J. Stoltenberg: NATO does not want a new Cold War with Russia

The NATO Parliamentary Assembly is now in plenary session at the Parliament Palace in Bucharest and is chaired by the NATO PA President, Paolo Alli. Among speakers so far there have been NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, the Romanian President, Klaus Iohannis, and the Presidents of both Chambers of the Romanian Parliament, Călin-Popescu Tăriceanu and Liviu Dragnea.

„NATO is an alliance that keeps its promises. We say what we do, we do what we say, we are adapting to a new security environment and we are adapting to new challenges and to a new security threat. Here, in Romania, we are seeing increased Allied presence in the Black Sea, and our deployments are a direct response to Russia’s aggressive actions in Ukraine" - NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said.

“We do not want to isolate Russia, NATO does not want a new Cold War". "We are concerned by Russia’s military build-up close to our borders and its lack of transparency when it comes to military exercises”, Stoltenberg said.

Romania will continue to be a responsible ally and a reliable dialogue partner, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said in his speech and showed that there is no question of choosing between NATO and the European Union. „These are complementary issues, if we want strong security”, he said, stating that NATO presence on its Eastern flank must be strengthened, especially at the Black Sea.

„We needed a strong Alliance and the fact that Bucharest accept 2% of the GDP for the Defense underlines the conviction that security starts at home”, the President of the Romanian Senate, Călin-Popescu Tăriceanu, declared.

The President of the Romanian Chamber of Deputies, Liviu Dragnea, drew the attention that one of Romania’s main concerns is the Black Sea, a key region in its security landscape, where the situation is starting to become complicated. As he stated, dialogue is an important way to prevent conflicts.

Source:RRA.Translated by Miruna Matei