Part of the preparation for the NATO Summit in Vilnius is about strengthening the commitment “to invest more in defense”, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg underlined, pointing out that 2% of GDP for defense “is not the ceiling, but the lowest percentage we have to reach.”

Arriving for the NATO Defense Ministers’ Summit in Brussels, he said regarding the meeting held in Ankara between Finland, Sweden, Turkey and NATO in relation to Sweden’s accession to the Alliance, that “it is a continuation of meeting I had with President Erdogan a few weeks ago, with whom we had a good discussion on how to make progress on the issue of Sweden’s accession to the Alliance.”

“The meeting of the permanent mechanism took place in a constructive atmosphere, the discussions were constructive,” repeated Jens Stoltenberg.

In relation to the delivery of F16 fighter jets to Ukraine, he said he welcomed the decision by many NATO allies to train fighter pilots. “This is important and will bring us back at a later stage to make decisions to deliver fourth-generation fighter jets, such as the F16,” Mr Stoltenberg noted.

He added that “it is too early to say when a decision will be made, but the fact that training has begun gives us the option to also decide to deliver planes and the pilots will be ready.”

Finally, when asked about his succession, the General Secretary replied that “it is an issue that will be decided by the 31 allies. I am responsible for all the decisions this alliance has to make except one and that is my future. It is up to the 31 allies to decide.”