Speaking in Manama at a public diplomacy dinner event, co-hosted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Bahrain and the recently established Bahrain Center for Strategic, International and Energy Studies, the Secretary General said: “Why is our partnership so important? In a nutshell, because NATO and ICI countries face common security challenges and threats – challenges and threats, such as failed states, terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, piracy and energy security.
These are all security issues that cannot be successfully tackled by any one country alone – they require a multilateral and cooperative approach to security, including through the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative. Therefore it is clear that the security of Bahrain, and of all our ICI partner countries, is of strategic interest to NATO.”