Opening remarks
by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of Heads of State and Government (NATO Summit Brussels)
(As delivered)
So then I think we are ready to start. Welcome to all of you. It’s good to see you and we will start this meeting.
Good afternoon.
And welcome to the Brussels Summit.
First, I would like to thank Belgium for hosting this meeting.
NATO is about Europe and North America working together.
To keep our people safe in a more unpredictable world.
Today, we will strengthen our collective defence and deterrence.
And step up our efforts to project stability beyond our borders and fight terrorism.
Fair burden sharing underpins everything that we do.
Just a few years ago, we were cutting our defence budgets.
Now we are adding billions.
Spending more and spending better.
Today we will recommit to investing more in our defence.
And sharing the burden more fairly.
We have a full agenda.
But before we continue, I would like to invite our host nation to say a few words.
Monsieur le Premier Ministre, Charles Michel, vous avez la parole.
(INTERVENTION BY PM MICHEL)
Merci. Merci Charles.
And then, I will ask the media that they leave the room and thank you for joining us at the beginning of this meeting.
And we will continue in just a moment.