannes of Romania was also there during the dinner, but he had a very tight time schedule, so he's not here during the press conference. He has a state visit of the French President taking place in Bucharest tomorrow. Mette Fridriksson and I convened this meeting because we wanted to give leaders of NATO member countries from different regions a chance to talk informally ahead of the maybe potentially crucial, but at least very important NATO summit in Madrid at the end of this month. And naturally, the main topic of discussion was Russia's brutal and unprovoked war against Ukraine. Vladimir Putin must not win this war, and the countries here with us have reaffirmed their unwavering and their enduring support to Ukraine. Right here and now, on behalf of us all, I call on Vladimir Putin once again to stop this aggression. The war in Ukraine has serious consequences for security in Europe and once again underscores the need for a strong and united transatlantic alliance. Recent events have led to Finland's and Sweden's decision to apply for NATO membership. I understand this step, and together with all the other leaders here, support it wholeheartedly. I'm confident that they will be a tremendous asset to our alliance at both political and military level. At the NATO summit in Madrid, we will discuss how to guarantee a robust, credible and sustainable longer-term NATO deterrence and defence posture. With that in mind, it's vital that we talk about the new strategic concept, about how to adapt our alliance to meet today's threats. And tomorrow's as well. This calls for a fresh approach, new instruments and also smarter strategies. In other words, a robust plan for the next ten years. In light of the new reality we are sadly facing, we will also discuss the need for increased resourcing to bolster our alliance and make us more resilient to threats to our collective security. Today we had a productive informal discussion that will contribute to a successful summit. I'm really looking forward to that, and now I'd like to hand over to you, Mette Frederiksen. Thank you so much, Mark. And first of all, thank you for hosting these important discussions here today. Russia's brutal invasion of Ukraine marks a new and more uncertain time for Europe. Allies are supporting Ukraine's heroic fight, and we have to continue to do so to make sure that Ukraine will win this war. Since the beginning of this conflict, the Allies have made a number of important decisions, demonstrating without any doubt that NATO is the cornerstone of the transatlantic security and will remain so in the future. In two weeks from now, all Allies will meet in Madrid to discuss the direction in the future for NATO in some very difficult years to come. All of us here today agree that NATO as an alliance should come out stronger than ever from Madrid, and we are ready to deliver what it takes, both when it comes to NATO's military posture and increased common funding. That is our clear message today. I also hope that we soon welcome Sweden and Finland to the Allies. Their membership will benefit the security of us all. The bonds between Europe and the U.S. and Canada are strong, and we will face all future challenges to our security together. So once again, Mark, thank you for hosting this meeting and to enable us to show our unity as Allies also here tonight. Thank you, Methe, and I would like to give the floor to Jens Stoltenberg. Dear Jens, please. Thank you so much, Prime Minister Rutte, there Mark, Prime Minister Fredriksen, there Methe. Thank you so much for co-hosting this dinner and this very important conversation among seven NATO Allied leaders. This is important because in two weeks we will meet in Madrid for an historic and transformative summit of all NATO leaders and take decisions to keep NATO strong in a more dangerous world. Tonight we had an excellent discussion on our preparations, including on the need to continue our strong support for Ukraine, both in the short term but also over the longer term. And I look forward to welcoming President Zelensky to address NATO leaders at our summit in Madrid. In response to Russia's invasion, we have reinforced our ability to protect and defend every inch of NATO Allied territory. In Madrid, we will take the next steps and agree a major strengthening of our posture. Tonight we discussed the need for more robust and combat-ready forward presence, even higher readiness and more prepositioned equipment and supplies. We also addressed the need to invest more in our defence and to invest more together to strengthen NATO's common funding. In Madrid, we will agree NATO's next strategic concept. It will assess our changed security environment and reaffirm our fundamental values and tasks, and it will be a blueprint for the Alliance's future. Finally, we also discussed Finland and Sweden's historic applications for joining NATO. Their membership will make them safer and our alliance stronger. I had constructive talks with President Lindestad and Prime Minister Andersson during my visit to Finland and Sweden earlier this week, and I welcome the serious steps already taken to address Turkey's concerns, including the fight against PKK. Our dialogue continues to find a united way forward. So, Mark and Mette, thank you so much for hosting us all tonight. Thank you so much, Jens. And now I'd like to give the floor to Alexander de Kroo, Prime Minister of Belgium. Yes, thank you, Mark. And thank you, Mark, and Mette for organizing this very timely pre-summit in the run-up to the meeting of Madrid. It's clear that since February 20th, we live in a different world. The Russian war and the Russian aggression against Ukraine is a game-changer related to security in Europe. But the good news in this is that NATO is stronger, more unified, and more solid than it has ever been. On the eastern flank, we are showing our solidarity. We are showing what solidarity between allies actually in practice means. We also see that solidarity is attractive with Finland and Sweden applying to become part of our alliance. As Belgium, we assumed our responsibility from the start, from the moment that the war started. Our fighter jets are air-policing the skies of Poland and of the Baltics. And we have a Belgian battalion, which is stationed in Romania as part of the Rapid Response Force. Let me be clear. We will continue to take our responsibility. Glad this evening, dear Jens, that we had the opportunity to look ahead to the summit in Madrid, where we will adopt NATO's new strategic concept and also discuss burden-sharing. Within Belgium, we have a clear path in growth in military spending. With decisions from the previous and the current government, we are almost doubling our military spending by 2030, and we are working to realign our defense efforts with European non-nuclear NATO allies. Now, the discussion is not only an input discussion. It's not only about how much we spend. The question is also on how you spend it. First of all, this is a moment to tackle the fragmentation of our defense efforts, especially between European countries. And Marc, I think we have an example to give on how we integrate and how we integrate between Belgium and Dutch defenses. Second element is we need to work to have a stronger European defense industry, able to compete with global players. Increasing our budget means that it should benefit our industry. Made in Europe should also be a quality label in defense. And third, last element is more societal return. More investment in the military fits in a broader security agenda. This is about strengthening cybersecurity. It's about providing better protection to our businesses and also an interesting education track for our young people. So I would like to thank you for a very productive and open discussion tonight. We are only at the beginning of a new era where the importance of NATO and European defense will continue to grow. We're looking forward to Madrid, to the discussions there under the firm and focused leadership of our Secretary General. Thank you, Alexander. I'd like to give the floor to Antonio Costa, Prime Minister of the Republic of Portugal. Good evening. Thank you, Marc and Mehta, for this opportunity to have this meeting. We come from all Europe, Nordic, Southern Atlantic and Eastern countries to convey a clear message of unity. We are committed to build a stronger transatlantic alliance. We stand in full solidarity with Ukraine and we call on Russia to stop immediately this war of aggression and respect the independence, sovereignty and the territorial integrity of Ukraine. More than ever, we need to strengthen the euro-atlantic defense. We warmly welcome the applications of Finland and Sweden to join NATO. We will work on a closer cooperation between NATO and the European Union. And finally, we will look for the next Madrid summit as a milestone to reinforce NATO's capabilities and resources. Thank you, Antonio. I'll give now the floor to the Prime Minister of Poland, Mateusz. Please. Thank you, Marc, and thank you, Mehta, for gathering us all here in this beautiful place to discuss the most important topic of nowadays. And this is, of course, the war in Ukraine. And first of all, I think it's so important that we have reinforced our unity and our transatlantic approach. I am a strong believer in transatlantic ties, and it is so obvious to all of us that given such jeopardies and aggression and barbarian attacks as the Russian attack on Ukraine, NATO can be the only blocker, the only showstopper for any further attacks on the eastern flank of NATO, eastern flank of the European Union. So the reinforcing of our unity and transatlantic dimension is extremely important. But we have also asked critical questions. Are we sufficiently strong in defending our European values? In Ukraine, the Ukrainian soldiers and people of Ukraine fight for the most important European and free world values. Sovereignty, freedom, right to live, and other critical values. And I think the answer is no. We are not doing enough. We have not done enough to defend Ukraine, to support Ukrainian people, to defend their freedom and sovereignty. And this is why I urge you, I ask you to do much more to deliver weapon artillery to Ukraine. They need this to defend their country, to defend their territorial integrity and sovereignty. Where is our credibility if Ukraine fails? Can we imagine that Ukraine fails and we revert back to business as usual? I hope not. I just hope that not only the seven of us from the European Council who have been gathered by Mark and Mehta cannot imagine such a scenario. I cannot imagine such a scenario. I just believe that this is, this would be a complete failure and disaster of the European Union, of our values and of NATO. And this is why it is so important that we focus on efficient, effective support of Ukraine here and now. Not in several weeks' time, not in several months' time, here and now. And here with what is also very important is supporting Ukrainian ambitions on their road to the European Union. And we support giving them the candidate status as, as quickly as possible because Ukrainian people need hope. And this is their major hope for the future. In our discussion we have been also focusing on a very important topic, fighting disinformation and fighting Russian propaganda. And Antonio indicated also, you know, Russian propaganda in Africa. And it is very important that we are aware that Russian disinformation efforts and propaganda are so dangerous for all of us. And this is why we have to fight this, this propaganda. In Poland we host two and a half, some two and a half million Ukrainian refugees. These are mothers with children, predominantly mothers with children. They all found shelter in Poland. They, we have given access to our healthcare system, educational system, our social security system. They want to go back to Ukraine, but they can stay in Poland for as long as they want, as long as they feel, they, they, they, they will feel secure in Poland. And they, they know that they are welcome in Poland as well. Uh, in Ukraine, uh, there is a war of Europe, Europe against Russian imperialism. Russia and Putin distilled from the modern history, the worst which you can imagine. So, colonialism, colonialism, imperialism, and nationalism. And, and, uh, very, um, nasty form of nationalism as well. This is why, uh, we all have to fight, uh, with, um, with Russia. And, uh, we have to unite our efforts. And one last thing, look at what is happening with, uh, with, uh, price of raw materials, natural resources, and wheat, crops, grain. Uh, this is, uh, yet another type of weapon of the Kremlin against the free world. Putin wants to create famine in Africa, in Middle East, with the hope that, uh, yet another migration crisis will destabilize the European Union. This is why, this is why we have to take a very decisive stance here and now, uh, with regard to the war in Ukraine. Thank you. Thank you, Mateusz, for that very urgent message. And now, finally, the floor to the Prime Minister of Latvia. Giannis, the floor is yours. Thank you very much, Mark. Also, thank you, Mette, for co-hosting this event. The world, uh, really has changed since February 24th. Uh, when Russia, uh, from a war which it had been waging for eight years in the Donbas, went to a full-out, brutal, uh, unprovoked attack on all of Ukraine, with the goal of annihilating Ukrainian statehood and annihilating, uh, Ukrainian identity. Uh, Putin, uh, in starting this war, I think he did not count on two things. One, he did not count on the resistance, uh, of the Ukrainian people and the Ukrainian army. And two, I don't think he counted on the reaction that we in Europe and in NATO, uh, have had. And that is, he has pushed us together and reunited us in a way that, uh, maybe we have not had this sense of purpose for many years. Uh, we, uh, uh, today we're speaking, uh, about the transatlantic relationship and the need to strengthen this bond. But we also need to strengthen Ukraine to help them in this war because there's only one way to restore peace and security in Europe. That is for Ukraine to win the war and for Russia to lose the war. So the Ukrainians need weapons, they need financing, and I also think they need our political support in opening a pathway to the European Union. But in addition to strengthening and helping Ukraine, it's important that as NATO member states, we strengthen the NATO alliance not only politically, but very practically militarily all along the eastern flank, from the Baltic down through the Black Sea, because the threat is very real. In NATO, we say, and correctly say, that we will defend every inch of NATO territory. But we have to make those words very credible by making sure we have the troops, the weapons, the capabilities, all throughout the eastern flank to make this a reality, especially in the Baltics, which are between Russia and the Baltic Sea. It's important to shore up the presence, uh, up to a brigade level so that the deterrence, uh, is very real indeed. The least expensive or the cheapest way to fight a war is never to have to fight the war. To have enough deterrence on the ground to make sure that no one ever comes in. And that must be our goal, uh, in NATO. And finally, I think it's important to say that as democracies, we must not be afraid of being strong, also strong militarily. And we see as the world is changing, it even becomes a necessity. In order to defend our way of life, we must be strong. So thank you once again, uh, Mark and Mehta and Jens. Looking forward to the summit in a few weeks. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.