NATO Secretary General Will Not Attend EU Defense Ministers' Meeting

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will not participate in today's EU defense ministers' meeting in Brussels, NATO press service announced on Tuesday

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 17th May, 2022) NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will not participate in today's EU defense ministers' meeting in Brussels, NATO press service announced on Tuesday.

The European Union Foreign Affairs Council in its defense configuration will gather today, with the participants planning to discuss the implementation of a Strategic Compass plan to reinforce EU defense as well as other security issues. The defense ministers were also scheduled to exchange views with Stoltenberg and Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov on the latest development in the Ukrainian crisis.

The NATO Deputy Secretary General, Mircea Geoana, will join the meeting of the EU Foreign Affairs Council instead of Stoltenberg, NATO said in a statement without giving the reasons why Stoltenberg will be skipping the event.

On May 10, Stoltenberg contracted COVID-19. However, it was planned that he would take part in the meeting after the end of the quarantine.