NATO Secretary General with the President of Finland 🇫🇮 Alexander Stubb, 08 OCT 2024

Joint press conference by NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte with Alexander Stubb, President of Finland, 8 October 2024.
🗣 | NATO Secretary General:
President Stubb, dear Alex,
It’s great to welcome you here at NATO Headquarters.
And you are the first Allied leader I have the honour to welcome here as NATO Secretary General.
It’s further proof of Finland's seamless integration into the NATO family.
Since Finland became a NATO Ally eighteen months ago, the Alliance has become stronger and Finland has become safer.
Finland has highly-capable military forces and cutting-edge capabilities.
You are investing more than 2% of GDP in defence.
I welcome that you will host a new NATO battlegroup, to deter any aggression.
And a new headquarters to lead NATO land operations in the region.
All these efforts enhance our defences along the eastern flank and in the High North.
Today, we discussed further strengthening our deterrence and defence.
Over the past decade, NATO has carried out the biggest reinforcement of our collective defence in a generation.
With more forces, and at higher readiness.
We both agree that NATO must go further and faster.
We need more, better equipped forces;
A more robust transatlantic defence industry;
Increased defence production capacity;
Greater investment in innovation; and
Secure supply chains.
Allies are already stepping up, with plans to acquire thousands of air defence and artillery systems;
Many hundreds of modern aircraft, mostly 5th generation F-35s;
As well as substantial high-end capabilities.
But to do more, we must spend more.
To reach our capability targets, 2% clearly will not be enough.
We also addressed Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, where I made my first ever visit as Secretary General just last week.
NATO must and will do more to help Ukraine.
Russia continues to carry out massive strikes against Ukraine’s critical energy infrastructure.
Ukraine could be facing its toughest winter since the full-scale invasion began,
I pay tribute to the resilience and the bravery of the Ukrainian people and their armed forces.
NATO Allies are providing almost all military support to Ukraine.
This is vital for Ukraine’s stability and ability to stay in the fight.
And I will be at Ramstein, together with Alex Stubb, at the table at Ukraine Defence Contact Group to press for more aid.
I welcome Finland's continuous support to Ukraine.
You have delivered a significant amount of support. Over 2 billion euros in military aid.
What Finland is doing helps save lives.
And the more military support we give, the faster this war will end.
President Stubb and I also discussed Russia’s ongoing campaign of malign activities on Allied territory.
And in this regard, I welcome the European Union’s new sanctions regime targeting hybrid threats.
In an unpredictable world we stand together to defend our shared values and democratic systems.
Dear Alex,
Thank you for your steadfast commitment to our transatlantic Alliance.
I look forward to continuing to work together.
▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬
SUBSCRIBE to this channel bit.ly/NATOsub...
SUBSCRIBE to NATO News bit.ly/NATONew...
SUBSCRIBE to NATO History bit.ly/NATOHis...
Connect with NATO online:
Visit the Official NATO Homepage: bit.ly/NATOhom...
Receive NATO updates via email: bit.ly/NATOemails
Find NATO on FACEBOOK: bit.ly/NATOfac...
Follow @NATO on X/TWITTER: bit.ly/NATOtwi...
Follow NATO on Instagram: bit.ly/NATOins...
Find NATO on LinkedIn: bit.ly/NATOlin...
Find NATO on Flickr: bit.ly/NATOflickr
#NATO #OTAN #finland