NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană underlined the importance of investing in defence and innovation at the Leangkollen Security Conference in Oslo, Norway on Monday (6 February 2023). The Deputy Secretary General delivered a speech during the conference’s opening session entitled “Ukraine Holds the Future of Democracy and Security in Europe”.
Against the backdrop of changing security dynamics and increasing strategic competition, Mr Geoană emphasised that it is crucial to invest in developing new technologies, saying: “technologies can make the difference between winning and losing.” Mr Geoană thanked Norway for its strong support for NATO’s new innovation initiatives, the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) and the Defence Investment Fund.
In addition, the Deputy Secretary General noted that Russia’s war in Ukraine has demonstrated the continuing importance of heavy weapons on the battlefield, saying: “we must balance digital warfare with kinetic warfare if we are to maintain our security.” He identified a key lesson learned from the war as the need to invest even more in defence. On China, Mr Geoană warned that “we must not repeat the mistake we made with Russian energy with Chinese rare earth materials. To be dependent is to be vulnerable.”
Hosted by the Norwegian Atlantic Committee, the Leangkollen Security Conference brings together international and Norwegian researchers and senior officials to address defence, foreign, and security policy issues. The title of this year’s conference was «The Age of Great Power Competition – Democracy Versus Autocracy in Light of Russia’s War against Ukraine».
«The Whole Family is Back»
I have to say that Secretary General Stoltenberg invested tremendous political, diplomatic and leadership skills, in Madrid itself. I think he spent almost eight hours, in a busy summit anyway, with the three leaders from the three countries. And the memorandum of understanding is also a part and expression of our strong desire, and our Secretary General’s strong desire, [inaudible] to see the process completed.
28 Allies have already ratified their accession protocols.
But both Finland and Sweden are already sitting at NATO’s table and are closely integrated in our political consultations and military activities.
Their security has already been significantly strengthened, with several Allies providing security assistance, and assurances. So it is inconceivable that NATO would not act, even at this stage, if the security of Sweden and Finland were threatened.
Sweden and Finland have delivered. It is time to welcome them as full members of NATO. Their accession will make our whole Alliance stronger, and our people safer.
And as a guy coming from the Black Sea, I will say that it is not only strengthening, the accession of Finland and Sweden, not only strengthening the Baltic and the North Sea and the High North coherence. It is obvious.
And by the way, this will be reuniting the Scandinavian nations after in 1949, when three, Iceland, Denmark and Norway decided to go [inaudible] NATO. And for the reasons we fully respect, Finland and Sweden decided to go a different path. Now the whole family is back in one room.
But it is not only about the North. The accession of these two countries is bringing coherence from the North, to the Baltic, to the Black, and to the Mediterranean seas.
This is giving us not only strength in the North, but amplitude and strategic power all over the place. And the reputation of these two countries, also the third nations that are not yet convinced by our rhetoric, I would encourage anyone from the global south to go and ask our Finnish and Swedish friends if somebody coerced them into joining NATO. Or if they really considered, as democratic nations, that their best place is with us.
The young child in Munch’s painting would now be a very old man himself, because history never stops. The struggle for freedom never stops.
Next year, in April, will be the 75th anniversary of NATO, the greatest Alliance in human history. NATO was an idea born from the fires of war and from violence and destruction and extreme ideologies, to ensure our peace and security.
Today, we are facing a resurgence of authoritarian, counter-propositions, to our values. It is up to our generation and the generations to come, to continue the struggle. To do whatever it takes to make our Alliance strong and our values, our freedom and prosperity protected, for generations to come.
