Defence Minister Radmila Shekerinska participated virtually in the NATO Defence Ministerial on Tuesday afternoon, which was focused on preparations for the upcoming Summit of NATO leaders on June 14 in Brussels.

During the meeting, hosted by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, ministers discussed NATO 2030 initiative, whose goal is to prepare the Alliance for the future, the Ministry of Defence said in a press release.

Ambitious decisions are expected to be taken and the Alliance’s commitment to the transatlantic relationship to be reaffirmed at the NATO Summit.

“During the meeting, Defence Ministers reaffirmed the decisions related to the collective defence, for the expansion of the approach to security and the strengthening of the resilience to the new security challenges. Also, the importance of technological development and its impact on building defence capacities and capabilities was emphasized. Defence Ministers agreed that the Alliance would in the future expand cooperation with partners and all democracies committed to rules based international order. It was also agreed that NATO would work to raise awareness on mitigating the security implications of climate change,” reads the press release.

Shekerinska presented the national positions of the Republic of North Macedonia, giving strong support to the commitment to strengthen the collective defence, as well as the need for continuous adaptation to the new security challenges, because no country can deal with them alone.

On Afghanistan, Defence Ministers agreed that continued support for the Afghan forces, government and people is the best way that NATO can contribute to the peace efforts.

Defence Ministers supported the decision to adopt the new Alliance’s Strategic Concept, which will be presented and approved at the next NATO Summit in 2022, the Ministry of Defence said in a press release.