NATO News

On Saturday, 11 September 2021, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will join U.S. Mission to NATO’s Chargé d’Affaires Douglas D. Jones at the 9/11 and Article 5 Memorial at NATO Headquarters to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the 2001 terrorist attacks on the United States.

On Thursday (9 September 2021), NATO’s Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană met Vice President and Foreign Minister of Colombia Marta Lucía Ramírez de Rincón, and discussed the deepening of bilateral cooperation between Colombia and NATO.

On Friday 10 September 2021, the NATO Deputy Secretary General, Mr. Mircea Geoană, will participate in the international conference “The Rule of Law: From its Origins to the Present” organised by the Dimitrie Cantemir Christian University in Bucharest in collaboration with the International Association for the Philosophy of Law and Social Philosophy (IVR). The Deputy Secretary General will deliver a keynote speech on The Power of Ideas - the strategic and ideological global competition.

On 8 September 2021, Joint Support and Enabling Command (JSEC) declared Full Operational Capability (FOC) and marked the occasion with a ceremony presided over by its Commander, Lieutenant General Jürgen Knappe. Distinguished guests included the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Tod Wolters, the German State Secretary, Thomas Silberhorn, and the Director General of the NATO International Military Staff, Lieutenant General Hans-Werner Wiermann.

On Thursday 9 September 2021, the NATO Deputy Secretary General, Mr. Mircea Geoană will meet with H.E. Marta Lucía Ramírez, the Vice President and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Colombia.

Taking part in a virtual foreign ministerial meeting co-hosted by the US Secretary of State and the German Foreign Minister on Wednesday (8 September 2021), NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the Taliban must make good on their commitments on terrorism, human rights and safe passage for those who wish to leave Afghanistan.

On the 6th and 7th September 2021, the Chair of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer was in Turkey, where he met the Minister of Defence, Mr Hulusi Akar and the Chief of Defence, General Yaşar Güler. The Admiral visited NATO Allied Land Command, as well as the NATO-accredited Centre of Excellence Defence Against Terrorism and the Partnership for Peace Training Centre.

On Wednesday 8 September 2021, the NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, will participate in a virtual meeting of foreign ministers on Afghanistan co-hosted by the US Secretary of State, Mr. Anthony Blinken, and the German Foreign Minister, Mr. Heiko Maas.

The NATO Response Force (NRF) is supporting evacuation and relocation endeavours alongside Allies and the international community. "NATO is committed to evacuating NATO employees and their families, those people we served with in Afghanistan, to a safe and secure environment," said Major General Mead, Allied Joint Force Command Naples' Deputy Chief of Staff –Plans.

On Monday (6 September 2021), NATO’s Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană welcomed Defence Minister Nitiwul of Ghana at NATO Headquarters. During their meeting, Mr. Geoană and Mr. Nitiwul discussed potential opportunities for cooperation between Ghana and NATO. They also exchanged views on current security challenges.

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on Monday (06 September 2021) said Allies must work more together to preserve the Non-Proliferation treaty, strengthen and modernise arms control, and respond to violations.

NATO’s highest Military Authority, the Military Committee, will meet from 17-19 September 2021, in Athens, Greece. General Konstantinos Floros, Chief of the Hellenic National Defence General Staff will host the Conference.

Admiral Rob Bauer visited Bucharest, Romania on 3-4 September 2021. He participated in the fifth edition of the Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum 2021.

On Monday, 6 September 2021, the NATO Deputy Secretary General, Mr. Mircea Geoană will meet with Mr. Dominic Bingab Aduna Nitiwul, Minister of Defence of the Republic of Ghana, at NATO Headquarters.

NATO and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Denmark are jointly organizing the 17th Annual NATO Conference on, Arms Control, Disarmament and Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Non-Proliferation on 6-7 September 2021, in Copenhagen, Denmark.

In a panel discussion at the Bled Strategic Forum on Thursday (2 September 2021), NATO’s Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană said that a stronger European Union in defence can make the Alliance stronger, but will not replace it. He stressed the importance of the transatlantic bond in today’s unpredictable world and the value of NATO-EU partnership to address current security challenges.

In light of the progressive relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions in Belgium and in accordance with the space available for media and current social distancing rules, (a limited number of) media representatives will be allowed to enter physically the NATO HQ for media coverage purposes as of 1 Sept 2021.

On 1-3 September 2021, the NATO Deputy Secretary General, Mr. Mircea Geoană, will travel to Slovenia.

In a virtual meeting of Foreign Ministers from the G7 (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, UK, US) together with Turkey, Qatar, and the European Union on Monday (30 August 2021), NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the evacuation of over 100,000 people from Afghanistan was a historic operation executed under extreme duress. Thanking Allies and Qatar for their efforts, Mr Stoltenberg noted NATO’s role in coordinating evacuations and running Kabul airport operations, and emphasized the need to ensure safe passage for those who worked with NATO and those at risk who are still in Afghanistan.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg took part in the virtual summit of the Group of Seven (G7) on Afghanistan on Tuesday (24 August 2021). He stressed the importance of keeping Kabul airport open in order to continue evacuations. Mr Stoltenberg said that several hundred NATO staff and contractors have been providing critical services, such as air traffic control, fuel supply, and communications at the airport. He added that NATO has also taken on a coordinating role to ensure that people can be evacuated as effectively as possible.