This week’s summit meeting in Madrid ends with all kinds of press conferences in the afternoon. Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will give a preliminary speech at 12.15, followed by, among others, US President Joe Biden at 13 and Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan at 15.
The actual meeting part before that is devoted to “challenges in our southern neighborhood”, as Stoltenberg puts it.
– The Middle East, North Africa and the Sahel region face interconnected security, demographic, economic and political challenges. It is exacerbated by the consequences of climate change and food insecurity caused by Russia’s war in Ukraine, says Stoltenberg at the start of the meeting, before the TV cameras are sent out of the room.
– It is in our interest to work closely with our partners in the south to combat these challenges together. Today we will discuss how NATO can address the causes of instability and increase our efforts in the fight against terrorism, says Stoltenberg.