NATO News

The NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg is in Kultaranta, Finland, on Sunday (12 June 2022), attending the Kultaranta Talks and meeting with the President, Sauli Niinistö, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Pekka Haavisto, and other senior Finnish officials.

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg attended the Bucharest Nine (B9) Summit by video teleconference on Friday (10 June 2022), to prepare for the NATO Summit in Madrid at the end of this month. The B9 format, established at the initiative of Polish President Duda and Romanian President Iohannis in the aftermath of Russia’s first invasion of Ukraine in 2014, includes NATO Allies Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, and its summit is currently taking place in Bucharest.

On 10 June 2022, the Director General of the NATO International Military Staff (IMS), Lieutenant General Hans-Werner Wiermann welcomed his counterpart from the European Union Military Staff (EUMS), Vice Admiral Hervé Bléjean and his staff to NATO HQ for the bi-annual IMS-EUMS Directors’ General Conference.

Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană addressed Russia’s war on Ukraine and the future of NATO at the Copenhagen Democracy Summit on Friday (10 June 2022). Previewing the Alliance’s next Strategic Concept, which will be agreed at the Madrid Summit later in June, he said that the Concept will be a blueprint for NATO’s future adaptation.

On 12 – 13 June 2022, NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, is visiting Finland and Sweden.

A convoy of 30 military trucks with personnel and equipment from NATO's Deployable Air Command and Control Centre has deployed from its home in Poggio Renatico, Italy to Konya Air Base, Türkiye. The deployment is a key part of exercise Ramstein Dust-II 2022. The exercise will also integrate the tactical live flying phase of the Turkish-led exercise Anatolian Eagle 22 to enhance the NATO Integrated Air and Missile Defence (IAMD) posture and improve interoperability.

On 8 June 2022, the Defence Institution Building School - one of the flagship initiatives of the Substantial NATO-Georgia Package - achieved a major milestone, as it was certified as a NATO accredited Education and Training Facility for a period of six years, by the Allied Command Transformation.

A family of 13 Afghan citizens who worked with NATO has recently arrived in Greece. They were temporarily hosted by North Macedonia while awaiting their permanent resettlement. North Macedonia has been providing housing, education and health care for those Afghans, including support during the holy month of Ramadan.

From 5 to 9 June 2022, Admiral Rob Bauer, Chair of the NATO Military Committee paid an official visit to Japan upon the invitation of the Chief of Staff of the Japan Self-Defense Forces, General Koji Yamazaki.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz discussed preparations for the upcoming Madrid Summit by video teleconference on Thursday (9 June 2022).

Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană spoke at a panel on Russia’s war against Ukraine on Thursday (9 June 2022), hosted by POLITICO and presented by the Wilfried Martens Centre for European Studies. He said that the war had not just galvanized NATO and the European Union, but also “something which is much deeper and much more important: it galvanised our democratic society”, pointing to the significant support that Allies have provided, but also to young Europeans and North Americans fundraising for Ukraine.

NATO vessels from Italy and Türkiye conducted training exercises with Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force ships in the Mediterranean Sea this week. The Italian Navy's ITS Margottini and the Turkish Navy's TCG Salihreis, both assigned to Standing NATO Maritime Group Two, met with the JS Kashima and JS Shimakaze, including for a personnel exchange and a manoeuvring exercise. Cooperation between NATO and Japan has grown broader and deeper over the years, including in the areas of maritime security, cyber defence, and non-proliferation.

On 8 June 2022, the Cooperative Security Division of the NATO International Military Staff (IMS) hosted its Bi-Annual Meeting with Partners. Representatives from over 30 Partner Nations attended informal workshops to discuss areas of common interest, such as interoperability, maritime security as well as energy security.

On Thursday, 09 June 2022, the NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, will hold virtual meetings with the Chancellor of Germany, Mr. Olaf Scholz and Ms. Christine Lambrecht, Federal Minister of Defence of Germany. More information will be available on the NATO website in the course of the day.

On Wednesday (8 June 2022), NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg participated in a conference call with Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, Latvian Prime Minster Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš and Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė.

From 30 May to 3 June 2022, the Cooperative Security division of the NATO International Military Staff hosted a group of Partner Nations as part of their annual Familiarisation Programme. Participants were introduced to the structures and roles of both, NATO and SHAPE headquarters, and explored NATO-Partner military and defence cooperation.

Fourteen NATO allies along with two NATO partner nations, Finland and Sweden, are currently participating in the exercise Baltic Operations (BALTOPS 22) with over 45 ships, more than 75 aircraft and 7,500 personnel.

The NATO Defence Education Enhancement Programme has recently organized the first Annual Conference of Non-Commissioned Officer Schools, together with the Partnership for Peace Consortium of Defence Academies and Security Studies Institutes and the Armed Forces of Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Air and missile defence units from 17 NATO Allies and partners, including Finland and Sweden, are taking part in exercise Ramstein Legacy from 6-10 June 2022. This is Europe’s largest integrated air and missile defence exercise, and takes place across Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.

On Friday 10 June 2022, the NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jens Stoltenberg will travel to Bucharest, Romania, where he will take part in the Bucharest-9 Summit 2022, hosted by the President of Romania Klaus Iohannis and the President of Poland Andrzej Duda.