La reuniunea sefilor apărării din NATO de la Bruxelles, Preşedintele Comitetului Militar al NATO, Amiralul Rob Bauer a lăsat un legământ la predarea funcţiei : e nevoie de investiţii mai mari în apărare, având în vedere războiul declanşat de Rusia pe continentul european, în Ucraina. Război rusesc ce este sprijinit de alte dictaturi ale lumii precum Iran, Coreea de Nord şi China.
Secretary General, Admirals, Generals, Ladies and Gentlemen, good morning.
Mesdames et Messieurs, bienvenue à la cent quatre-vingt-douzième session du Comité militaire des chefs d’état-major de la défense.
Welcome to this 192nd Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence Session.
Mr Secretary General, dear Mark, we highly value your presence at this meeting.
We are all grateful to have such an experienced leader at the political helm of the Alliance.
Just like one of your predecessors, Joseph Luns, you display a profound knowledge of world affairs, a deep interest in what drives the people you are dealing with, and steadfast political leadership.
Your presence here at this meeting demonstrates the close cooperation between NATO’s political and military leadership.
The tasks at hand are herculean. But not insurmountable.
Our tasks are to strengthen the deterrence and defence of the Alliance and at the same time support Ukraine in its resistance against Russia’s unprovoked aggression.
As Mr Luns once said: NATO is the most important organisation for peace the world has ever known.
And Machiavelli taught us that the best way to do that… is to prepare for war.
Not because war is inevitable.
But because being better prepared for war strengthens our deterrence.
Which in turn minimises the chance of war being fought on Allied soil.
Mr Secretary General, in your landmark speech at Carnegie Europe last month, you called on Allies to shift to a wartime mindset and turbo charge our defence production and defence spending.
You stated that in order to prevent war, NATO must invest more.
And you stated that we need to be better prepared for what is coming our way in four to five years.
On behalf of the NATO Military Authorities, I would like to thank you for this strong political statement.
This political push is highly necessary to make sure the conditions are in place to have the readiness that is required to implement NATO’s new defence plans.
Not only now, but also 5 years from now.
Around this table, we have gathered one thousand years of military experience.
I say that not to make us all feel terribly old… but to emphasise the broad range of military expertise that this Alliance brings together.
This is truly unique in the world.
Please allow me to welcome for the first time in their new capacity as Chief of Defence:
- General Luciano Portolano, Chief of Defence for Italy.
- and General Michael Claesson, Chief of Defence from Sweden.
Let me also welcome for the first time, our new Supreme Allied Commander Transformation: Admiral Pierre Vandier.
We are very happy to have you on board!
You are flanked by our Supreme (and superb) Allied Commander Europe, General Chris Cavoli.
We are proud to count on both of you for your strategic vision, as we work together on strengthening the military power of the Alliance.
Over the next two days, we will discuss NATO’s readiness to deter and defend the Euro-Atlantic area and to safeguard the region’s one billion inhabitants.
We will discuss NATO’s ongoing missions and operations; the NATO Defence Planning Process, and the implementation path for a multi domain-enabled Alliance by 2030.
A key topic on our agenda is our support to Ukraine.
This includes the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU), which has begun to assume responsibilities.
And the Joint Analysis Training and Education Centre (JATEC), where we work on fostering long-term interoperability with NATO.
Today is the 1057th day of what Russia thought would be a 3-day war. We see the 3-year mark next month.
In his New Year speech, President Putin stated that his only regret was that Russia had not invaded Ukraine sooner.
And he has declared 2025 to be the “Year of the Defender of the Motherland”.
The reality is that the Kremlin has still not achieved any of its strategic objectives… whilst seven hundred thousand Russians been killed and wounded… and the entire Russian population suffers under the brunt of the war effort.
Meanwhile, Ukrainians are being faced with torture, rape, kidnapped children and adults, a complete denial of their identity, filtration camps, and mass graves.
The fight for “freedom” is not a pretentious slogan here.
It is what they do every day.
“Sovereignty” is not an abstract term.
It is the difference between deciding your own fate or having it decreed in Moscow.
Ukraine needs and deserves our full support.
Our support is not charity.
It is in the political and military interest of the Alliance to do so.
We need to show the world that democracy can and will win.
And that democracy is worth fighting for.
It is not a perfect system.
Nor is it self-sustainable. Even in countries where it has existed for centuries.
But it is worth risking our lives for.
Because without choice, without freedom, without the rule of law: what is there?
How can we ever build a safe and prosperous world for our children?
This realisation has sunk in not only in NATO countries, but across the globe.
That is why NATO and its Partners around the globe have strengthened ties.
I am immensely happy that we will 27 of them represented during our meetings today and tomorrow.
And that we can discuss on the top military level how we can best tackle pervasive instability around the globe.
And how we can enhance our military cooperation, standardization and interoperability.
Russia’s war against Ukraine has global repercussions.
And NATO is also deeply concerned about the role that China plays in international security.
There is zero transparency about its military build-up, including nuclear.
It is displaying increasingly aggressive behaviour against its neighbours.
And it is a crucial enabler of Russia’s war effort.
The best response to all this is to stand together firmer than ever.
To be closer than ever.
To be more united than ever.
And that is exactly what NATO and NATO Partners are doing.
It is up to all of us to make sure that democracy triumphs over autocracy.
And that accountability triumphs over impunity.
We have it within ourselves to build on the ground-breaking work that has already been done.
With that, Mr Secretary General, I kindly invite you to provide your opening remarks.
