Remarks

Good afternoon.

President Milatović, 
Dear Jakov, 
 
It is a pleasure to welcome you here at NATO Headquarters. I should say to welcome you back to NATO Headquarters.

Montenegro is a valued Ally. 
You contribute to NATO’s forces stationed in Bulgaria and Latvia, helping to deter and defend against any aggression. 
 
Montenegro also promotes peace, stability and security in the Western Balkans. 
Your troops serve in NATO’s KFOR peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. 
And further afield, you contribute to NATO’s training mission in Iraq.  
 
I welcome that Montenegro spends 2% of GDP on defence.  
Of course, I count on all Allies to take the tough decisions, dig deep, and spend much more on defence. 
This is essential, I believe, to keep our people safe, now but also in the future. 
 
Montenegro also supports Ukraine in its fight against Russian aggression, providing military equipment and training.  

We must all do more to help Ukraine. And this was very much [inaudible] on the agenda of our foreign ministers meeting in the last two days.

I want to thank you for Montenegro’s contributions to our shared security, and for all your efforts to enhance the cooperation in the Western Balkans.

So again, good to have you here in the Headquarters and we look forward to welcome you again.