WEBVTT

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Thanks . We'll start with the Wall

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Street Journal in the third row here in

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front of me , please . Thank you very

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much , Dan Michaels with the Wall

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Street Journal . Um You mentioned that

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ministers expressed concern about the

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war in the Middle East . Um Did it come

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up anything beyond that ? Um Clearly ,

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it's not NATO territory but the members

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are um involved more or less and

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have many of them have strikingly

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different positions . For example , the

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US and Turkey are on pretty much

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opposite sides of this . So curious how

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you reconcile that and curious whether

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this figures into any of the work of

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the group of experts on the southern

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neighborhood , you know , considering

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that uh we've had uh migrant crises

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coming out of the Middle East in the

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past . Thank you very much

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allies . Welcome the extension of

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the poll in hostilities and welcome

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the fact that hostages are released and

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that there is no relief for the people

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in Gaza and also that more humanitarian

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aid can be delivered . At the same

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time , I think it is important to

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recognize that NATO as an alliance does

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not play an active role in the Israel ,

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Palestine conflict , some allies are

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active in different ways . But as an

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organization is not directly involved ,

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we are present in the wider Middle East

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region . We have a training mission in

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Iraq to help to fight ISIS . We have a

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close partnership with , with many

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Arabic states in the Gulf in North

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Africa and in the Middle East ,

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including a very close partnership with

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Jordan where we do some defense

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capacity building activities . The king

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of Jordan just visited and I will

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also in the near future , also visit

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the Gulf region to meet with partners

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there . So therefore ,

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one of the messages from is that it is

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important that this conflict does not

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escalate to a bigger regional conflict .

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And the message to Iran is that they

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should not use or to seize

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the instability , the conflict we now

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see to further escalate and they have

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to rein in their proxies Hamas and

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Hezbollah . So

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allies are active in different ways ,

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but na alliance is not directly

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involved in this particular conflict .

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When it comes to the group of experts ,

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it is a bit too early to say exactly

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what they will conclude . But of course

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part of the instability we see in our

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southern neighborhood is also linked to

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the instability and the conflicts we

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have seen for decades in the Middle

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East . So I expect them to address the

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challenges and how can play a role to

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help , to stabilize this region , for

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instance , by working more closely with

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our partners , Israel , but also many

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Arabic countries , we'll go to Vege in

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the back here , please . Thank yous

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from Vega . One can get the impression

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that Western countries express their

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opinion different on Russia's violation

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of human rights . And when friendly

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countries like Israel limit access for

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civilians in Gaza to the same

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protection in your opinion . Are there

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different standards here on friends and

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adversaries when it comes to

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criticizing them ? My message is that

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international Humanitarian law has to

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be respected in all conflicts and

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civilian lives has always to be

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protected . And that has been the

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message both

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on the conflict in Gaza but also , of

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course , when it comes to other

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conflicts , we see around the world ,

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uh so upholding international law ,

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upholding humanitarian law is important

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regardless of the type of

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conflict , then I think it's also

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important to , I recognize that the

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situation in Gaza and the situation in

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Ukraine is different in many ways .

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Ukraine never posed a threat to Russia .

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Ukraine never attacked Russia . The

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Russian invasion of Ukraine was an

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unprovoked invasion of full scale

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invasion of another country .

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So of course , Ukraine has the right to

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self defense against an unprovoked

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attack and to

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uphold territorial integrity and also

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to support Ukraine's right for self

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defense . It is something that all

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allies agree on . Not least because the

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right for self defense is enshrined in

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the UN Charter . So international law ,

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Humanitarian Law applies in all

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conflicts and , and

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we continue to support Ukraine because

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this is about protecting international

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law . Go next to the Sydney morning ,

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Herald fourth row ,

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Secretary General Latika Burke from the

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Sydney morning , Herald , uh just on

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China . Where exactly do you want to

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land nato's strategy on China ? You

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raised economic coercion , what's

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actually in your toolkit to stop or

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hedge against that ? And do you think

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you'll have your liaison office opened

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in Tokyo by the time you cease to be ?

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SG Well , I think we need to realize

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that has come a long way

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when it comes to China because not so

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many years ago , we did not address the

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challenges that China poses to security

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at all . It was not mentioned in our

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previous strategic concept at all with

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a single word . The first time we had

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some agreed language at NATO was in

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2019 . And since then , we have

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developed a common position , a common

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approach realizing that China

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is in Asia and China

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is not a land border with

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allies , but what China does matters to

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our security . We see that China is

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heavily modernizing their armed forces .

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We see the way they are

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coercing neighbors and other countries ,

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not least around the South China Sea .

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We see China's disregard for human

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rights . And of course , all of this

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matters for our security . And just to

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recognize that it is something which

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NATO did not do before but allies agree

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on that today , I also have to

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underline that NATO will remain an

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alliance , a regional alliance of North

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America and Europe . But this region

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faces global threats and challenges .

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And one of the challenges we face is

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the security consequences of China's

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behavior . Also that they are working

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more and more closely together with

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Russia . So many of the things we do

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are relevant for addressing the

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challenges posed by China without

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having a necessary China label on

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that . For instance , over the last

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years , we have started to do much more .

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When it comes to developing technology ,

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we have established a new innovation

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fund . We have established a network of

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centers to develop technology and this

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is also to ensure that we maintain our

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technological edge . As we see , China

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is investing heavily in new disruptive

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technologies . Uh When we work with our

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partners in the in the Pacific ,

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Australia , New Zealand , Japan and

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South Korea . And actually now have

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started to invite them to our summits .

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That's also part of what we do to

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address the challenges that China poses

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to us and our partners in the in the

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Indo Pacific . And not least when we

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now are stepping up what we do on

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protecting our critical infrastructure .

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That is also partly because of the

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challenges we see China opposes to .

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Not so many years ago , the issue of

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five G was assessed as

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purely an economic commercial decision ,

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not least because of the discussions

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and the work we did at NATO allies

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realized that who controls the five G

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networks is also about our security .

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And therefore allies have been much

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more consensus and much more aware of

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the security risks related to five G .

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So be it five G be technology working

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with partners resilience . And of

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course also ensuring that we have a

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credible deterrence defense . All of

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this is relevant for nato's respondent

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to China . And I expect that when we

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meet in Washington , we will further

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develop this agenda as United Alliance .

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We have time for this one or two more .

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We go to Bloomberg here , please .

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Natalia Dziak from Bloomberg . So

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Finland has now announced that it would

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seal off its entire eastern border with

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Russia . What does NATO assess that

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Russia is trying to achieve by pushing

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asylum seekers to Finland's border ?

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And what do you think the impact is of

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uh uh a border going up between Europe

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and Russia here ? Thank you . Well , I

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think this is another example of how

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Russia is using many different tools to

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put pressure on neighbors . We have

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seen them using energy , we have seen

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them using cyber attacks . We have seen

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them using

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different kinds of clandestine

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operations to try to undermine our

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democracies . I just visited the

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Balkans where we have seen them being

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present and also trying to undermine

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some of the governments we have in the

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Western Balkans , not least in

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Montenegro some years ago . So these

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are so the fact that that Russia is

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now using migration as a tool . It is

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yet an old example of the attempt to

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have put pressure on neighbors allies ,

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they will not succeed because we stand

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together , we support each other . And

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I welcome therefore , the decision

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by the European border agency frontex

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to support and assist Finland . There

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has been no request for a NATO

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increased presence , border control is

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something that allies to themselves .

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Also sometimes with support from EU

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agencies . And I am absolutely

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confident that Finland is capable of

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dealing with this themselves . And

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therefore , I trust that they have

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absolutely made the right decision when

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it comes to controlling their borders .

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The very last question to answer here

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in the third round .

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Thank you , Secretary General Mattia

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Bagnoli answer the National Italian

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news agency , Secretary General . In a

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few days , there will be a ministerial

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in Skopje in North Macedonia , a NATO

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ally . Most of

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the ministers present today will travel

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to Skopje . I said most because for

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instance , the Baltic States and

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Ukraine , they say that they will not

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participate to the ministerial because

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of the expected presence of Mr Lavrov .

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I just wanted to ask you if the issue

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did come up today in the discussions .

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And if you personally think that it is

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appropriate for Mr Lavrov to travel

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right now in a country . Thank you .

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Well , it's for the to organize their

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meetings . The has played an important

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role for many years . Allies are

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as individual countries , members of

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the , and it's for the to organize

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their meetings . So I don't have any

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advice to give to another organization .

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My responsibility is to organize NATO

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meetings and then the o organize their

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meetings , afraid that's all we have

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time for now . And the Secretary

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General will be back to brief you again

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tomorrow . Thank you . Thank you .