Joint press point

with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the Prime Minister of Belgium, Charles Michel

  • 22 Jun. 2018 -
  • |
  • Last updated 02-Jul-2018 10:24

(As delivered)

Prime Minister, Charles,

It is great to have you back here at NATO’s new headquarters.

It’s also a great honour for me to be able to receive you here because Belgium has been so instrumental for constructing and building this building. This is now a modern home for a modern Alliance. And you have been hosting NATO since 1967, but now you are not just hosting NATO but also hosting NATO in this very beautiful and stunning building.

We have implemented or we have conducted the move and now 4000 people, more than 4000 people work in this building. And we are very pleased with the fact that we have been able to move in and start to work in the new Head Quarters.

The space we are in now – The Agora – is the size of two and a half football pitches.

And we have discovered that this beautiful space is the perfect place to watch The Beautiful Game.  After work, staff follow the World Cup here on the giant TV screen just behind us. It is one of the many benefits of being part of NATO!

So Charles, I know that you will watch the game tomorrow and I wish you and the Red Devils tomorrow all the best. Norway, my country, didn’t qualify but 10 NATO Allies are part of the games, have qualified, so there’s actually quite a good chance that a NATO Ally will become World Champion.

We thank you for being the host nation for NATO, but we also thank Belgium for contributing in many ways to our shared security.

Belgian troops are part of NATO's Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan, helping train Afghan forces to combat terrorism. Your soldiers serve with NATO’s battlegroup in Lithuania. And Belgian jets keep the skies over the Baltic Sea region safe by participating in the NATO Air Policing Mission there.

During our meeting we discussed the upcoming Summit here next month.

We are going to make important decisions there on deterrence and defence, higher readiness of our forces, we will decide to step up the fight against terrorism, including the training mission in Iraq.

We will also continue with the funding for the Afghan armed forces.

And we will also decide to strengthen our cooperation with the European Union.

I’m planning on signing a joint declaration with President Juncker and President Tusk.

Outlining the mission on how the strengthen the cooperation between NATO and the EU.

And I welcome Belgium’s leadership on all these issues.

Leaders will also discuss burden-sharing. In Wales, at our NATO Summit there in 2014 we decided to stop the cuts, to gradually increase defence spending, and then move to spending 2 per cent of GDP within a decade. And the good news is that European Allies and Canada have turned a corner. All Allies have stopped the cuts, all Allies have started to increase and more Alllies spend 2% of GDP on defence.

And the majority of all Allies have now put forward plans on how to reach 2% within a decade.

I welcome the process we also see in Belgium. Belgium has stopped the cuts in defence spending and we also see some increase. But I encourage Belgium to do more, to increase defence spending and invest in new capabilities, both in new war ships and in new fighter planes.

We must continue to invest more in defence to keep our citizens safe.

So I’m looking forward to the Summit, this is a Summit with a lot of substance, with important decisions on deterrence, defence, the fight against terrorism, cooperation with the EU, and many other issues.

And once again, thank you for all the support you give to the Alliance, both for being host nation but also through your contributions to NATO missions and operations.

Welcome.

Oana Lungescu [NATO Spokesperson]: Le Soir, gentleman there.

Question [Le Soir]: Thank you.  Philippe Regnier, Journal Le Soir.  I have a question for the Secretary General regarding the future declaration EU-NATO.  Do you expect in this declaration that there will be strong recognition by the NATO side to… also the US side, that the progress that the EU has made in terms of defence makes a real contribution to the fair burden-sharing of the collective defence?

[Interpreted] - Prime Minister Michel, following what you said on multilateralism, Prime Minister, President Trump has a particular style and do you believe that at the Summit he will be pushy towards Belgium, as Belgium seems to be lagging behind when it comes to investment and defence spending?  Thank you.

Jens Stoltenberg [NATO Secretary General]: I believe that the declaration I will sign with President Juncker and President Tusk will state clearly that we welcome the EU efforts on defence.  Because stronger EU efforts on defence will strengthen NATO, it will help to develop capabilities, increase defence spending, addressing the fragmentation of the European defence industry, and by doing so it will strengthen Europe, the European Union, but also NATO.

We have to remember that more than 90% of the people living in the European Union, they live in a NATO country.  So, it's very hard to strengthen European defence efforts without at the same time not strengthening NATO.  At the same time, it is important to underline that - which has been stated again and again from EU leaders and European leaders - that stronger EU efforts on defence will not replace or compete with NATO.  It will complement NATO.  And of course NATO is the Alliance that can provide collective defence for both Canada and United States, but also for European NATO Allies.  We have to remember that after Brexit 80% of NATO's defence expenditure will come from non-EU Allies.  Three of the four battlegroups we have deployed in the Baltic region will be led by non-EU Allies; United States, Canada and United Kingdom.  This is partly about money, but also about geography.  In the North you have a non-EU Ally, Norway and Iceland.  In the south you have Turkey.  In the West you will have US, Canada and United Kingdom.  And it's very hard to have a credible defence of Europe without the capabilities, the resources, but also the geography that non-EU Allies provide.

So, we will welcome EU efforts on defence, but something that complements not competes with NATO.  And of course it's also extremely important to have coherence when it comes to development of capabilities and the fullest possible involvement of non-EU Allies.  But this is something which has been stated clearly both from the European side and from the NATO, so I am absolutely confident that we will be able to continue to work together and respecting each other.

Charles Michel [Prime Minister of Belgium] - [Interpreted]: To answer your question, first of all, we decided to stop systematic defence spending cuts, even before Donald Trump was elected US President.  It was an agreement at the level of my government to relaunch a defence strategy, to re-enhance our security and to be a reliable NATO partner.  And when you look at the metrics, there's three important metrics: the amounts in terms of contribution, as a percentage of GDP, but also capacities and capabilities.  And there's two of these three metrics where we are the good pupil.  Yes, there is one we still have to improve further, and this is happening through the decisions we're making right now.  Some are in the making.  Some decisions have already been made, in terms of reinvesting in our defence.  So, I have the feeling that Belgium is putting into practice the commitments that it has made and I… my task is to convince Belgium, as I do the government and Belgian citizens, that investing there…

Oana Lungescu [NATO Spokesperson]: … [inaudible] over here.

Question: Mr Secretary General, for any country that wants to buy new fighter planes, in your view what should be the criteria to make that decision?  And perhaps also [Spoken in Dutch]. 

Jens Stoltenberg [NATO Secretary General]: So, we welcome in NATO that Belgium has decided to modernise its air forces and that is important for Belgium, but it's also important for NATO and of course, NATO has seen many times the importance of the Belgium Air Force.  They have participated in NATO missions and operations, air policing in the Baltic Sea, but also in other missions and operations, air policing in the Benelux area together with the Netherlands.  So, I have met Belgian pilots, professional, dedicated pilots, so this is important also for the whole Alliance.

What is important for NATO is that Belgium acquires new, modern, capable planes which are interoperable with the NATO systems and other NATO air forces.  But it's not for NATO to point at any specific platform or any specific type of fighter jets, as long as they are modern, capable and fully interoperable with the NATO systems.  But we leave it to the nations to decide exactly what kind of plane.

Charles Michel [Prime Minister of Belgium]: [interpreted]: And I will repeat the same thing in French, for the Secretary General to have translation.  We are taking steps to follow the procedure, the procedure to choose the destiny of the F-16s.  But many years ago, even before Donald Trump was elected actually, we decided to reinvest in defence, and procedures have either been started or decisions have already been made.  For the navy, for the issue of the frigates, we are doing a partnership with the Netherlands.  The decision is made.  There is a procedure underway for the acquisition of new drones and there are also procedures for armoured rolling stock.

And there is of course the big topical issue, the F-16 dossier.  And I want the government to make the right decision at the right time, with the best possible level of information.  You have understood that for NATO what is important is that the choice that we make is part of interoperability at NATO level, between the different air forces.  And this is one of the criterion that we will respect.

Oana Lungescu [NATO Spokesperson]: Middle, gentleman with glasses.

Question: A question for Mr Stoltenberg.  In Belgium, some people are afraid that the decision on the replacement of the fighter jets will be postponed until after the election, so until second half of 2019.  Would that be a problem for NATO?

Jens Stoltenberg [NATO Secretary General]: The important thing for NATO is that Belgium invests in new modern, capable aircrafts and fighter jets.  Of course, we would like to see that decision as soon as possible, but whether that decision is taken in this summer or later on this year, is not important for NATO.

Oana Lungescu [NATO Spokesperson]: One last question.  Anadolu, lady in the second row.

Question [Anadolu]: A question for Secretary General.  Following the resolution of the name conflict between Greece and now North Macedonia, can we expect an announcement of a new NATO member in the upcoming Summit?

Jens Stoltenberg [NATO Secretary General]: What you can expect is that the NATO Summit will invite the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia¹ to start accession talks with NATO and then, given that the agreement between Skopje and Athens is finalised, also with a referendum in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia¹, then we will also be able to invite the country to be a full member of the Alliance.

So, I am optimistic.  I hope and expect that the Summit will make this decision.  And then of course, I hope that there will be a majority in the referendum that supports the agreement, because that’s an historic opportunity to join NATO and the people in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia¹ should seize this opportunity and vote yes, and then become members of NATO.

Oana Lungescu [NATO Spokesperson]: Thank you very much.  This concludes this press point.  Thank you.

1. Турция признает Республику Македонию под ее конституционным названием.