Category Archives: NATO

The US Navy set up a new facility in a cave system in northern Norway in October, reflecting the increased focus that the US and its NATO allies have put on the alliance's northern borders with Russia.

This month, the US Navy announced that Naval Forces Europe and US Navy Expeditionary Medical Support Command had delivered an Expeditionary Medical Facility to a cave system near Bogen Bay in northern Norway, some 100 miles north of the Arctic Circle.

EMFs have many of the same capabilities as a modern hospital and can be deployed on short notice, according to Lt. Cmdr. Michael Lucas, director of operations for US Navy Expeditionary Medical Support Command.

Norwegian caves are "an excellent storage solution" that allow for quickly stowing and deploying the EMF, and Civil Engineering Support Equipment already in them will support the EMF, Lucas said in a press release.

The 150-bed mobile hospital can operate within Norway's caves or be moved to respond to an emergency elsewhere in Europe.

It contains 20 intensive-care beds, 130 acute-care beds, four operating rooms, an emergency room, and a laboratory. It can also conduct X-rays and CT scans, in addition to storing 300 units of blood.

The facility brings an enhanced medical capability to northern Europe that provides "increased opportunities to develop shared processes and procedures with NATO allies and partners in the region," the Navy said in the release.

Lt. Cmdr. Anthony Skrypek, NAVEUR's force medical planner, said the project took three years and that the move allowed for training on medical and logistical processes in the Arctic, "which improves interoperability with NATO allies and partners."

Lt. Gen. Yngve Odlo, Norway's Joint Headquarters commander, called the deployment "a clear demonstration" of US commitment to Norway and to Europe.

Moving the facility's components from Blount Island Command in Florida to the caves in Norway required 195 containers and 165 pieces of Civil Engineering Support Equipment.

The move itself took about a month, but the time it takes to deploy it elsewhere in Europe will depend on where it needs to go and what it's needed to do, US Naval Forces Europe told Insider in an email.

The US Navy previously based two 500-bed fleet hospitals in Bogen Bay. Those facilities were deployed during the Gulf War and again during the invasion of Iraq, after which they were sent back to the US for repair. (EMFs replaced fleet hospitals in 2007).

The US Marine Corps has stored equipment in caves in Norway since the early 1980s. Much of it was withdrawn for the Iraq War, but those stocks were later rebuilt and in recent years have supported exercises around Europe.

The Corps' force redesign likely means some heavy equipment stored in those caves will be decommissioned. The Corps also said recently that it will reduce the rotational deployments it has conducted in Norway since 2017.

Other moves indicate the US will be spending more time in Norway, however.

The US Navy and Air Force presence there has increased in recent months, including port calls and a historic deployment by B-1B bombers earlier this year. US Navy commanders have also trained to sail in fjords during exchanges with Norway's navy.

A deal signed this spring will allow the US to build facilities on Norwegian bases, including at Evenes air station and Ramsund naval station, both of which are near Bogen Bay.

The activity comes amid heightened tension with Russia. Russia's military activity in the Arctic has concerned Norway and its NATO allies, which have stepped up their own activity in that increasingly accessible region.

A Russian invasion of northern Norway is seen as unlikely, but the EMF deployment is part of the response to what US officials call strategic competition in the region and around the world.

"In this era of great-power competition, distributing our capabilities around the globe drives down risk," Rear Adm. Michael Curran, director of readiness and logistics for US Naval Forces Europe, said in the release.

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US Navy deploys hospital to caves in Norway amid tension with Russia - Business Insider

Amid numerous discussions about the future of Ukraine a country that has been unable to form a single nation in 30 years of independence, and is torn apart by interethnic, linguistic and economic contradictions, Europe should ask itself just what Ukraine really means to it. And the answer will be the same a buffer zone, because this clearly reflects Ukraines geopolitical role in relations with NATO and the EU. The Alliance needs Ukraine as a buffer zone, and even not all of it at that.

During the early 1990s, when Ukraine was not yet torn apart by civil war, NATO was seriously eyeing this former Soviet republic. As for Russian president Boris Yeltsin, he was not ruling out joining the Alliance himself. In 1994, NATO signed a framework agreement with Kiev as part of the Partnership for Peace initiative.

Five years later, Ukraine demonstrated its pro-Atlantic slant by supporting NATOs operation in the Balkans. On June 12, 1999, Kiev even closed the countrys airspace for Russian planes flying to Pristina for several hours. That move caused an angry backlash from many Ukrainians, who consider themselves a part of the Orthodox Slavic world. And still, the first small step towards Euro-Atlantic integration seemed to have been made.

Twenty-seven years on, Ukraine is a fragmented country, with a crumbling economy, a corrupt government and a vague foreign policy. Its biggest foreign policy breakthrough was gaining a visa-free status, which gives Ukrainian citizens a chance to look for illegal jobs in prosperous European countries without the need to apply for entry visas. That said, all the assistance Ukraine got from the United States and Europe did not help it to bring back Crimea or gain victory over its own citizens in Donbass. Moreover, Brussels and Washington have strong doubts about the countrys defense capability. The fact is that of all the post-Soviet countries NATO was smart enough to accep only the former Soviet Baltic republics, which spent 2 percent of their GDP on defense a great deal of money considering their small budgets (for comparison, Belgium spends 0.9 percent and Hungary 1.27 percent).

With Ukraines official defense outlays of at least 5.93 percent of GDP (2021) the country should be a mighty military power not afraid of anyone and a welcome new member for NATO. However, military supplies have long become a source of easy money for the countrys political elites, and the change of presidential teams did not change this a tiny bit. Ukraine keeps getting all imaginable foreign assistance, which is written off, disappears on the front line of a smoldering war and is resold to third countries. Meanwhile, despite its wealth of unresolved problems, Kiev keeps knocking on NATOs door, apparently hoping that Brussels will help sort them out.

In fact, the only role Ukraine can hope for is that of a buffer zone. In the European geopolitical model, the conflict with Ukraine is forcing Russia to put on hold its aggressive intensions in Europe, and having snatched yet another chunk of Ukrainian territory, the Russians will take some time to digest it. Kiev is certainly not happy about such a scenario and in June, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy appealed to NATO with a demand to immediately accept the country into the alliance. He emphasized that NATO membership will be the only way to end the conflict in Donbass. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg promised that someday Ukraine will become a member of the alliance, but this will not happen overnight. Naturally enough, Ukraines pro-presidential media ignored that latter part of Stoltenbergs message and started describing in glowing terms the joys of an early entry into the Alliance. And this despite Russias firm opposition to NATOs expansion, which means that Ukraines entry into the Alliance will automatically entail active measures by Russia to ensure its own security.

Realizing full well that neither NATO nor the EU are eager to take in Ukraine any time soon, President Zelensky and his administration started portraying Ukraine as a Shield of Europe. Well, this propaganda ploy, intended for foreign and domestic consumption, might work for some time for some EU countries, which remain jittery about the imaginary picture of Putins tanks racing down Europes highways. And again, the Ukrainian right-wingers will have a new reason to pride themselves on their role as defenders of Europeans against the Russian hordes. But why on earth should Putin want to seize Europe? Who would he be selling gas to? What kind of a threat is Moscow posing to Brussels then?

Gas blackmail? But this is just business, and there are other gas suppliers out there. Meanwhile, the Shield is costing Europe a great deal and the price tag keeps going up. Kiev demands to preserve gas transit for itself, wants gas supplies at preferential prices and new sanctions against Moscow. At the same time, Ukrainian politicians insult their neighbors, make no attempts whatsoever to rein in the domestic ultra-right, who pose a threat to the whole of Europe, and are mired in corruption. So whether NATO and the Russian Federation really need a buffer zone is a big question. What we certainly do not need, however, is a Shield that we pay for from our own pockets

From our partner International Affairs

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NATO decision on Russian diplomats was seen in Moscow as the last straw to break the camels back - Modern Diplomacy

On Thursday (21 October 2021), NATO Defence Ministers endorsed NATOs 2021-2025 Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security (WPS).

The Action Plan is available here.

The new Action Plan supports NATO Allied commitment, reaffirmed at the 2021 Brussels summit, to further advance gender equality and integrate gender perspectives in all that NATO does, across political, civilian and military structures, from policies and planning, training and education, to missions and operations.

Under the new Action Plan, cooperation with partners, international organisations and civil society will be further broadened and enhanced. Gender perspectives will be integrated in domains such as innovation and new technologies, climate change and resilience. Training and education of NATOs civilian and military personnel, Allies and partners will be further increased, notably in the prevention and response to conflict-related sexual violence, in line with NATOs newly approved policy on this issue.The Action Plan guides the work of staff across the NATO enterprise as well as all NATO Allies as they implement the NATO policy. 25 of NATOs partner nations have associated themselves to it.

The first NATO WPS Action Plan was launched in 2010.

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NATO releases new Action Plan on Women, Peace and Security - NATO HQ

In August 2021, a NATO Building Integrity (BI) team, in cooperation with NATO Mission Iraq (NMI) and Allied Joint Force Command Naples (JFCN), concluded the BI train-the-trainers programme for the Ministerial Training and Development Centre (MTDC) of the Ministry of Defence of Iraq.

From 23 March 2021 to 15 July 2021, a core team composed of personnel from NATO BI and JFCN delivered an intensive and customised training programme for future Building Integrity trainers. The purpose of the training was to enhance national capabilities related to building integrity and good governance in the defence and security sector and to support the Iraqi Ministry of Defence in its anti-corruption efforts.

In a hybrid format of lectures delivered online to participants in Baghdad, lecturers and trainees engaged in discussions on subjects such as corruption as a security risk, international legal standards, the role of ethics and the assessment of corruption risks. Special attention was paid to the ministerial functional areas such as procurement, internal audit and human resources management, which play a critical role in strengthening institutional resilience against corruption.

MTDC instructors have demonstrated their commitment to promoting the values and rules of integrity, combatting corruption and reducing its risks in a manner that contributes to achieving the overall objectives of the Ministry of Defence, said Mr Hussain Mohamed Taher, Director of the General Directorate for Budget and Programmes at the Ministry of Defence and one of the participants of the programme.

Iraqi partners were able to expand their network of contacts and learn from the experience and good practices of other countries since representatives from the ministries of defence of Italy, Norway and the United Kingdom participated in the programme. All participants were able to reflect on the multidimensional and crosscutting nature of Building Integrity and good governance reforms, while exchanging experiences on challenges and lessons learned.

The three-month programme culminated in the certificate handover ceremony, which was held on 3 August in Baghdad under the auspices of the Secretary General of the Iraqi Ministry of Defense, Mr Jabbar Thajeel Mutalak Al-Haidari; the Director of the Ministerial Training and Development Center, Mr Ali Hassoun; the representative of the Secretary General, Adel Al-Fartousi; and the Commander of NATO Mission Iraq, Lieutenant General Michael Lollesgaard.

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NATO Building Integrity team conducts train-the-trainers programme in Iraq - NATO HQ

Integration into NATO now involves matters beyond ensuring Ukraines security, including offering the Alliance its help.

Thats according to Yuriy Kochevenko, a Ukraine-based military expert, chief of the International Center for Countering Russian Propaganda, who spoke with Dom TV, Ukrinform reports.

The Ukrainian Army is now one of the strongest in Europe and one of the largest even in terms of manpower. Many NATO countries have relaxed to a certain extent and are saving on armaments. Why bother if there is the United States and a massive NATO umbrella? Among our neighbors, only Polands 150,000-160,000-strong Armed Forces of Poland are objective, while the Ukrainian Army has 250,000 forces in its ranks. Meanwhile, other countries armies are much smaller," said the expert.

According to Kochevenko, the Ukrainian Army, with its combat experience, numbers, and hardware is a serious force that cant be ignored at the moment, while joint military exercises with NATO Allies prove this point.

"And when we were just starting our cooperation with NATO, we still looked at NATO from the bottom up in terms of experience and understanding of command systems. Everything seemed so cool and different from what we had back then. And now that we meet with our NATO partners, when we conduct joint exercises, we are already a match. In addition, many officers from the United States, Lithuania, and Germany express real interest in our approaches, they look into our experience and our methods," he said. Kochevenko.

He added that at the moment, there is no model better than NATOs to ensure security of a democratic state.

"So we can go to NATO not only for protection, but also to offer our help, offer our shield ... And, of course, this causes tantrums in Moscow, especially when this comes in a package with the efforts by our Georgian partners. In fact, the Georgian army is 40,000 professional, well-trained qualified military, while the population of Georgia is only 4 million. And this is a very significant force for the Caucasus. And together, we are a force that the aggressor power will have to reckon with," the expert said.

As Ukrinform reported earlier, the NATO Summit held in Brussels in June 2021 reaffirmed the prospects of Euro-Atlantic integration for Ukraine and Georgia once these countries are ready for such a step and when political agreement on such membership is reached among all Allies.

im

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Ukraine can go to NATO not only for protection, but also to offer help - expert - Ukrinform. Ukraine and world news

On October 22, 2021, the Secretary General of NATO presents with the Defense Ministers of Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia and the United Kingdom the Innovation Fund they have just financed.

"NATO has ended up in the attic," wrote the political commentators of several newspapers a month ago, after France had withdrawn its ambassador from Washington on September 16. It was Paris protest at being excluded from the strategic-military partnership between the United States, Great Britain and Australia, announced the day before, and at losing a lucrative contract for the sale of submarines to Australia, which will be replaced by nuclear submarines supplied by the U.S. and Great Britain.

A week after the resounding diplomatic break, however, the French general Lavigne was put in charge of the Allied Transformation Command, with headquarters in Norfolk in the U.S., and the presidents of the two countries, Biden and Macron, published a Joint Declaration.

Biden reaffirmed "the strategic importance of the French and European engagement in the Indo-Pacific" (the region that in Washingtons geopolitics extends from the west coast of the US to that of India). The reason was explained by the Military Committee of the Chiefs of Defence of the 30 NATO countries, meeting in Athens: "While Moscows aggressive actions are a threat to our security, Chinas rise is fundamentally shifting the balance of power, which has potential consequences for our security, our prosperity and our way of life.

In the face of such "threats," they concluded, "we need Europe and North America to stand strong, bound together". Biden reiterated in his joint statement with Macron: "The United States recognizes the importance of a stronger, more capable European Defence Force that is complementary to NATO". Therefore, a militarily stronger Europe, but as a complement to NATO: an asymmetrical alliance, to which 21 of the 27 countries of the European Union belong, in which the position of Supreme Allied Commander in Europe is always held by a general of the United States, which holds all the other key commands in Europe (such as the JFC-Naples with headquarters in Lago Patria).

On this background, the meeting of 30 Defense Ministers (for Italy Lorenzo Guerini, Democratic Party) was held on October 21-22 at the NATO headquarters in Brussels. It created an "Innovation Fund" with an initial allocation of 1 billion euros, to be paid by 17 European countries including Italy, but not by the United States, for the development of the most advanced technologies for war use. It launched the "Strategy for Artificial Intelligence", an even more costly program for NATO to maintain its advantage in this field that "is changing the global defense environment", i.e. the way war is waged. It decided on "improving the readiness and effectiveness of our nuclear deterrent," i.e., deploying new nuclear weapons in Europe, of course with the motivation of defending against "the growing missile threat from Russia."

On the eve of the NATO meeting, the Russian Defense Minister, Sergei Shoigu, warned that "the United States of America has stepped up work with the full support of its NATO allies to modernize tactical nuclear weapons and their storage sites in Europe" and Russia considers particularly worrying the engagement of pilots from the blocs non-nuclear member states in the drills to practice employing tactical nuclear weapons."A message directed in particular to Italy, where the U.S. is preparing to replace B61 nuclear bombs with the new B61-12s and Italian pilots are being trained in their use with F-35s. "We regard this as a direct violation of the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons," Russias defense chief stressed.

The message is directed to Italy and other European NATO members who, despite having ratified the Non-Proliferation Treaty as non-nuclear countries, host US nuclear weapons and train for their use. The implicit meaning of the message is clear: Russia considers these countries a source of threat and is taking countermeasures. The message has been ignored as usual by our government and parliament and, of course, by the media that have put NATO in the attic.

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Billions of euros to "innovate" the nuclear NATO, by Manlio Dinucci - Voltaire Network

26 October 2021

by Nicholas Fiorenza

Seventeen defence ministers signed an LOI to develop the NATO Innovation Fund during in a ceremony hosted by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg (at podium) on 22 October. (NATO)

Seventeen allies signed a letter of intent (LOI) to develop the EUR1 billion (nearly USD1.2 billion) NATO Innovation Fund on the second day of a 2122 October defence ministerial meeting in Brussels. The LOI was signed by the defence ministers of Belgium, the Czech Republic, Estonia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia, and the United Kingdom.

Announcing the signing of the LOI on its website on 22 October, NATO said the multinational fund would help it retain its technological edge by enabling investment worth EUR1 billion [nearly USD1.2 billion] in dual-use technologies of potential application to defence and security. It will also facilitate closer and trusted co-operation with deep-tech innovators, which may otherwise be unable to develop successfully the innovative solutions most needed for the protection of the alliance.

NATO expected both its innovation fund and the DIANA network to be fully in effect by the time it holds its summit in Madrid in 2022.

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Allies sign letter of intent on NATO Innovation Fund - Jane's

NATO "gave up" on Afghanistan and did not have the "resolve and the commitment" to see its mission there through, a senior MP has told Sky News.

Tobias Ellwood, who is chair of the Commons Defence Select Committee, said the result of the rapid withdrawal from the country in August was that the West abandoned Afghanistan "to the very insurgency we went in to defeat in the first place".

The Conservative MP was speaking after the committee heard evidence from Defence Secretary Ben Wallace as part of its inquiry into events in Afghanistan.

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Referring to the minister's evidence, Mr Ellwood told Sky News: "The response you got there was we simply didn't have the determination to see it through. That's very sad indeed.

"It was actually down to, this is what we teased out, that it was all to do with an American election.

"It was all about sending a message to the American people to bring troops home. That was the bumper sticker headline that President Trump wanted and then Joe Biden followed suit."

Mr Ellwood said the crisis had raised a number of fundamental questions.

"The question that the American decision to withdraw actually conjures up is what's the purpose of NATO if we can't do anything without the Americans?

"What is the state of the special relationship when the Americans don't even tell us what they're going to do and offer us an opportunity perhaps for Britain to lead other nations as well?

"And also America's determination to play a role on the international stage and finally of course, extremism? What happens to Afghanistan now that we have vacated this place, having gone in there in order to defeat terrorists back in 2001?"

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He said there were a number of "schoolboy errors" from Western nations during the 20-year presence in Afghanistan and lessons needed to be learnt as "from where I sit, the world is getting more dangerous, not less".

In his evidence, Mr Wallace denied that NATO suffered a military defeat in Afghanistan.

But he acknowledged there was a failure of political "resolve" by the alliance and again blamed the "rotten deal" agreed by Mr Trump for the Taliban's return.

"I don't think that we were defeated. Our resolve was found wanting, I would say, rather than defeated," Mr Wallace said.

"NATO were there to enable a political campaign and I think that is what failed. The military were there to put in place the security environment in order to try and deliver that.

"When that is withdrawn, that is when you find out whether your political campaign has worked. What we discovered is that it didn't work.

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"It was the Western resolve and the Western narrative or political foundations they had laid failed. There are a lot of searching questions there for all of us."

He said it was clear from intelligence assessments at the start of August that the Taliban were advancing in the provinces of Afghanistan and starting to turn their focus towards large cities.

But Mr Wallace said he thought the "game was up" in July and "that we should start the process of significantly drawing down so we were not found to be caught out".

He said the initial mission - launched in the wake of the 9/11 attacks on the US - had been a success.

"We bought counter-terrorism success for 20 years," Mr Wallace told MPs.

"Al Qaeda did not mount... a terrorist attack on the United Kingdom or her allies from Afghanistan. For many soldiers that is very important."

Mr Wallace added: "I think it is highly likely that we will see a return to al Qaeda and an increasing threat coming from Afghanistan but for 20 years we were safer."

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Afghanistan: Defence committee chair says NATO 'gave up' on country and did not have 'resolve and commitment' to see mission through - Sky News

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VisualPolitik EN published this video item, entitled RUSSIAs THREAT to NATOs BALTIC republics VisualPolitik EN below is their description.

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The Cold War ended a long time ago. However, in the easternmost region of Europe things dont look much different, at least if we talk about the tension between Vladimir Putins Russia and the NATO countries. In a way the Cold War is still alive three decades after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

In this video we tell you about the threat that the three Baltic countries, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, face when they look the Russian bear in the face.

And dont forget to visit our friends podcast, Reconsider Media:

https://www.reconsidermedia.com/

Got a comment? Leave your thoughts in the comments section, below. Please note comments are moderated before publication.

Estonia, a country in Northern Europe, borders the Baltic Sea and Gulf of Finland. Including more than 1,500 islands, its diverse terrain spans rocky beaches, old-growth forest and many lakes. Formerly part of the Soviet Union, its dotted with castles, churches and hilltop fortresses. The capital, Tallinn, is known for its preserved Old Town, museums and the 314m-high Tallinn TV Tower, which has an observation deck.

Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. Lithuania is one of the Baltic states. Lithuania has an estimated population of 2.8 million people as of 2019. The capital and largest city is Vilnius and other major cities are Kaunas and Klaipda. Lithuanians are Balts. The official language, Lithuanian, is one of only two living languages in the Baltic branch of the Indo-European language family, the other being Latvian.

On 11 March 1990, a year before the formal dissolution of the Soviet Union, Lithuania became the first Baltic state to proclaim its independence, resulting in the restoration of the independent State of Lithuania.

Lithuania is a developed country with an advanced, high-income economy. Lithuania is a member of the European Union, the Council of Europe, eurozone, Schengen Agreement, NATO and OECD. It is also a member of the Nordic Investment Bank, part of Nordic-Baltic cooperation of Northern European countries, and is classified as a Northern European country by the United Nations.

Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country located in Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the west to the Pacific Ocean in the east, and from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea in the south.

Russia spans more than one-eighth of the Earths inhabited land area, stretching eleven time zones, and bordering 16 sovereign nations. Moscow is the countrys capital.

The Soviet Union was dissolved in 1991 and since 1993 Russia been governed as a federal semi-presidential republic. Russia is a major great power, with the worlds second-most powerful military, and the fourth-highest military expenditure. As a recognised nuclear-weapon state, the country possesses the worlds largest stockpile of nuclear weapons.

The Soviet Union, officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR), was a federal socialist state in Northern Eurasia that existed from 1922 to 1991. Nominally a union of multiple national Soviet republics, it was a one-party state (until 1990) governed by the Communist Party, with Moscow as its capital in its largest republic, the Russian SFSR.

The Soviet Union had its roots in the October Revolution of 1917 when the Bolsheviks, headed by Vladimir Lenin, overthrew the Provisional Government that had earlier replaced the monarchy of the Russian Empire.

On 25 December 1991, Gorbachev resigned and the remaining twelve constituent republics emerged from the dissolution of the Soviet Union as independent post-Soviet states. The Russian Federation (formerly the Russian SFSR) assumed the Soviet Unions rights and obligations and is recognized as its continued legal personality.

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RUSSIA's THREAT to NATO's BALTIC republics - VisualPolitik EN - The Global Herald - The Global Herald

At the invitation of the Finnish and Swedish authorities, the North Atlantic Council will visit Finland and Sweden from Monday, 25 October, to Wednesday, 27 October 2021.

The visit will start in Helsinki on 25 October, where the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will meet the President of the Republic of Finland, Mr Sauli Niinist, followed by an engagement of the members of the North Atlantic Council with the President.

The Secretary General will also meet the Prime Minister, Mrs Sanna Marin, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Pekka Haavisto. The members of the North Altantic Council will also engage with the Foreign Minister, and will visit the Guard Jaeger Regiment, Santahamina, where they will be welcomed by the Minister of Defence, Mr Antti Kaikkonen and the Commander of the Finnish Defence Forces, Gen. Timo Kivinen.

Furthermore, the members of the North Atlantic Council will meet with the Speaker of the Parliament, Ms Anu Vehvilinen, and representatives of the Parliamentary Foreign Affairs and Defence Committees.

On 26 October, in Helsinki, members of the North Atlantic Council will meet the Minister of the Interior of Finland, MrsMaria Ohisalo, and will receive a briefing by the European Center of Excellence for Countering Hybrid Threats (Hybrid CoE).

The North Atlantic Council will travel to Stockholm the same day (26 October 2021).

On 26 October, in Stockholm, the Secretary General will be received by H.M. King Carl XVI Gustaf and will have a bilateral meeting with the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Sweden, Mr Stefan Lofven.

The members of the North Atlantic Council will meet with the Speaker of the Parliament, MrAndreas Norln and senior representatives of the Swedish Parliament. They will also attend a seminar on Security challenges in the Baltic Sea Region, hosted by the Minister of Defence of Sweden, Mr Peter Hultqvist, the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Sweden, Mrs Ann Linde, and Minister for Home Affairs of Sweden, Mr Mikael Damberg.

On Wednesday, 27 October, the North Atlantic Council, together with the Minister of Defence of Sweden and the Minister of Defence of Finland will visit the Berga Naval Base and witness the joint Swedish/ Finnish Naval Exercise Swenex.

Media Advisory (all times are local)

Helsinki, Finland 25 October 2021

11:50: Joint press conference by the NATO Secretary General and the President of Finland

Berga Naval Base, Sweden, 27 October 2021

+12:45: Joint press point by the NATO Secretary General, the Defence Minister of Sweden and the Defence Minister of Finland

Media accreditation

Prior accreditation is required to cover the events. For further details, media should refer to the Finnish and respectively the Swedish authorities:

- The Office of the President of Finland: Ms Riikka Hietajarvi - Riikka.Hietajarvi@tpk.fi

- The Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs: Mr Andreas Enbuske - andreas.enbuske@gov.se

- Berga Naval Base (Sweden): Ms Therese Fagerstedt - therese.fagerstedt@mil.se

---

Press engagements will be streamed on the NATO website (TBC).

Still and video images will be available on the NATO website after the events.

Broadcast quality b-roll will be available for download fromwww.natomultimedia.tv.

Please register for access. Contact: content@natomultimedia.tv

Follow us on Twitter (@NATO, @NATOPress, @jensstoltenberg and @Mircea_Geoana)

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Visit to Finland and Sweden by the North Atlantic Council - NATO HQ