NATO defence ministers will meet via secure teleconference on Wednesday and Thursday (17-18 February 2021) to address NATO’s missions in Afghanistan and Iraq, review progress toward fairer burden-sharing, and discuss the NATO 2030 initiative.

Ministers will also meet with NATO partners Finland, Sweden, and the European Union to address shared security challenges.

“This is our first meeting with the new Biden administration and an opportunity to prepare the NATO summit in Brussels later this year”, - said NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg. The NATO 2030 initiative will be high on the agenda, and Mr. Stoltenberg will present a set of proposals to defence ministers to begin preparations for the summit. Ahead of the meeting, he outlined the key points of his proposals, which include: increasing NATO’s funding for deterrence and defence activities; enhancing Allied resilience; preserving NATO’s technological edge; increasing political coordination; cooperating with like-minded partners; strengthening training and capacity building for partners; and adapting to climate change. The Secretary General will also recommend to update NATO’s Strategic Concept.