NATO Deputy Secretary General: NATO is ready for whatever challenges it might face
NATO adapts and prepares for the future, said NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană at the international conference on ‘Preparing NATO and the Allies for the Future Challenges’ in Sofia, Bulgaria, on Tuesday (27 October).
The Deputy Secretary General discussed the role of evolving technologies in the changing security environment. He said that conflicts are increasingly defined by bytes and big data as much as by bullets and battleships. Mr Geoană said the Alliance is ready for these changes. “NATO is driving innovation,” he underlined.
Climate change and the Covid-19 pandemic are also shaping NATO’s security, Mr. Geoană added. “NATO’s main task during the pandemic is to make sure the health crisis does not become a security crisis,” he said. He also praised allied troops for supporting the civilian response to the pandemic. Throughout October and November, NATO Allies Albania, Montenegro and North Macedonia will receive ventilators and around 1.5 million euros from NATO’s Pandemic Response Fund.
Mr Geoană reminded the Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has launched the NATO 2030 reflection process that aims to keep the alliance strong militarily, make it stronger politically, and take a more global approach. “Our nations stand united across two continents for a single, simple and powerful reason. Our values. Our freedom, our democracy, our human rights, the rule of law,” he concluded.