NATO Secretary General: One of our greatest strengths is our ability to adapt
The NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday (25 March 2015) that the Alliance “is used to the long haul. And one of our greatest strengths is our ability to adapt.” He was speaking at the opening of the annual NATO Transformation Seminar in Washington, DC (United States) on “The Warsaw Summit and Beyond,” organized by the Atlantic Council and the Allied Command Transformation and attended by NATO Permanent Representatives, the Supreme Allied Commander for Transformation, General Jean-Paul Paloméros, and the NATO Military Committee. Mr. Stoltenberg added that “Allied Command Transformation plays an important role in NATO’s continued adaptation to a changing world”.
The NATO Secretary General underlined that “in the last year, Russia’s annexation of Crimea, its aggressive actions in Ukraine, and the rise of violent extremism in North Africa and the Middle East, have changed our security environment dramatically”. He stressed: “these challenges will not go away any time soon. So, we have to be prepared for the unexpected. And stand ready to sustain our efforts for years to come. Today we do not have the luxury to choose between collective defence and crisis management. For the first time in NATO’s history we have to do both”.