Brussels: Europe and the Arabs
The NATO Military Committee held two different meetings with partners to prepare and discuss the agenda for the next Chiefs of Defense meeting in January 2024. According to a statement issued by NATO headquarters in Brussels
At the opening of the first meeting at the weekend, the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Power, welcomed the military representatives of NATO's partners in the Indo-Pacific region - Australia, Japan, the Republic of Korea and New Zealand - to the table and stressed the benefits of working together to address this issue. Common security challenges such as China, cyber, climate change and maritime security. He pointed out, "These global challenges require global solutions, and we stand with our partners to preserve the rules-based international order, with a global order based on norms and values rather than wanton violence and intimidation."
The invited NATO military representatives then received regional security updates from their Australian, Japanese and New Zealand colleagues, highlighting growing concerns about China and Russia as well as their deepening strategic cooperation. “Allies and like-minded partners must continue to work together to confront the systemic challenges that Russia and China pose to Euro-Atlantic and global security,” the President stressed.
At the second meeting, the NATO Military Committee welcomed its counterparts from the five member states of the Partner Interoperability Support Group (PIAG) – Australia, Austria, Ireland, New Zealand and Switzerland. PIAG countries have non-NATO state status, and are granted an Individual Security Agreement that allows for the exchange of classified information and participation in NATO training and exercises.
Welcoming the military representatives of PIAG, Admiral Power emphasized that NATO's broad range of partnership programs strengthens collective security beyond the Alliance's borders and provides unique opportunities to deepen existing military cooperation in areas of mutual interest.
At the Madrid and Vilnius summits, NATO Allies agreed to intensify cooperation with existing partners and to seek new, like-minded partners, and as such, the NATO Military Committee has been working more systematically with partners to fulfill this pledge. “Today’s meetings are an embodiment of the existential need to increase and deepen our cooperation with partners. It also serves as a reminder to all of us that none of us stands alone in facing challenges or threats. As long as you have partners, you have solutions. I look forward to welcoming our partners to PIAG and our partners in the Oceanic region "Indo-Pacific at a meeting of our defense chiefs early next year."