NATO chief says ties with U.S. strong as ever

Record ID: 78066

  • Title: NATO chief says ties with U.S. strong as ever
  • Date: 21st November 2016
  • Summary: ISTANBUL, TURKEY (NOVEMBER 21, 2016) (REUTERS) NATO CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS NATO SECRETARY GENERAL, JENS STOLTENBERG, APPROACHING MICROPHONE DELEGATES LISTENING TO STOLTENBERG (SOUNDBITE) (English) NATO SECRETARY GENERAL, JENS STOLTENBERG, SAYING: "I am welcoming the incoming administration in Washington and I look forward to working with President-elect Donald Trump. The partnership between Europe and the United States has been rock-solid for almost 70 years, a partnership that has always received bipartisan support in the United States. And better burden-sharing will make the trans-Atlantic bond even stronger." DELEGATES (SOUNDBITE) (English) NATO SECRETARY GENERAL, JENS STOLTENBERG, SAYING: "Training local forces is one of our best weapons in the fight against terrorism. This year alone we have trained hundreds of Iraqi officers in Jordan and we recently decided to extend our training and capacity-building efforts into Iraq. That work will begin early next year. This training is an important contribution to the fight against ISIL." CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS
  • Embargoed: 6th December 2016 09:55
  • Keywords: NATO Jens Stoltenberg Turkey Donald Trump Iraq
  • Location: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
  • City: ISTANBUL, TURKEY
  • Country: Turkey
  • Topics: NATO,Government/Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA00159DZJ2F
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday (November 21) the bond with the U.S. was strong and called training national armed forces in the Middle East "one of our best weapons in the fight against terrorism".
    "I am welcoming the incoming administration in Washington and I look forward to working with President-elect Donald Trump. The partnership between Europe and the United States has been rock-solid for almost 70 years, a partnership that has always received bipartisan support in the United States. And better burden-sharing will make the trans-Atlantic bond even stronger," Stoltenberg told a NATO conference in Istanbul, Turkey.
    Trump questioned during his election campaign whether the United States should protect allies seen as spending too little on their defence, raising fears that he could withdraw funding for NATO at a time of heightened tensions with Russia.
    The U.S. President-elect and the NATO chief agreed on Friday (November 18) on the Western alliance's "enduring importance", NATO said earlier, striving to reassure Europe that Washington will remain committed to its security.
    Stoltenberg told delegates at the conference, hosted by NATO member Turkey, that the bloc would increase its training capacity for Iraqi forces in 2017 into Iraq itself, saying it was "an important contribution to the fight against ISIL", referring to Islamic State.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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