NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg talks with U.S. Chief of Defense Charles Brown Jr. on Thursday, the second and last day of the NATO Defense Ministers Meetings at NATO headquarters in Brussels, Belgium. Photo courtesy of NATO
Defense ministers of the more than 30 North American Treaty Organization members are to meet Thursday in Brussels where they are expected to discuss a plethora of security issues affecting the defensive alliance, including support for Ukraine, tensions between Serbia and Kosovo and the recently erupted war in Israel.
Thursday is the second and last day of the NATO Defense Ministers Meetings held at NATO headquarters in Brussels, a regular meeting where the defense ministers of member countries discuss security-related issues. Advertisement
But this meeting comes against a backdrop of an escalating death toll in Israel, which is entering its sixth day of war against Hamas that followed the militant group’s surprise attack on the Middle Eastern country.
It also comes amid rising fears that tensions between Kosovo and Serbia could result in further violence like that which occurred just weeks ago when a police officer was killed and others were injured when Serb paramilitaries besieged a small northern Kosovo village.
And, of course, the meeting is being held as Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine nears two years old and as the future of support of Kyiv appears clouded by growing political opposition in the United States, its largest backer, and in Europe, over the seemingly endless supply of weaponry and coin their countries are committing to President Volodymyr Zelensky’s army. Advertisement
Speaking alongside U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin at NATO headquarters on Thursday morning, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg listed support for Ukraine and NATO missions and operations in Kosovo and Iraq as well as their deterrence and defensive policies were to be discussed throughout the day.
In the morning, the defense ministers were to be briefed by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant on the “the horrendous terrorist attacks against Israel over the weekend by Hamas,” Stoltenberg told reporters.
It is the first ministerial meeting since July’s NATO Summit in Vilnius where members made several agreements to increase spending and strengthen defense and deterrence.
Lloyd told reporters that Thursday presents them with an opportunity to continue the work on implementing decisions made in Lithuania.
“We remain focused on strengthening defense and deterrence for NATO,” the U.S. defense secretary said, before adding that the 31-member defensive union “is as strong and as united as I’ve ever seen it.”
A day prior and this time alongside Zelensky, Stoltenberg said another topic of discussion for Thursday would be the recent damage sustained by a gas pipeline and communications cable in the Baltic Sea, while warning that if it was deliberate there would be a NATO response. Advertisement
“The important thing now is to establish what happened and how this could happen,” he said.
“If it is proven to be a deliberate attack on NATO critical infrastructure, then this will be of course serious, but it will also be met by a united and determined response from NATO.”
