On July 13, 2022, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg discussed the NATO Summit in Madrid with members of the EU parliament and referred to it as “historic and transformative.”
The Secretary General was present at a joint meeting of the Subcommittee on Security and Defence and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament to discuss the decisions made at the NATO Summit and the relationship between NATO and the European Union.
According to him, NATO will support Ukraine for “as long as it takes” because the security of the Euro-Atlantic region and the stability of the world depend on a strong, independent Ukraine.
In order to respond to a new security environment, the Allies decided to undertake the “biggest overhaul in our deterrence and defence since the Cold War,” according to Mr. Stoltenberg.
The Alliance will increase the number of high readiness forces to over 300,000, strengthen forward defences, improve battle groups in the Alliance’s eastern region, and preposition equipment and stockpiles of military supplies.
Speaking of Finland and Sweden’s application to join NATO, he stated that it is advantageous for all parties involved—Finland, Sweden, NATO, and regional stability—and that it “also demonstrates that NATO’s door is open.”
The Secretary General emphasized that a new Strategic Concept was approved by NATO leaders in Madrid.
Despite being different documents, he claimed that the Strategic Concept for NATO and the Strategic Compass for the EU “reflect the same reality” in a more perilous, competitive, and unpredictably changing world.