Security Threats Have Not Diminished Despite COVID-19 Pandemic - NATO's Stoltenberg

Umer Jamshaid Published November 23, 2020 | 09:26 PM

Global security threats have not diminished despite the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday, during an address to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in which he set out his plans to adapt the military alliance over the next decade

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 23rd November, 2020) Global security threats have not diminished despite the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday, during an address to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in which he set out his plans to adapt the military alliance over the next decade.

As part of the NATO 2030 initiative, member states should continue to prioritize defense spending given that security threats have not subsided, Stoltenberg remarked.

"I know that prioritising defence spending in the middle of a health crisis is not easy. But the threats that existed before the pandemic have not diminished.

On the contrary. So the commitment we have all made to invest more in defence is as relevant as ever," Stoltenberg remarked.

The secretary general said that he would also push to strengthen NATO as a political alliance and look to adopt a more global approach to counter threats such as terrorism and cybercrime.

Stoltenberg launched the NATO 2030 initiative back in June, after member states invited the secretary general to set out his vision for the military alliance this past December.

NATO leaders are expected to consult with youth groups as well as representatives from the public and private sectors during the initiative.