Press conference by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the conclusion of the Brussels Summit
We have had a very good summit.
Over the past two days, we have taken major decisions to strengthen NATO’s deterrence and defence.
To step up in the fight against terrorism.
And to ensure fair burden-sharing among all Allies.
I told you earlier this week that I expected frank discussions on burden-sharing.
And that’s exactly what we had.
That is what we do among friends and Allies.
All Allies have heard President Trump’s message loud and clear.
We understand that this American president is very serious about defence spending.
And this is having a clear impact.
And all Allies have committed to raise this number substantially.
So we are stepping up as never before.
Allowing US spending to go down.
There is a new sense of urgency due to President Trump’s strong leadership on defence spending.
Today, all Allies agreed to redouble their efforts.
And this will make NATO stronger.
All Allies are committed to NATO.
And that was very clear from all the 29 leaders around the table today.
Because NATO is good for Europe.
And it is good for North America.
Two World Wars and a Cold War have shown us that we are stronger together than apart.
The only time NATO invoked our collective defence clause, article 5, was after the 9/11 attacks on the United States.
As a result, hundreds of thousands of European and Canadian soldiers have stood shoulder to shoulder with America in Afghanistan.
Over a thousand have paid the ultimate price.
Today, we also decided to sustain our presence in Afghanistan until conditions indicate a change is appropriate.
And we extended our financing for Afghan security forces through 2024.
This will help them further develop their Special Forces and Air Force, as they continue to fight international terrorism.
We also expressed strong support for President Ghani’s bold peace proposal.
And our continued commitment will strengthen Afghanistan in its efforts to create the conditions for lasting peace and reconciliation.
Jens Stoltenberg: We provide support to the Afghan security forces or army and security forces in different ways. We provide training but we also provide funding. And what we decided today was to continue with both training and funding. Our current commitment to funding is to 2020. Now we decided to have funding to 2024. The current level of funding from non-US allies and partners is around $1 billion, if you add what we give to something called the ANA Trust Fund and to the Afghan National Army and also to the UN managed trust fund for police, LOTFA. The exact numbers varies a bit year by year. But the commitment is close to or is $1 billion so it is something around there. But it varies a bit from year to year. The money and the trainers we provide will be used to strengthen the Afghan forces in many different skills and areas but we are specially focused on three areas. Special operation forces. They have proven extremely important in the fight against the Taliban and terrorism in Afghanistan. In new air forces which is very helpful and play an important role. And also to improve command and control to develop and build the military academies and military schools. - Read More
Press conference by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the conclusion of the Brussels Summit
posted by Fakhria @ 7/13/2018
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