On Monday (21 November 2022), the NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, took part in the 68th Annual Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NPA) in Madrid, Spain.
The Secretary General recalled the key decisions of the NATO Summit in Madrid in June, including on stepping up support to Ukraine, strengthening deterrence and defence, adopting a new Strategic Concept, and inviting Finland and Sweden to join NATO. “As we look ahead to our Summit in Vilnius, in Lithuania, next year, we are implementing these decisions”, said Mr. Stoltenberg, and the support of parliamentarians will be vital.
The Secretary General urged lawmakers that “we need to stay the course together on Ukraine,” stressing that “if we allow Putin to win, all of us will have to pay a much higher price. Authoritarian regimes around the world will learn that they can get what they want with brute force.”
The Secretary General underlined that investing more in defence will be an important topic at next year’s Vilnius Summit. He said he expects Allies to continue to make progress, including with commitments beyond 2024, “because 2 %of GDP on defence should be considered a floor, not a ceiling.”
Mr. Stoltenberg also stressed that “the time has come to finalise the accession process and to welcome Finland and Sweden as full members of NATO.”
The Secretary General also met the Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sánchez to discuss NATO’s agenda following the Madrid Summit.