NATO News

NATO's Special Representative for the Southern Neighbourhood, Mr Javier Colomina, travelled to Tunis on 7-8 April 2025. This was his first visit to Tunisia in his new capacity. He met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs Mohamed Ali Nafti, the Minister of National Defence Khaled Sehili, and the National Security Advisor to the President of the Tunisian Republic Abderraouf Atallah, to discuss NATO's relations with Tunisia, and exchange views on regional security issues.

Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska welcomed the EU Commissioner for Sustainable Transport and Tourism Apostolos Tzitzikostas to the NATO Headquarters on Thursday (10 April 2025) for a meeting with Allies in the North Atlantic Council.

NATO’s North Atlantic Council and southern neighbourhood partners recently met within the Mediterranean Dialogue (MD) and Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI) frameworks, to take stock of their partnerships and share views on regional security challenges, especially in the Sahel and the Gulf regions, respectively.

NATO Secretary General, Mark Rutte, made his first trip to the Indo-Pacific in this capacity this week (8-9 April 2025) where he was hosted by the Prime Minister of Japan, Shigeru Ishiba, in Tokyo, on Wednesday. They took stock of the long-standing partnership between NATO and Japan, agreeing a joint statement that aims to boost this relationship even further.

On Wednesday 9th April, the Chair of the NATO Military Committee (CMC), Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, visited Albania and met with the highest political and military leadership. Admiral Cavo Dragone’s visit followed the 16th anniversary of the country joining the Alliance. He also delivered a lecture to the Defence Security College in Tirana.

On Wednesday (9 April), The NATO Science & Technology Organization (STO) released its Science & Technology Macro Trends Report 2025–2045.

Meeting with CEOs of the German chemical industry on Wednesday (9 April 2025), Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska said that in today’s turbulent world it makes perfect sense that NATO and industry work more closely together. She said that the brutal war in Ukraine and tensions in the Indo-Pacific region are part of an effort to weaken the West, along with acts of arson, sabotage and cyber-attacks, which aim to destabilise both Allied countries and companies.

The NATO Joint Analysis Training and Education Centre (JATEC) in Bydgoszcz, Poland held a workshop on total defence and resilience on 2-3 April 2025.

NATO Foreign Ministers wrapped up two days of meetings in Brussels on Friday (4 April 2025), focusing on preparations for the upcoming NATO Summit in The Hague, defence investment, burden sharing, Allied support to Ukraine, and cooperation with partners.

On Thursday (3 April 2025), NATO Deputy Secretary General Radmila Shekerinska attended an informal meeting of EU Defence Ministers in Warsaw, hosted by EU High Representative/Vice-President Kaja Kallas and Polish Minister of Defence Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, together with Ukrainian Defence Minister Rustem Umerov.

On 8 and 9 April 2025, the NATO Secretary General, Mr Mark Rutte, will visit Japan.

NATO Foreign Ministers will meet in Brussels on Thursday and Friday (3 and 4 April) to continue planning for the forthcoming Summit in The Hague and discuss urgent security issues.

On 10 April the United Kingdom and France will host a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing in defence ministers format at NATO HQ.

On 11 April the United Kingdom and Germany will convene the Ukraine Defence Contact Group at NATO HQ.

From 2 to 3 April 2025, the NATO Deputy Secretary General, Ms Radmila Shekerinska, will visit Warsaw, Poland, to attend the informal meeting of EU Ministers of Defence.

On Wednesday, 2 April 2025, the NATO Secretary General, Mr Mark Rutte, will brief the press ahead of the Meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs, which will take place on 3-4 April 2025 at the NATO Headquarters, in Brussels.

From 26 to 28 March, the NATO Military Committee visited the Island of Gotland and Luleå in Sweden, on an invitation by the Swedish Chief of Defence, General Michael Claesson. This was the first visit of the Military Committee to Sweden, since the country became the 32nd member of the NATO Alliance, in March 2024.

On Monday, 31 March 2025, the NATO Deputy Secretary General, Ms Radmila Shekerinska, will meet the EU Special Representative for the Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue and other Western Balkan regional issues, Mr Peter Sørensen.

NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte travelled to Herstal, Belgium on Thursday (27 March 2025) for a meeting with the Chairman and CEO of the Thales Group, Patrice Caine. While in Herstal, Mr Rutte toured the Thales factory with the Prime Minister of Belgium, Bart De Wever.

On Thursday, 27 March 2025, the NATO Secretary General, Mr Mark Rutte, will travel to Paris, France, to attend a meeting of European leaders and Canada with Ukraine.