We already have partnerships in places where we never expected to have them – both in North Africa and southern America. Our Pacific partners – Australia, Japan, South Korea, New Zealand – have all been very clear in wanting a strong relationship with NATO. I hope we can clearly demonstrate it at next year’s summit.
In other words, those countries will be invited to the NATO summit next year?
We will see. No decisions have been made.
There will be a number of meetings with partners, while we have not yet decided on the format.
What could be the perfect work allocation between NATO and the EU?
I would not put it in those categories. One thing that is clear is that NATO is responsible for allied collective defense. We do not want there to be any confusion about that or anything to weaken the transatlantic bond between USA and Europe.
For me, defense spending is the most important thing – 2 percent of GDP – that is the goal NATO has set for its allies, while it could also be a key initiative in the EU, as is all the work we do to boost readiness.
The NATO Readiness Initiative – battalions, squadrons, ships – getting all of it done will benefit both NATO and the EU.
But you can see that below the level of collective defense, there are operations and missions handled by the EU, things where countries choose NATO and places where we pursue NATO-EU cooperation – such as Kosovo and Iraq. Both are present there and I believe doing a good job.