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00:00If anyone thinks here, again, that the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the US, keep on dreaming.
00:07You can't. We can't. We need each other.
00:10I think he is very important to NATO. He is totally committed to NATO.
00:14He had one big irritant, one big pebble in his shoe, which is there since Eisenhower, the fact that the Europeans were not paying up.
00:21I'm not sure I can answer them all, but I'll do my best.
00:24So, to immediately delve into the questions and take them one by one, but then also clustering them a little bit.
00:32European architecture, how to avoid, when there are political differences, was a question, how to prevent disunity?
00:40I would say it is our strength that we have our political differences.
00:44And the fact that we have these political differences means that we are democracies with free press,
00:49with demonstrations on the street if necessary, with various parties forming governments.
00:55And I would say it is the strength of this organisation, of NATO and also of the EU, that we are based on this principle of democracy.
01:02So, I would respectfully disagree.
01:05And I think it is the unity which is stronger because of our diversity.
01:09Then on Greenland, there were many questions on Greenland, and basically what was discussed last week,
01:18and of course in the run-up to the debate, many phone calls have taken place, also from European leaders.
01:25But in the end, what we agreed is, I think, two work streams going forward.
01:29One work stream is for NATO collectively to take more responsibility for the defence of the Arctic.
01:37As you know, there are seven countries in the Arctic.
01:40There is the U.S. through Alaska, and then of course Canada, Denmark because of Greenland,
01:44and then we have Iceland, Norway, Finland, Sweden.
01:48Yes, these are the seven countries bordering on the Arctic.
01:51The eighth one is Russia, obviously not in NATO.
01:55So, one work stream will be to see how best collectively we can prevent the Russians and the Chinese
02:00getting more access to the Arctic region, becoming also military, more of an adversary there,
02:07how to prevent that, also from them gaining access to the economy here and there, and that's one work stream.
02:13NATO clearly being in charge here.
02:15The second work stream is that what was agreed a week before I met with the President on Wednesday,
02:22there was the meeting in Washington between the Foreign Ministers of Denmark
02:26and, of course, the Foreign Minister of Greenland with the Secretary of State of the U.S.,
02:32Marco Rubio, and the Vice President J.D. Vance.
02:34And they agreed to continue their discussions on the in this trilateral setting.
02:40And basically what they probably will focus on, but now it is up to the Danes, Greenland, and the U.S. to do that.
02:47I will not be involved in that work stream.
02:49But clearly what came out of the meeting on Wednesday is at least two issues to address.
02:55And issue one is Russia, issue second is China, how to prevent these two countries from gaining access
03:01in a military sense or in an economic sense to the Arctic.
03:04Of course, I have no mandate to negotiate the Foreign Minister of Denmark.
03:09For the previous Foreign Minister of Denmark asked that question, of course,
03:12I have no mandate to negotiate on behalf of Denmark, so I didn't and I will not.
03:18Of course, that's up to Denmark to do.
03:20I will be very much involved as NATO Secretary General.
03:22In the first work stream, how can we best, as NATO, collectively take the defense of the Arctic forward?
03:32And indeed, there is also an issue, I think, when the Arctic becomes more of an issue.
03:37And President Trump, by the way, and I will defend him now and then this afternoon just to irritate you.
03:41No, no, because I really feel that he deserves some defense.
03:46He was the one during Trump 45 who already said there is an issue with Arctic security.
03:51And again, he did so when he came back into office in January.
03:54And I think he's right.
03:55There is an issue with the Arctic region.
03:57There is an issue of collective security because these sea lanes are opening up
04:00and because the Chinese and the Russians are more and more active.
04:03China, of course, not bordering on the Arctic, but as you know, very much being involved there together with the Russians.
04:10So clearly, we have to address that.
04:13And that means that when it comes to this question of capabilities, we will see in NATO how we tackle this.
04:21We have a well-established process of capability targeting.
04:24So now we will look into within the system of the capability targets.
04:28The Danes have made this point.
04:29Prime Minister Fredriksen visited me on Friday.
04:32She very much stressed that point rightly.
04:34I think others are stressing that point.
04:35So we now look into how we can best do that, taking that issue forward that the capabilities we need also to defend the Arctic are also step-by-step becoming part of the overall capability targeting process.
04:47Then on the Ukraine peace agreement, obviously the security guarantees are extremely important.
04:54And as you know, there are three layers.
04:55One layer is the Ukrainian armed forces going forward.
04:58They will be the first line of defense.
05:00The second line of defense being the coalition of the willing.
05:04They providing training, providing, for example, also support in terms of the military build-up of the Ukrainian armed forces.
05:12So this is led by the French and the Brits, as you know.
05:15And, of course, the U.S. becoming more and more involved, as you know, since last summer.
05:20And as the president of Ukraine said yesterday, and I think he is right, the security guarantees are close to being agreed upon.
05:28But then, of course, there is the other issue, which is the rebuilding of Ukraine.
05:32And the third issue is the very sensitive issue of territory.
05:36In the end, it is only the Ukrainian government who can decide on territory.
05:39But for the Ukrainian government to get its head around what they can accept in terms of a compromise on territory,
05:47it is crucial for them to know that going forward, the Russians will not try to attack Ukraine again.
05:54Preferably, of course, they would love for Ukraine to be a NATO.
05:56But as you know, various NATO nations are at the moment blocking that.
06:01There is this irreversible path into NATO that will still be there.
06:05But at the short term, it's politically, it's practically now not on the cards.
06:10And that means that the security guarantees are the more crucial to prevent the Russians from ever attacking again.
06:20I have, no, there is no link between, for the U.S. side, one of you made the point that there was rumor of a link, I understand.
06:29I haven't heard it before, between the Greenland discussion and the Ukrainian discussion.
06:32These are totally separate.
06:33The Shadow Fleet, rightly raised here, crucial because it is a big source of income for the Russian Federation.
06:41And I'm extremely happy with the fact that we pose more and more strategic dilemmas to the Russians in terms of Baltic sentry.
06:48And we have seen what the Americans did with the Russian flagship close to Iceland.
06:53And we have seen many other interventions, also by the French, close to the French coast.
06:57And I think when these ships pose a threat to the environment, when there are serious questions about the capability of the ship to continue sailing, continue sailing without cutting industry infrastructure, critical industry infrastructure.
07:12And obviously, within all the legal frameworks, but of course, all the nations are aware of that, within the legal framework, there are ways to intervene.
07:20And that already is having an impact, and it forces the Russians to more and more protect the Shadow Fleet, which, of course, poses a cost on them.
07:28And then, when it comes to the comments on soldiers in Afghanistan, the point I made with President Trump is that Article 5 was used once, after 9-11.
07:42And this was, of course, when the U.S. was under attack, and I made the point that many non-U.S. NATO countries, but also partners like Australia, have helped out in Afghanistan,
07:54and that for every two American soldiers who paid the ultimate price, one soldier of a ally or a partner, a NATO ally or a partner country, did not return home.
08:05And I particularly mention Denmark, because, relatively speaking, they have had many casualties in Afghanistan, the Netherlands, but also, of course, bigger countries like Italy, UK, Australia and others.
08:22And I know, and, of course, the President already has made the point, I think it was yesterday, praising the United Kingdom for the immense sacrifice they made in shoulder-to-shoulder with the Americans fighting in Afghanistan.
08:39And I know that America greatly appreciates all the efforts being made in Afghanistan, and acknowledges the fact that many casualties were there, not only Americans, but also from, as I said, allies and NATO partners.
08:56The European pillar, this whole discussion on the European pillar, I think let's focus.
09:01The focus should be that we complement each other, exactly as we're doing at the moment, and that is a NATO, as I said, standard setting, capabilities, commander control, and the EU, when it comes to resilience, when it comes to the industrial base, when it comes to regulation, when it comes to finding ways of getting the money to pay for our collective defence on top of what, of course, the individual nations are doing.
09:26I think that's how we should go forward.
09:28A European pillar is a bit of an empty word.
09:31I guess what you mean is a sort of next to each nation to have a sort of European defence force.
09:37I think, but of course that's up to the European countries to decide, but I think there will be a lot of duplication.
09:43I wish you luck if you want to do it, because you have to find the men and women in uniform.
09:47It will be on top of what is happening already, and it will make things more complicated.
09:51I think Putin will love it, so think again.
09:55But if the European pillar means what I just said, this division of labour, you are focusing on where Europe has strength, and NATO focusing on where NATO has strength, great.
10:05On my relationship with the President, hey, listen, if somebody is doing good stuff, and President Trump is doing a lot of good stuff, I believe, I know, I'm irritating a lot of you again, but I think so.
10:16Because, as I said also in Davos, the 2% reached by all NATO countries now at the end of 2025 would never, ever, ever have happened without Trump.
10:27Do you really think that Spain and Italy and Belgium and Canada would have decided to move from 1.5 to 2%, Italy spending 10 billion more now on defence at the beginning of the year without President Trump?
10:39No way.
10:40No way.
10:41It would not have happened.
10:42And do you really think that in The Hague we would have come to the 5% commitment without President Trump?
10:46No way.
10:47So I think he is very important to NATO.
10:50He is totally committed to NATO.
10:52He had one big irritant, one big pebble in the shoe, which is there since Eisenhower, the fact that the Europeans were not paying up.
10:59And with the NATO defence commitment in The Hague, the outcome of the The Hague Summit on spending, and also on industrial production in Ukraine, but particularly here on spending, we are now equalising with the US.
11:10So that irritant is gone.
11:11So there is a total commitment by the US to NATO in Article 5, but also expectations that Europeans and Canadians will pay more, and we are doing so.
11:19Germany is a big example.
11:21You spend 70 billion on defence in 2021.
11:24You will spend 160 billion, 90 billion more in 2029.
11:29You will reach the 3.5% core defence spending as part of the 5% by 2029.
11:34This is Germany leading the way, the second biggest economy in NATO.
11:38This is crucial and it is a great example to others.
11:41And of course we have a couple of countries like Poland and Estland, Lithuania and Latvia already on the 5%, but also Canada.
11:48Can I mention that here?
11:49Canada is back.
11:50Canada 2%, committing to the 5%, being a huge supporter for Ukraine, also spending a lot of money on these pearl packages.
11:58So Canada is really back and I think that's fantastic.
12:02Hey, but if, so when President Trump is doing good stuff, I will praise him, and I don't mind him publishing text messages.
12:10And if anyone thinks here, again, that the European Union or Europe as a whole can defend itself without the US, keep on dreaming.
12:18You can't.
12:19We can't.
12:20We need each other.
12:21And why do we need each other?
12:22I tell you.
12:23First of all, because also the US needs NATO.
12:26And the US is not only in NATO to prevent the mistake after the First World War not to re-engage with Europe.
12:34And then again, the long arm of history reaching out to the US again in the Second World War, as Churchill famously said in his speech in 1941 in the US Congress.
12:42They are also in NATO, because for the US to stay safe, and by the way, Arctic region is evidence here, they need a secure Arctic, they need a secure Euro-Atlantic, and they also need a secure Europe.
12:54So the US has every interest in NATO as much as Canada and the European NATO allies.
13:00But for Europe, if you really want to go it alone, and those who you were planning for that, forget that you can never get there with 5%.
13:07It will be 10%.
13:08You have to build up your own nuclear capability.
13:10That costs billions and billions of euros.
13:13You will lose then, in that scenario, you would lose the ultimate guarantor of our freedom, which is the US nuclear umbrella.
13:19So, hey, good luck.
13:22Then, I love this.
13:27The Board of Peace.
13:30On the Board of Peace, I will not comment, because when it comes to the Board of Peace, obviously, NATO is not directly involved in the Middle East peace efforts.
13:40Of course, we welcome all the work to secure peace in Gaza, where allies are navigating the crisis, but we are not ourselves involved in that sense.
13:51Then, bilateral alliances, well, bilateral cooperation is great.
13:56I am not sure about alliances, what is the difference, but I mean, within NATO, there are many.
14:00I mean, we have the Weimar format, we have the E3, we have the E5, we have the A7, that's great, the B9.
14:07So there are many cooperation between countries within NATO, which only strengthen NATO.
14:12I am totally in favour.
14:15Then, on Iran, we are only involved with Iran when it comes to the fact that Iran and North Korea and Russia and China are working together.
14:21But again, if it comes to the situation in Iran itself at the moment, and of course, I am extremely worried about that.
14:27We all are.
14:28It's not for NATO to get involved, because NATO has its, of course, is concentrating on the Euro-Atlantic.
14:37The Russian threat, I think I have mentioned already.
14:42It's there, and that's why we have to really ramp up spending.
14:46And I've also mentioned already, to the renew questions, that I don't believe in this European pillar, except for if it means within that division of labour.
14:55Then, when it comes to the Tauris and other systems being delivered, yes or no, to Ukraine, that's up to individual allies.
15:02I will not comment.
15:03Generally, I'm saying, if you deliver your systems, please, no restrictions on them, so that Ukraine can really use them.
15:12But whatever, what is delivered, of course, is not for me to comment.
15:15I can only discreetly work behind the scenes.
15:18When it comes to the defence strategy, which was published last Friday, I think that is a good paper.
15:25There are no surprises in it.
15:28And what we really see is the U.S. pivoting more towards Asia, but at the same time, absolutely with Europe, understanding that Europe will have to build up its own armed forces even further, based on the Hague Defence Investment Pledge.
15:42And that will mean over time that the U.S. can do more in the Pacific, but there will always be a very strong conventional U.S. presence in Europe, and obviously the nuclear umbrella will be there.
15:55I can totally comment everything being done on military mobility here.
16:00The EU plays a crucial role when it comes to deregulation.
16:04Military mobility, it is vital that a bridge not only can hold my Saab car, 20 years old, but also can hold a tank.
16:11Saab, yes, but it's a bit old now.
16:14The EU-NATO dialogue, I think, is better than it ever was.
16:17I mean, we work extremely well together.
16:19I'm really happy at all levels.
16:21I can only say I cannot see how that can improve, how the EU and NATO work.
16:26And we have to.
16:27So it's not just a...
16:29The Western Balkan security situation, of course, we constantly follow that.
16:35As you know, we can never accept a security vacuum to emerge in Bosnia.
16:39We will be constantly working on that.
16:42I'm in close contact with the Troika presidency there.
16:46Then, of course, when it comes to Kosovo, KFOR crucial in Kosovo.
16:51And we also make sure that we keep the dialogue going with, this is your question, with Serbia.
16:58I have my own relationship with Alexander Vucic, the president.
17:01We know each other for many years.
17:02But, of course, we also expect him to come up with accountability for what happened a couple of years ago.
17:12And in two issues.
17:14And both of them, he promised complete accountability.
17:19Then, when it comes to Berlin Plus, I think I should not comment on hypothetical questions.
17:26But it is, I think, important to keep focus on reality that NATO EU corporations is stronger than ever.
17:33I really believe that at the moment.
17:35And that the US role in NATO, as I said, remains key.
17:39Except for if you want to double your defence spending.
17:42But even then, I would not do it.
17:44Because history borders together.
17:45We have the same set of values.
17:46We are.
17:47We belong to each other.
17:48The transatlantic relationship, I think, is crucial.
17:52Then, on enlargement, of course, every country in the EU Atlantic area can apply for membership.
17:58But then we have to agree with 32.
18:00And on Ukraine already mentioned, the unanimity is not there at the moment.
18:05But we will keep working with Ukraine to keep them as strong as possible.
18:09And the irreversible path has been clearly laid out.
18:14Then we have all the lessons we need to capture from Ukraine.
18:17I totally agree.
18:18From the war.
18:19By the way, if Russia would attack NATO, probably that war will not be an exact copy
18:23of now the war between Russia and Ukraine.
18:26But still, we have to capture all the lessons.
18:28That's why we have this Ukraine-NATO centre now, joint initiative.
18:33JTEC in Poland, the Joint Analysis Training and Education Centre,
18:37where we capture all the lessons from the war in Ukraine.
18:41Also to learn from that in terms of NATO going forward.
18:46And then, let me see, I think I've now...
18:50The Azore, I really have to work on that question.
18:54So I will not now free will.
18:56But maybe if we can get your address, I can give you an answer in writing.
19:03And then, when it comes to Ingeborg, the question on...
19:09When it comes to the Ukraine and scaling up the defence industrial production in Ukraine,
19:13that's really happening at the moment.
19:15But there is still a big potential untapped in Ukraine of about 10 to 15 billion, I think it is at the moment.
19:22At least these numbers are two, three months ago, probably not changed a lot.
19:26So we can still do more there.
19:27This is also what the Danes and Lithuanians, they have led the way here with others.
19:31And that's why I'm saying when you speak about the 90 billion,
19:36the EU has now provided 60 billion of military support for two years.
19:39I think it is Europe one, Ukraine two, but then again, I'm afraid that you still need to spend money also.
19:46Not afraid, I hope, you still will spend money on other suppliers.
19:50Particularly when it comes to the interceptors and the defence of Ukraine.
19:56This is my final point here.
19:57And a couple of you made that point.
19:59As I said again, each night now, about 50 to 20 missiles are sent into Kyiv, Lviv, Kharkiv and other big population centres in Ukraine.
20:10And hundreds of drones.
20:12The interception rate has come down.
20:14And the interception rate has come down because some of the nascent systems now in Ukraine
20:19do not have enough interceptors to fight back.
20:22And also the patriot systems, of course, need constant supply of pack missiles for them to intercept these missiles.
20:29And I agree with the parliamentarian who said that you also have to dig into your own stockpiles.
20:36There are two ways to do this.
20:37One is these pearl packages from the U.S.
20:39Because big in that pearl system is the interceptors for nascent and patriot systems.
20:46But also what you have in your own national stockpiles.
20:49And I am constantly working with your leaders.
20:51Please help me as parliamentarians to work with your leaders.
20:54You know which countries in this room.
20:56And I could discreetly inform you, but not in an open session.
20:59Who are sitting on large piles of interceptors.
21:02The Supreme Allied Commander has said that he totally accepts that a lot of that stuff will now move into Ukraine.
21:09Because that is now clearly the priority.
21:11So wherever you can help to put some pressure on your governments to do that.
21:15And some governments are already doing it.
21:17Norway announced it.
21:18Canada announced it.
21:19Turkey announced it.
21:20Others have announced it.
21:21But there is still more to do.
21:23Because this is the difference between life and death day in day out.
21:28But also how do we protect the crucial infrastructure, energy infrastructure in Ukraine.
21:33So please help there.
21:35I think I have almost answered all the questions.
21:38But not totally.
21:40Because one or two I found too difficult.
21:42But to answer your question I will come back to Wing Raj.
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