Doorstep statement

JENS STOLTENBERG (NATO Secretary General):  Thank you so much... thank you so much President Ilves.  And thank you for welcoming back... me back in Tallinn.  This is not my first visit to Estonia and to Tallinn. But this is my first visit as Secretary General of NATO.  And I very much appreciate your strong personal commitment to NATO and to collective defence.

And I will also like to express my gratitude to Estonia for the leadership you are showing in defence in our Alliance and the strong contributions you are giving... providing to NATO by participating in our operations in Afghanistan, in Kosovo.  And also the way you are leading by example; because you are a country that meets the NATO guidelines of investing 2% of GDP in defence. 

That is important for your security.  That is important for NATO security.  And it also gives the strong argument for also convincing other Allies to do exactly the same; to follow the example of Estonia.  So I'm very grateful for that. 

I'm also grateful that Estonia is showing leadership when it comes to cyber-defence.  Cyber-defence is important.  Cyber-attacks can be as dangerous as conventional attacks. And we have decided that cyber-defence is part of our collective defence within the NATO Alliance.  And therefore I'm glad to be here when Estonia is hosting NATO's biggest ever cyber-defence exercise.  That will help Allies and partners keep up with the speed... with this fast moving threat. 

And as you said, we are facing threats from many directions.  And Russia's actions have challenged the fundamental principles of Euro-Atlantic security.  And I call Russia to live up to its international obligations and commitments. 

And at the Wales Summit, we adopted the Readiness Action Plan to ensure that we continue to respond swiftly to crises as they arise. 

And my top priority is to make sure that we are implementing the Readiness Action Plan in full, on time.  And I'm looking forward to discuss with you the challenges we are facing; and how we can even further expand the excellent cooperation between NATO and Estonia, a strong and committed Ally. So thank you.

TOOMAS ILVES (President of Estonia):  And we're also looking forward to lunch.  (LAUGHING)