Outgoing NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned European countries that it is impossible to ensure their security without Türkiye in the south.
Speaking at the German Marshalll Fund event “Reflections on a Challenging Decade,” Stoltenberg highlighted the importance of interconnectedness, saying that both sides of the Atlantic need each other amid ongoing challenges.
“Without Türkiye in the south, Norway in the north, and the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom in the west, it is impossible to envisage the security of the European continent," Stoltenberg said.
The departing NATO chief said isolationism will not keep anyone safe as the world is interconnected and security challenges are too substantial for any country to deal with them alone.
Maintaining that only NATO can ensure safety and peace in Europe, Stoltenberg noted that 80% of the alliance's defense spending comes from non-European Union allies.
Stoltenberg said that the alliance also serves U.S. interests as much as it does Europe's.
"No other major power has as many friends and allies as the United States. Any policy that seeks to undermine this is squandering one of America's greatest assets."
Turning to the war in Ukraine, Stoltenberg said that supporting Kyiv is the way to bring Russia to the negotiation table, which would lead to peace.
"The paradox is that the more weapons for Ukraine we are able to deliver, the more likely it is that we can reach peace and an end to the war. And the more credible our long-term military support, the sooner the war will end," he added.
Türkiye, which has the second largest army in NATO, played an important role in determining the position of secretary-general, the highest-level job in the alliance. Türkiye supported Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte for the position for the next five-year period.
Ankara often condemns “relations” between the terrorist group and certain NATO members as “unacceptable,” “a threat against member states” as well as “against the spirit of alliance.” Those members include the United States, which openly supports the Syrian wing of the PKK through military equipment shipment, under the guise of a fight against Daesh in Syria.
Türkiye refused to ratify the membership bids of Sweden and Finland for more than a year until the Nordic nations met Turkish demands like tightened measures against terrorist groups.
Ankara has lauded the stance of Rutte’s predecessor Jens Stoltenberg, who served as secretary-general for 10 years as the latter emphasized that Türkiye, among NATO allies, suffered the most from terrorism. Stoltenberg has also opposed sanctions in the field of defense that targeted Türkiye. Türkiye faced U.S. sanctions after it purchased S-400 missile systems from Russia. The sanctions put a ban on U.S. export licenses and authorizations for a defense conglomerate overseen by Türkiye’s Presidency of Defense Industries (SSB).
Rutte's stand on NATO-European Union relations was also an important issue for Ankara, with Türkiye emphasizing that the EU is a political alliance and NATO a military alliance.
