BRUSSELS, Jan. 10 (Xinhua) — The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) signed a third joint declaration on cooperation on Tuesday aimed at further expanding their strategic partnership cooperation and strengthening European collective defense.
“We have just signed the third joint declaration between the EU and NATO … This is more important than ever,” NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference after the signing ceremony at the military alliance’s headquarters in Brussels.
The declaration was signed by European Council President Charles Michel and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, who hailed the agreement and said it would deepen existing cooperation between the Union and the Alliance.
According to the joint declaration, the EU and NATO will expand and deepen cooperation in areas such as geostrategic competition, resilience, protection of critical infrastructure, emerging and disruptive technologies and space.
Von der Leyen said Europe’s security was “challenged” and “threatened” by the conflict in Ukraine.
Stoltenberg stressed the importance of the declaration and stressed NATO’s crucial role in Euro-Atlantic security. He noted that this declaration built on two previous joint declarations signed in 2016 and 2018.
Stoltenberg touched on the possibility of Finland and Sweden joining NATO and noted that this would result in the alliance protecting 96 percent of EU citizens.
Source: sn.dk