ウィスパリング同時通訳研究会コミュの(04.02.2021) Opening remarks by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg

Opening remarks
by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on NATO 2030 and the importance of strengthening the transatlantic bond in the next decade and beyond

(As delivered)
Thank you so much, Robin.
It’s great to see you again.
And good morning North America.
And good afternoon Europe.
Welcome everyone.

Let me start by thanking Chatham House.
For over a hundred years, your intellectual leadership has helped to guide governments, societies and leaders through constant global change.
So, therefore, you are the ideal partner for today’s event.

Like many of you here today, I became interested in politics at an early age.
Because I wanted to work for a better, safer world.

I grew up during the Cold War,
Always aware of the risk of a nuclear conflict.
So I protested against nuclear weapons,
and celebrated the fall of the Berlin Wall and the end of the Cold War.

For so many centuries, conflict was a constant companion in Europe.
But since the creation of NATO, more than seventy years ago, peace has been preserved and freedom maintained.
The nations of Europe and North America have stood together.
Pledged to defend each other.
To protect our peoples.
And to uphold our values.

That pledge remains.
But the world has changed.
And it has become much more unpredictable than when I was growing up.

We don’t just face one clear challenge, but multiple, complex challenges.
From pandemics to infodemics,
From climate change to disruptive technologies.

And the lines between peace and war,
civilian and military,
state and non-state,
are increasingly blurred.

To continue adapting our Alliance to this unpredictability, we launched the NATO 2030 initiative.

This is why we are all here today.
And why I asked a group of 14 young leaders from across the Alliance to advise me on NATO’s future.

In addition, students from 10 universities have been competing all week in NATO’s first policy hackathon.
And later, you will have the chance to vote for the most innovative ideas.

Today’s event is about generating fresh, new thinking about the future of NATO.
We asked you to look at five areas that are vital to our security.

First, we asked you to look at how we can continue to protect our values,
and the rules-based order that has brought us peace and prosperity for so many decades.
These values – freedom, democracy, the rule of law – are not abstract notions.
They are at the very core of who we are.
And we got a shocking reminder of this as we watched the attack on the United States Congress just a month ago.

That was not only an assault on the heart of American democracy.
But also on the core values of NATO.

President Biden’s inauguration on those same steps just two weeks later showed the strength of democracy.
It also showed that we must never take our democracy for granted.

The second area we asked you to look at is resilience.
Increasingly, our security does not just rely on strong militaries.
We need strong, resilient societies and economies too.

We need more robust infrastructure.
Transport and telecommunications, including 5G and undersea cables.
And we need safer and more diverse supply lines.
For fuel, food and medical supplies.
We must do more to identify vulnerabilities and mitigate risks.
And hold each other to account.
For example, by screening foreign investment, ownership and control of our critical infrastructure and assets.

Because these are not just economic decisions.
They are crucial for our ability to protect ourselves.
We should never trade short-term economic benefit for our long-term security interest.

The third area we asked you to look at was NATO’s role in the world.
NATO is and will remain a regional alliance of Europe and North America.

But the challenges we face are more and more global.
So we need a global outlook.

We need to work even more closely with like-minded partners across the globe to develop a community of democracies.
Like Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea.

And also to reach out to potential new partners, like Brazil and India.

To contribute to global peace and security, NATO must continue to work with partner nations to protect civilians in war zones and counter-terrorist operations.
NATO is a standard setter in this area.
Because for NATO, national security and human security must always go hand in hand.

Fourth, we asked you to look at the security implications of climate change.
Global warming puts pressure on people and resources and makes the world a more dangerous place.
Climate change affects our security.
And makes it harder for our military forces to keep us safe.

Therefore, we all have a responsibility to do more to combat climate change.
Which is why we are looking at how NATO can play our part in reaching Net Zero.

Finally, we asked you to look at emerging and disruptive technologies.
For decades, our technological edge has kept our militaries strong.
But today it is being challenged.
By countries like Russia and China.

So we must continue to innovate and invest in the right forces with the right capabilities.
To remain competitive in a more competitive world.

For all five areas, the ideas you put forward today will help me finalise my recommendations to NATO Leaders at our Summit later this year.

***
Your generation has the greatest stake in our future.
So it is essential that your voices are heard.
This is your chance to shape our agenda for NATO 2030.

So I thank you for your energy, your ideas and your optimism today.
We must be bold.
Together, we can make NATO stronger.
To keep our nations safe on both sides of the Atlantic.
In a fast-changing world.

I very much look forward to hearing from you.
And I wish all the hackathon teams the very best of luck.

Robin Niblett: Thank you very much, Secretary General thanks for those very important remarks for laying out the scope of the challenge that you set to the NATO Young Leaders to look at the diversity of the challenges and risks, which as you described cover a spectrum that no longer has some of perhaps the simplicity of the Cold War challenges that faced NATO in that time.