“We are sending a clear political message and asking for an impartial investigation into the Navalny case and that Alexei Navalny and others arrested be released immediately,” NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg told a news conference after the meeting in Brussels.
Stoltenberg says Russia continues to suppress political opponents at home and to act aggressively abroad
– We have seen attempts at influence, disinformation and propaganda, as well as cyber attacks and attacks with chemical weapons in Russia and on our territory, says Stoltenberg. The latter refers to the poisoning of Navalny and of the former agent Sergei Skripal and his daughter in Britain. Russia refuses to be behind the attacks, which were carried out with the Russian neurotoxin novitsjok.
The secretary general says NATO is continuing to adapt to a changing security landscape, including Russia’s growing missile defense.
At the same time, he maintains that the relationship with the neighbor to the east should be followed up along two tracks, both deterrence and dialogue.
– We will work to get a better relationship with Russia, at the same time as we have to deal with the difficult relationship, he emphasizes.
– Eyes and ears
Foreign Minister Ine Eriksen Søreide (H), who has been in the Belgian capital in recent days, points out a few things Norway contributes when NATO assesses relations with Russia.
– We are NATO’s eyes and ears in the north. Due to the neighborhood, we see the political and military development clearly. We tell about operation and exercise patterns, and we can explain whether something is new or unusual Russian activity, says the Minister of Foreign Affairs to NTB in Brussels.
– But we also talk about areas where dialogue is possible. We spend a lot of resources on political contact with Russia, says Eriksen Søreide, who recently had a long video meeting with his Russian colleague Sergej Lavrov.
The Foreign Minister says that Norway’s contribution to vigilance and to giving the whole of NATO a picture of the situation is valued in the alliance.
Invited partners
Our neighboring countries Sweden and Finland’s foreign ministers were also invited to the last part of the two-day NATO meeting. The same was true of EU Foreign Minister Josep Borrell.
– We all face the same challenges when it comes to Russia. Neither NATO nor the EU has all the tools needed, but together we can complement each other, Stoltenberg said when he opened Wednesday’s talks.
Borrell says it is important for the community in the EU to look beyond its own union and discuss with partners such as NATO. He describes Russia as a dangerous neighbor who turns away from European values and becomes more and more authoritarian. At the same time, he is also interested in finding communication channels.
“These are issues where we have common interests, such as the nuclear agreement with Iran and climate change,” Borrell said on his way to the meeting.
No Afghanistan decision
The day before, the situation in Afghanistan was at the top of the agenda in Brussels. As expected, NATO made no decision on what happens on May 1, the withdrawal deadline in the agreement with the Taliban. Among the conditions for the United States and other countries to withdraw their forces from the country is, among other things, that there is progress in the peace process, which has currently stalled.
– We all see that there is no easy solution or no risk-free way forward, so we must prepare for all eventualities, Stoltenberg said on Tuesday. He added that NATO supports all attempts to breathe new life into the peace process.
On the first day of the meeting, the ministers also discussed the NATO 2030 reform package, which was presented by the NATO Secretary General in February. It will be discussed further in the alliance and is scheduled to be adopted at a summit later this year.
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