Sekerinska: North Macedonia Shows How Important NATO-EU Cooperation Could Be

At the Annual Conference of the European Defence Agency (EDA) on the topic “New Horizons in EU Defence”, the Deputy Secretary General of NATO, Radmila Sekerinska, said EU defence was also of great importance to NATO because of its link to transatlantic security.

“EU defence is, of course, of great importance to Europe and to European security. But it is also of great importance to NATO, because it is really inextricably linked to transatlantic security. As someone coming from North Macedonia, and therefore not an EU insider, you might wonder whether I am best placed to talk about NATO-EU cooperation. But especially having in mind my national background, I do believe that my country shows precisely how important, how valuable and how beneficial NATO and EU cooperation could be”, she pointed out.

North Macedonia’s former Defence Minister also stated getting both organisations to work even more closely together was something that she would strive for in her job as Deputy Secretary General.

“And this is why I am here with you today. To send this message and to say that this NATO-EU partnership is of great importance to Secretary General Mark Rutte. He is in regular contact with his counterparts across the EU institutions,” Sekerinska noted.

The Deputy Secretary General also said spending 2% of the GDP on defence was not nearly enough anymore.

“As a priority, we all need to invest more and better in defence, we need to accelerate production of essential defence capabilities. NATO Allies have increased defence spending in recent years. So, two-thirds of all members of NATO are now spending at least 2% of GDP on defence. And this is definitely good news. But the bad news is that 2% is not nearly enough anymore. Allies will need to spend a lot more than 2% to rebuild our stocks, to get the necessary long-range weapons and air-defence systems, and integrate advanced technologies into our armed forces. We need all of that, and more, to stay safe in the years ahead.,” she said in her speech.