(credit: nato.int) View of the room of NATO Allied foreign ministers met at NATO Headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday (24 March 2021) for a discussion on Russia and arms control.
By Gary Raynaldo DIPLOMATIC TIMES
“Russia has increased its pattern of repressive behaviour at home and aggressive behaviour abroad,” said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The NATO chief made the remarks as Allied Foreign Ministers met at the military alliance’s headquarters in Brussels Wednesday. Stoltenberg stressed that NATO’s dual-track approach to Russia, combining strong deterrence and defence with openness to dialogue, remains valid. Stoltenberg underlined that all Allies welcome the recent decision to extent the New START Treaty and that NATO remains a unique platform for Europe and North America to consult on the future of arms control. “We were joined by our close partners Finland and Sweden, as well as by EU High Representative Vice President Borrell,” Stoltenberg said of the NATO meeting. He said all Allies remain firmly committed to nuclear arms control. Stoltenberg said Allies agree the alliance should continue to review and adapt its deterrence and defence, including when it comes to “the growing Russian missile threat.” He said Russia continues to deploy new and destabilising nuclear weapons.
“In Russia, we still see violent oppression of political dissent. And we call for the immediate release of Alexei Navalny and other peaceful demonstrators who have been arrested. Abroad, Russia undermines and destabilizes its neighbours, including Ukraine, Georgia, and the Republic of Moldova. It supports the crackdown on Belarus, and tries to interfere in the Western Balkans region. Russia continues its wide-ranging military build-up. From the Baltic to the Black Sea. In the Middle East and North Africa. And from the Mediterranean to the Arctic. Allies have called out Russia’s disinformation and propaganda. Its efforts to influence elections. Cyber attacks. And its use of chemical weapons against political opponents, both at home and on our territory. NATO’s response is firm and consistent.”
-NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
NATO “Closely Following” Bulgarian Investigation into Alleged Russian Spy Ring
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and Ann Linde (Minister of Foreign Affairs, Sweden) NATO headquarters March 24, 2021
NATO is closely following an investigation into alleged “Russian spy ring” in Bulgaria, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. Earlier this month, the Bulgarian Prosecutor’s Office said it brought espionage charges against six citizens, including servicemen and public servants, who allegedly transferred classified data to Russia. Authorities in the NATO member country uncovered an espionage group allegedly passing military secrets to Russia. Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said that his country is ready to declare Russian diplomats personae non-gratae. Prosecutors on March 19 charged six people, including former and current military intelligence officers, of passing classified information about Bulgaria, NATO, and the EU to the Russian Embassy in Sofia.
“First of all, I think that the message from NATO allies and also from me as Secretary General is a message of solidarity. And I spoke with the Bulgarian Prime Minister yesterday and Foreign Minister she attended the foreign ministers’ meeting today, and she raised the issue and briefed the allies, and of course we are closely following the investigation by the Bulgarian authorities, into an alleged Russian spy ring. NATO takes protection of classified information, very, very seriously, and we fully support the efforts by Bulgaria to tackle Russia’s malign activities on its territory. And I think what we see in Bulgaria is a pattern of Russian behavior, where they tried to undermine our democratic institutions, try to interfere in domestic politics, and also are stepping up within the intelligence domain.
-NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg
NATO Allies support sanctions on China: Stoltenberg
The EU imposed further sanctions over serious violations of human rights around the world this week including against China. The violations targeted include the large-scale arbitrary detentions of, in particular, Uyghurs in Xinjiang in China, repression in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, extrajudicial killings and enforced disappearances in Libya, torture and repression against LGBTI persons and political opponents in Chechnya in Russia, and torture, extrajudicial, summary or arbitrary executions and killings in South Sudan and Eritrea. “NATO allies have supported these sanctions in different ways because many of them are members of the European Union, and then of course, other allies have supported sanctions and imposed sanctions, like for instance the United States that has also imposed sanctions,” Stoltenberg said.
“But the important thing is that we need to take into consideration when we now, adapt, and adapt NATO to more challenging and difficult security environment, the security implications of the rise of China. We don’t regard China as an adversary. But of course the rise of China has direct consequences to our security. They will soon have the biggest economy in the world, they already have the second largest defense budget, they are investing heavily in new modern military capabilities, including nuclear capabilities, they are modernizing their armed forces, and we also see that China is a country which used coercion against the neighbors in the region, we see their behavior in the, in the South China Sea. And perhaps most importantly, China is a country that doesn’t share our values. We see that in the way they deal with democratic protests in Hong Kong, how they suppress minorities in their own country, the Uighurs, and also how they actually try to undermine the international rules based order.”
-NATO Secretary General Stoltenberg
