NATO Secretary General meets Belgium’s Prime Minister
The NATO Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, met the Prime Minister of Belgium Charles Michel on Friday (9 January 2015) and discussed the implementation of the important decisions taken at the Wales Summit last September. The Secretary General thanked the country for hosting Alliance headquarters in Brussels and Mons, and for its contributions to NATO missions and operations.
The Belgian Vice Prime Minister and Minister for Foreign Affairs, Didier Reynders, and the Defence Minister, Mr Steven Vandeput also took part in the talks. The Secretary General stressed that as the security situation was changing, NATO had to stay ready and able to defend all Allies against any threat, with the right capabilities and the right resources. In this context, the discussions focused on the implementation of the Readiness Action Plan and the defence pledge agreed at the Wales Summit. The Secretary General said NATO was committed to working with the Belgian government, including through the defence planning process, so that Belgium can continue to meet its commitments to the Alliance.
Mr Stoltenberg praised Belgium for its contributions in Afghanistan, to the air policing mission in the Eastern part of the Alliance, in cyber defence, and in multinational cooperation with other Allies.