NATO Assistant Secretary General for Executive Management Wayne J. Bush stated on Friday at Bucharest Forum that NATO exists in an uncertain world in order to protect almost one billion citizens and that is a major responsibility that the Alliance has always carried out.
He talked about the commitment of NATO to peacekeeping. He said that this commitment represents the promise of defending each other in accordance with the Article 5 of the Treaty, which reads "all for one and one for all." He also talked about the relationship between NATO and Russia, and underscored the Alliance's openness towards dialogue.
Russia is the biggest neighbour of NATO, the official said. He went on saying that NATO doesn't want a confrontation with Russia, but the aggressive conduct of Russia undermined the confidence, stability and security in Europe, adding that Russia illegally annexed Crimea and continues to destabilise the eastern Ukraine. In this context, the NATO official highlighted that he has two-ways approach towards Russia, namely defence and dialogue. Nobody should doubt NATO's determination and availability to defend its allies, he added. He brought to mind that NATO is consolidating its multinational presence in the Black Sea region, on air, sea and land, and it is based on the multinational brigade of Romania. Eight allies have committed to offer personnel and five have committed to grant equipment and air police forces.
All our measures are defensive. He added that here, too, there are some key-words: they are transparent, proportional and in accordance with our international obligations. In this framework, he added that NATO seeks a more constructive and predictable relationship with Russia, in which transparency and credibility are critical. He also talked about the worldwide terrorist threat and about the manner in which it should be approached. We shouldn't close our cities, but we can't no longer accept terrorism as a normality. He pointed out that if we endorse values and if we are resilient, powerful and united then we will be able to counterattack this threat as we have done it before.
According to Wayne J. Bush, NATO maintains its commitment to prevent the situation in which Afghanistan becomes a refugee for terrorists. He also brought to mind the allies' efforts to take unitary action within NATO. We are conducting many exercises, share good practices and technologies and work closely with all allies in order to see how we can integrate capabilities, he added. The official said he is glad that this effort at the NATO headquarters was coordinated by his dear Romanian colleague, Mr Ducaru.
He also referred to the tendencies of the Alliance members to currently or the future allocate 2 percent of the GDP for Defence. He pointed out that in an uncertain world, NATO exists in order to protect almost one billion citizens, and that is a huge responsibility that the Alliance has always carried out.
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