Secretary General of the North Atlantic Alliance Jens Stoltenberg noted that the largest strategic exercises of this year Defender 2020 have not been canceled, their format has been revised.
NATO has revised its entire exercise programme in response to the Coronavirus pandemic. This was announced Thursday by North Atlantic Alliance Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, presenting his annual report on the state of NATO for 2019.
“We have cancelled a number of exercises, postponed or changed the format of others,” he said. Stoltenberg stressed that this year’s largest strategic exercise Defender 2020 “has not been canceled, but its format has been revised and its scope reduced”.
Earlier, the U.S. said it would not send its troops to Europe for these maneuvers.
NATO foreign ministers’ meeting
NATO plans to organize a meeting of the alliance’s foreign ministers in early April, but it has not yet been decided on the format of the meeting in the conditions of the coronavirus pandemic, Stoltenberg said.
“We intend to hold a meeting of foreign ministers in early April, but the final decision has not yet been made whether it will be a physical meeting or a video conference,” he said.
NATO military in Afghanistan
No cases of coronavirus infection have been detected among NATO mission personnel in Afghanistan, Stoltenberg said. He stressed that the pandemic has not affected the organization’s plans to withdraw some of its personnel and reduce its number from 16 to 12 thousand.
“No coronavirus has been identified among NATO personnel in Afghanistan. The pandemic will have no impact on the alliance’s plans to reduce its mission of NATO instructors and advisers “Determined support” from 16 to 12 thousand people,” Stoltenberg said.
The Secretary General reminded that this decision was made on the basis of peace agreements signed between the USA and the Taliban on February 29.