travelled to NATO HQ to
discuss emerging technologies and non-conventional
warfighting with fellow defence ministers, and agreed plans
to ensure that NATO forces are ready to respond at short
notice.
Ministers also discussed the situation in north east Syria,
as well as the ongoing missions in Iraq and Afghanistan.
At the final Defence Ministerial before the Leaders’
Meeting in December, the Defence Secretary hosted a
discussion with his Ukrainian counterpart and the ‘Quint’
Group; the US, Canada, Lithuania and Poland. He held
bilateral meetings with his German, French, Danish,
Italian, Swedish, Turkish and Georgian counterparts.
Defence Secretary said:
I am delighted to be attending my first NATO Defence
Ministerial. We have discussed a range of important
topics, from emerging technologies such as Artificial
Intelligence and hypersonic missiles, to the valuable
work on security sector reform in Iraq.
Battlefield techniques are advancing rapidly, with our
adversaries using increasingly varied methods to disrupt
the international rules-based order. As an alliance we
face complex security challenges, but NATO will continue
to play a vital role in keeping the world safe and acting
as a force for stability.
I look forward to the UK hosting NATO leaders in
December, where we will celebrate NATO’s 70th anniversary
and discuss how to further strengthen the alliance.
During the event, the Defence Secretary also presented
NATO’s Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, with a poppy,
on the day that the Royal British Legion launched their
2019 Poppy Appeal, marking the sacrifice and service of the
armed forces community.
The UK continues to have the largest defence budget in
Europe and the second largest in NATO. Thousands of our
Armed Forces personnel work every day with NATO allies
across the world.
The UK has nearly one thousand personnel in the alliance’s
command structure and contributes across NATO’s operations,
from Afghanistan and Iraq to the Enhanced Forward Presence
in Estonia and Poland, and air policing in Iceland and the
Baltics.
In December the NATO Leaders’ Meeting will be held in
London, which will see the alliance come back to its first
home in its 70th anniversary year.
