According to Jens Stoltenberg, everything the alliance does is “defensive”, including its presence in the Baltic States.
Russia remains NATO’s largest neighbor, so the alliance continues to maintain a dialogue with it. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said this on Friday during his speech at the international security policy forum “Riga Conference – 2020”.
“Throughout the North Atlantic Alliance, the COVID-19 pandemic has changed our lives – how we live, how we work, how we treat each other and even how we perceive threats to our security. NATO’s primary responsibility is to ensure that this health crisis does not become a security crisis. That’s why we’ve done everything we need to secure our forces, maintain our operational readiness and our missions and operations from the Baltic Sea to Afghanistan”, – he said.
But there are things Coronavirus hasn’t changed, he said – a commitment to each other and to shared values, and a determination to protect our allies.
“Unfortunately, the pandemic has not changed the fact that we still face many challenges. Russia’s aggressive and military actions have not abated. Over the years we have seen an alarming pattern of Russian behavior”, – Stoltenberg argued.
“At the same time, Russia remains our largest neighbor, and it is not going anywhere. That’s why we maintain a dialogue with Russia to avoid incidents, incidents and miscalculations”, – said the Alliance’s Secretary General. – “NATO and all NATO allies will do whatever is necessary to ensure the security of all our countries. Everything NATO does is defensive, including our presence here in the Baltic States”, – he said.
“Therefore, when the leadership of Belarus tries to use NATO as a pretext to massacre its own people, it is wrong and completely unjustified”, – he continued, stressing that only the Belarusian people should decide the future of their country.
Stoltenberg also noted that NATO is the most successful alliance in history.
“Our success is based on our values – freedom, democracy, the rule of law, as well as the inextricable link between our countries, between Europe and North America. Only by staying united, investing in our defense and looking to the future will we be able to preserve the peace and prosperity that we have enjoyed for so many years”, – he said.