Opening remarks

by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the start of the meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of NATO Foreign Ministers on NATO-EU relations

  • 06 Dec. 2016 -
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  • Last updated: 06 Dec. 2016 14:24

(As delivered)

So welcome, I think we are ready to start.

Welcome to all of you and welcome to this meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers devoted to our cooperation with the European Union.

As we face unprecedented challenges, our cooperation is more important than ever.

Today, we will mark a milestone in our relations. We will endorse a package of proposals to implement the Joint Declaration that I signed together with Presidents Tusk and Juncker in July in Warsaw this year. We called for new ways of working together, and a new level of ambition, and we are delivering. We are increasing our ability to respond to the challenges we face. To maintain peace and stability. Neither organisation has the full range of tools to address these challenges alone, but working together, we are a formidable force for good.    

That concludes my public remarks at the opening of this meeting and then I thank the media for being here together with us and then in a moment we will continue with the rest of the meeting.