By Manal El Warraky
This week, Foreign Ministers will meet to discuss continued preparations for our Summit in the Hague, towards the end of June. They are expected to share views on how to keep the momentum in stepping up their defence spending and on how to revamp defence industrial production. We also expect them to share views on our continued support to Ukraine and on how to further develop our already well established cooperation on issues of mutual concerns and in several domains with partners from the Indo-Pacific region (Australia, Japan, New Zealand and the Republic of Korea).
This week’s Meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers also comes a few weeks after two important visits to the Western Balkans region by the NATO Secretary General, in March. He visited Sarajevo and, together with the North Atlantic Council, our personnel in Kosovo, who serve with KFOR and the NATO Advisory and Liaison Team (NALT). Both visits represented another, tangible demonstration that the Western Balkans remains high on NATO’s agenda; it is a region of strategic importance, as reiterated by our leaders at the NATO Summit last July. Security of the Western Balkans is vital for our own stability, and we will not allow it to be jeopardised.
The Meeting of Foreign Ministers will also feature a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council, with the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine, Andrii Sybiha and the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Kaja Kallas. There will also be a meeting of NATO Ministers with representatives of our Indo-Pacific partners and a meeting among Allies with the EU High Representative.
Furthermore, Allies recognise the impact of instability and conflict in the southern neighbourhood on their own security. Through our partnerships in the southern neighbourhood, NATO aims to foster greater security and stability in the Middle East and Africa, contributing to peace and prosperity. At the Washington Summit, Allied leaders adopted an action plan for a stronger, more strategic, results-oriented approach toward our southern neighbourhood. We will soon open a NATO Liaison Office in Amman and we continue to reinforce our dialogue, outreach and existing instruments for cooperation, such as the Defence Capacity Building Initiative, the Hub for the South, and the NATO-ICI Regional Centre in Kuwait.
The NATO Secretary General’s Special Representative for the Southern Neighbourhood serves as NATO’s focal point for the region – responsible for coordinating and enhancing the visibility of NATO’s efforts in the South and strengthening engagement with our partners.
NATO Mission Iraq (NMI) is a non-combat advisory and capacity-building mission that helps Iraq build more sustainable, transparent, inclusive and effective security institutions and armed forces, to stabilise their country, fight terrorism, and prevent the return of Daesh. Following a request from the Iraqi authorities, we are broadening the scope of NMI to support the Iraqi Ministry of Interior and Federal Police Command with advisory and capacity-building activities.
