Pandemic. One of the changes we need to make today to ensure that nato will be relevant and effective over the coming decade and in 2030 . To answer these questions, we will begin with saving remarks from the secretarygeneral. Then, my wonderful colleague in who works with, the alliance for securing democracy, will moderate a conversation with the secretarygeneral. She will start with fred and me and then take questions from you. Fred will close us out. Now a word about the secretarygeneral of nato. At a time when citizens in nato countries are looking for leadership, they need look no further than nato headquarters. Where secretarygeneral stoltenberg is providing strong principles and decisive leadership. It is my sincere pleasure to stoltenberg, secretarygeneral, to the stage. Mr. Secretarygeneral, over to you. Sec. Gen. Stoltenberg that afternoon from brussels. To karen anding fred in washington and welcome to all who are following us online. Last december nato leaders asked me to make our Strong Alliance even stronger. By making sure we are as effective politically as we are militarily and that we remain ready today to tackle the challenges of tomorrow. This is an opportunity to reflect on where we see our alliance 10 years from now. And how it will continue to keep the faith in the more uncertain worlds. So today, i am happy to launch my reflection on nato 2030. Covid19 has changed our lives in ways we could barely imagine and it has magnified existing trends when it comes to our security. Russia continues its military activities on the basis, and unabated, isis and other terrorist groups are emboldened, both state and nonstate actors promote disinformation and propaganda. And the rise of china is fundamentally shifting the global balance of power. Keeping up the race for economic and technological supremacy, multiplying freedoms and increasing competition over our values and our way of life. Nato 2030 is about how we adapt this new normal. And to do this, we must stay strong militarily, be more united politically. And take a broader approach globally. So first we need a Strong Military alliance to protect our democracies and to continue to compete in the more competitive world. Our security has not gone away while we are focusing on the pandemic, just the opposite. As we look to 2030 we must continue to invest in our armed forces and more military capabilities. They have kept us safe for over 70 years as they continue to do today. Security is the foundation for our prosperity now and in the future. But military strength is only part of the answer. We also need to use nato more politically. This means bringing all the issues that effect our security to natos table. So that they can forge stronger concensus sooner and more systematically. From conflicts in the middle east region to arms control and security consequences or climate change. Using nato more politically also means using a broader range of tools. Military and nonmilitary. Economic and diplomatic. This is especially important as we Work Together to strengthen the resilience of our societies and our economies and ensure that we do not import vulnerabilities in our Critical Infrastructure and supply chain. Nato may not always be on the front line to act, but it must always be the forum for frank discussion and genuine consultation. In fact, nato is the only place that brings europe and north america together every day. We have the structures and institutions in place. What we need is the political will to use nato, to decide and necessary, to act for our shared security. Finally, in a world of great global competition where we see china coming closer to us from arctic and cyber space, nato needs a more global approach. This is not about the presence, but about the global approach. Nato brings together 30 allies on both sides of the atlantic. Almost one billion people, half of the worlds military and economic might and a network of global partners. As we look to 2030, we need to work even more closely with likeminded countries, like australia, japan, new zealand, south korea, to defend the global rules and institutions that kept us safe for decades. To set norms and standards in space and in cyber space, on new technologies and global arms control. And ultimately, to stand up for the world built on freedom and democracy. Not on bullying and coercion. The challenges that we face over the next decade are great and spectacular. Neither europe alone or america alone insist on National Solutions and we must live up to our values, freedom, democracy and the rule of law. These values are what thedefine are what define as. Us. They are what make us strong as nations and as alliance. As we continue to compete in the more competitive world, we must keep our democracy strong. My vision for nato 2030 is not about reinventing nato, it is about making our strong aliens Alliance Even stronger. Strong militarily, Stronger Politically and more global. To help us get there, ive asked a group of experts to provide new ideas. I will continue to consult actively with allies and ill reach out to civil society, the private sector and young leaders, as we are doing today. My recommendations will inform my recommendations will inform the direction nato leaders set out when we meet next year. Together, we can look to nato 2030 with confidence. Together, we would keep our people safe in the more uncertain world. Thank you. Thank you very much, secretarygeneral, for your insightful remarks and sharing and for sharing with us your visions and reflections for nato 2030. Now, well turn back to washington, d. C. For the first two questions. Karen, the floor is yours. Thanks, nadia. And mr. Secretarygeneral, what a terrific set of framing remarks. You mentioned that your goal in this reflection process is not about reinventing nato, but about making nato stronger and more global. And i want to draw you out on what that means in terms of natos relationship with china. Weve seen a stark deterioration, certainly in the u. S. China relationship. From where you sit, in brussels, does nato see china as the new enemy . Thank you. No, nato does not see china as the new enemy or adversary, but what we see is that the rise of china is fundamentally changing the global balance of power, and the nato leaders, heads of states and government, when they met in london in december, for the first time in need of history, they agreed nato has to address the security consequences of the rise of china. There are some opportunities, because economic china has fueled Economic Growth in our part of the world, and it does help lift people out of poverty. But at the same time, we see should have the biggest economy in the world, they have the second largest defense bucket. Theyre investing heavily in modern military, including missiles to reach all nato allied countries. Theyre coming closer in cyber space, we see them in the arctic, in africa, investing in the infrastructure. And working together more and more with russia. All of this has a security consequence for nato allies and for nato allies, and therefore, we need to be able to respond to that and to address that and do that by forging nato along the Stronger Political lines, and do that together with partners, not just in the asia pacific, including australia, japan, south korea, new zealand, which are very close and likeminded partners to nato. So this was a message coming from the leaders last december, and now, were following up on that when we now address nato 2030 and the reflection process. Very important points. I would like have the second question from d. C. Over to you. Thank you very much. Strong militarily, Stronger Politicalically, and more global. Mr. Secretarygeneral, this is such an important message, and this reflection process has such significance. As a follower of nato, you seem to be pointing to what people call article two. One of the pieces of language encourages economic collection between any or all of them. My question is, how important is this . You didnt explicitly mention the European Union in the vision for the future of nato, but this new direction would suggest a closer collaboration with the European Union. Nato is a military and political alliance, and youre right, that sometimes i feel that we all forget in a way, the importance of the political dimension of nato. Of course, nato is about protecting each other, its about article five and collective defense, and also about working together in the political alliance, addressing, for instance, the importance of the article three. So many relevant articles, support article two and three is about nonmilitary means of securing our security and of maintaining peace. And i think that covid19 has demonstrated clearly the importance of nonmilitary of addressing nonmilitary challenges and the role nato can play in helping the civilian society dealing with that. When it comes to the European Union and europe, i strongly believe in cooperation between the European Union and nato, and i very much welcome the fact that we have been able to lift the cooperation between nato and the eu to unprecedented levels. We need to continue that. I also welcome the efforts on defense, but at the same time, the eu cannot replace nato. We have to remember that almost 60 of the People Living in nato, in the nato country, they live in that noneu state. In that noneu state. 80 of the natos defense expenditure is coming from noneu members, and we have to be able to protect 100 of our people. So, theres no way eu can replace nato, but as long as we Work Together in a good way, we can complement each other. Talking about complementing each other, i am very pleased to be receiving questions from also our viewers, social media. First question i would like to raise with you is from a 16yearold from the editorial seen, we received the question over email. And talking about the future of nato, we also speak about the future of all the citizens and the young generation. And her question relates to that. Where do young people fit into nato both now and in the future . I think the most fundamental answer to that question is peace matters, especially for young people, because its only by providing peace and freedom, the core responsibility of nato, that young people can decide what kind of life to live. Job, education, but also all the other important issues that we are faced with, like climate change, and now, the fight against racism. Without peace, we will fail in all of those efforts. So peace and freedom is so fundamental for Everything Else we do. And im not young, but even i take peace a long way for granted, because peace has been the way the normal in europe for nato allied countries and north america and europe since we established for more than 70 years, but peace has not been the normal thing in europe. Actually, in europe, nato allies were ravaged by war for centuries. So, the most important thing for young people is to make sure that they can take peace as granted, as ive been able to take, and the only way to make sure that that happens is that we continue to have nato as a Strong Alliance preserving peace and freedom. Thank you very much. The second question i would like to raise with you is from terry schultz, journalists from and npr,welle who shared a question over email. The Current Events and developments, whats happening with the troops in germany. How do you comment on u. S. Media reports that the u. S. Is planning to withdraw almost 10,000 troops from germany . I can never comment on media leaks and speculation, but what i can say, were constantly consulting with the United States, with other nato allies on the military posture or presence in europe. At the end of the cold war, we saw the u. S. Military presence in europe. For the last few years, we have seen an increase in the u. S. Presence again. And this is about germany. But we have seen for instance, the u. S. Brigade deployed to europe. Weve seen more rotational presence, weve seen the u. S. Taking the lead from a natobacked group in poland. More rotational military forces in romania, including with the base for missile defense, and of course, were also seeing a naval presence in the spanish base in spain, and even in my own country, norway, we see more u. S. Presence. So, weve actually seen more u. S. Presence, including investing in more position equipment, more exercise. For the first time, we had the u. S. Aircraft carrier doing the exercises, a few weeks ago, we had significant u. S. Naval presence in the north and so on. So the thing is that european allies in the United States, were doing more together now in europe than have done for many, many years. I think that reflects the fact that we have been able to strengthen the military cooperation with nato. Thank you very much. Now we will give an opportunity to two of our viewers to ask a question directly over zoom. The first question you will here hear is from victoria. Over to you. Yes, hello to everyone, and im very delighted to participate in this event with mr. Stoltenberg. And thank you very much for your remarks, which i find very important, and one of them is that we really have to take care of peace and we shouldnt take it for granted. I think that this is one of the most important things. But i will get back to question am hereions, and i representing or being alumni of the marshall Memorial Scholarship program, and this question is also coming from me in the republic of maldova. The covid19 pandemic has enforced a trend which is gaining more and more ground, that is National Versus collective. As a result, how do you see the security developing in a way that it meets the individual and collective needs of the country, both members of nato, of the alliance, but also partners . And how do we keep in this circumstance our collective values alive, as they are still seen as one of the main premises for peace . Thank you. Well, i strongly believe that in uncertain times, we need strong, multilateral institutions, and nato is one. Biggest most important multilateral institutions weve established. We saw nato emerge out of the Second World War and all of this established to prevent war from ever again so affecting the people in nato allies countries. Natoi natoallied countries. And i strongly believe if theres anything we could learn from the crisis and the decades since nato was established, is when were faced with uncertainty, then we need strong institutional institutions so i institutions. So i think this is going to strengthen the multilateral institutions, to strengthen multilateral corporations and strengthen nato, thats why nato 2030unched the reflection process, to make sure we change and adapt as the world is changing. And again, as the global balance of power is shifting, we see the rise of china. And compared to china, even the United States is now the biggest one. Soon, china will have the biggest economy in the world and they are leading in investing in a lot of advanced technologies, including artificial intelligence, computing and so on. And its more important that we stand together, north america and europe together, because we cannot manage this alone. We need to do this together. So my main issue is that when things are difficult, then its even more important that we stand together and that we do that, north america and europe together. Thank you. Thank you very much. Before we come back to social media questions, we have the second question that will resume again. From rachel. Over to you, rachel. Hello, secretarygeneral, and thank you so much for your leadership in these very turbulent times. Your argument that nato is increasingly expected to deal with nonmilitary challenge, like disinformation, cyber, energy, and climate, and nato doesnt necessarily hold all the tools. In addition to the partnership that nato has with other countries, for example in the asia pacific, how can nato expand the Partnership Network to make sure it has the right partners to tackle these changes . Im thinking along the lines of private sector partners and other international organizations, how can it expand that network . Thank you. Well, the strength of nato is that not only do we represent 30 members, close to one billion people, half of the military in the world the military might in the world and economic might due to the 38 members of nato, but we are also working with 40 different partners around the world and were working with institutions and with other International Institutions like the European Union and we have been able to strengthen that, with the u. N. And again, in a world which is constantly changing and were facing many different changes at the same time. The importance of working together with partners has become even more critical for nato, and thats the reason why we are focusing on that. And again, one of the purposes of nato 2030 is to look into how we can ensure we strengthen partnerships in many directions, addressing not least, different nonmilitary threats. Were seeing in cyber, we have disinformation propaganda, as you mentioned. I strongly believe that the answer to propaganda is not propaganda. I believe that the truth will prevail, and the facts of the truth is the best way to count propaganda disinformation. The aim, of course, of much connected to covid19, is to erode trust in our democratic system. It reduces our ability to Work Together. I believe the best way to counter propaganda and disinformation is truth. And for that, you have three independent threats. Journalists, they are checking the facts, checking the story, the necessary way to make sure that propaganda and disinformation doesnt succeed. Id like to followup on this question of propaganda or disinformation during the crisis that were facing now. The Global Health crisis. Have you seen an increase of disinformation propaganda targeting nato or trying to undermine nato . We have seen several examples, stories, where propaganda, disinformation, has been used to try to divide us, allied countries. Were seeing china and russia blaming Nat