NATO News

In a virtual address to the “AI and Cyber – An Abundance of Potential” conference on Monday (27 September 2021), Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană stressed that NATO is determined to set the standard for the ethical use of emerging and disruptive technologies.

On Monday, 27 September 2021, the NATO Deputy Secretary General, Mr. Mircea Geoană, will participate remotely in the AI & Cyber Conference titled “An Abundance of Potential”. The conference will be hosted by the Bulgarian Diplomatic Institute and the Digital National Alliance of Bulgaria.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg participated in the Change of Command at Allied Command Transformation in the United States on Thursday (23 September 2021) . At the ceremony in Norfolk, Virginia, General Philippe Lavigne of the French Air and Space Force took over from General André Lanata as Supreme Allied Commander Transformation, one of NATO’s two strategic commanders.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg met with UN Secretary-General António Guterres during the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday (22 September 2021). The two leaders discussed NATO and the UN's commitment to maintaining international peace and security, and work to deepen cooperation between the two organisations in areas like peace operations and countering terrorism.

The International Board of Auditors (IBAN) held a virtual meeting on 21 September 2021 with the national representatives of the Competent National Audit Bodies (CNABs) to discuss its 2020 Annual Activity Report, as well as audit issues of mutual interest. Representatives from CNABs of 29 of the 30 NATO member states were able to participate in the virtual meeting and provided comments on the 2020 Annual Activity Report.

From 20 to 23 September 2021, 27 Allies and partners and 16 regional and international organisations came together in and around the cities of Ohrid and Struga in North Macedonia, practising their ability to work together and save lives during high-intensity natural disasters.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg joined world leaders at the opening of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday (21 September 2021). This year’s General Assembly marks the sixth that Mr Stoltenberg has attended at the helm of the Alliance.

The Allied Chiefs of Defence have elected Lieutenant General Janusz Adamczak of the Polish Armed Forces to be the next Director of the NATO International Military Staff (DGIMS). The DGIMS is nominated by the NATO Chiefs of Defence to head the Alliance’s International Military Staff for a term of three years. Lieutenant General Adamczak will take up the position in the summer of 2022 when Lieutenant General Hans-W. Wiermann’s tenure ends.

NATO's thirty Chiefs of Defence gathered in Athens, Greece for the fall session of the Military Committee Conference 2021. The agenda for the Conference was challenging but necessary so that the Military Committee, in its highest format, could provide guidance to the Strategic Commanders and advice to the NATO Secretary General and the North Atlantic Council.

Exercise “NORTH MACEDONIA 2021”, co-organised by NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre (EADRCC) and the Crisis Management Centre of North Macedonia, will be conducted from 20 to 23 September 2021 in the area of Ohrid and Struga, North Macedonia.

On 16-17 September 2021, the Chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, was in Greece to meet with the Minister of Defence, Mr Nikos Panagiotopoulos, and the Chief of Defence, General Konstantinos Floros. He also travelled to Crete to visit the Souda Naval Base, the NATO Maritime Interdiction Operational Training Centre (NMIOTC), the Integrated Air & Missile Defence (IAMD) Centre of Excellence and the NATO Missile Firing Installation (NMFI).

On 21-23 September, the NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, will travel to New York, USA, to attend the High-level Week of the 76th Session of the United Nations General Assembly.

The Republic of Moldova has received twenty ventilators from NATO’s Pandemic Response Stockpile to help the country respond to coronavirus infections. NATO’s Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre and Hungary coordinated the donation in response to a request by Moldova for COVID-19 assistance.

On Monday 20 September 2021, the NATO Deputy Secretary General, Mr. Mircea Geoană will meet with Mr. Axel van Trotsenburg, World Bank Managing Director of Operations at NATO Headquarters in Brussels.

Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană and a group of NATO ambassadors visited the Alliance’s fleet of unmanned surveillance aircraft stationed in Sicily, on Thursday (16 September 2021). Addressing senior officers at Sigonella airbase, the Deputy Secretary General thanked Italy for hosting the Alliance’s Ground Surveillance (AGS) aircraft, stressing that AGS is a “premier state-of-the-art capability in the field of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance”.

Over 100 former NATO Afghan employees and family members began their journey to resettlement in the United Kingdom on Thursday (16 September 2021). With the support of NATO’s high-readiness Response Force, the Afghan evacuees departed temporary facilities in Kosovo for the United Kingdom on a chartered civilian airline flight from Pristina.

On 16-18 September 2021, the NATO Deputy Secretary General, Mr. Mircea Geoană will travel to Italy.

On 14 September 20121, the Commander of the NATO-led KFOR mission, Major General Franco Federici, attended a ceremony to mark the installation of new navigation equipment at Pristina airport. These are important steps, which will make the circulation of people and goods easier and faster within the region. They will also contribute to the use of new south-west air routes in the lower airspace over Kosovo, which have been created through the NATO-led Balkans Aviation Normalisation Meetings process.

On Wednesday, 15 September 2021, the NATO Deputy Secretary General, Mr. Mircea Geoană, will participate in the Future of Emerging Europe Summit in Brussels.

The USS New York is a ship like no other: part amphibious transport dock that supports US Navy operations around the world, part living museum that commemorates the victims of the 9/11 attacks. It contains dozens of small memorials – from a firefighter’s helmet to a New York City subway sign – and 7.5 tons of steel recovered from the World Trade Center forged into its bow.