Brussels, 15 February 2024 (MIA) - Defense Minister Slavjanka Petrovska will take part at a North Atlantic Council session of defense ministers, chaired by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, in Brussels on Thursday.

Ministers will discuss preparations for the NATO Summit in Washington in July, implementation of the decisions from last year's summit in Vilnius, progress in ammunition production and the Alliance support to Ukraine.

Ahead of the meeting, Stoltenberg held a press conference and stressed that the allies' support makes a real difference, noting that “with our help, the brave Ukrainians have retaken half of the territory that Russia seized, opened a corridor in the Black Sea and are inflicting heavy losses on Russian forces.”

He welcomed the recent decision by the European Union on a major new package of aid and said he counted on the US Congress to follow soon, because “this is not charity, this is an investment in our own security.”

The NATO chief highlighted the historic progress on defense spending, saying “last year, we saw an unprecedented rise of 11% across European Allies and Canada” and that this year, he expects 18 Allies – a record number – to spend 2% of their GDP on defense. “Since the Investment Pledge was made in 2014, European Allies and Canada have added more than 600 billion US dollars for defense,” he said, “so we are making real progress.”

Ministers will also discuss the progress made in ramping up production of ammunition, with Stoltenberg saying NATO has agreed contracts worth ten billion dollars in the past few months.

The Secretary General explained that “right now, we are testing these plans through exercise Steadfast Defender, the largest NATO exercise in decades” with approximately 90,000 forces from all 31 Allies and Sweden.

On Wednesday, Defense Minister Petrovska signed North Macedonia's NATO Voluntary National Contribution at the Public Diplomacy Division in Brussels, making it possible for strategic communications and public relations experts at the Ministry of Defense to contribute to the development of public relations within NATO. The Ministry of Defense experts' contribution to the Public Diplomacy Division is set to begin in May 2024. Four six-month rotations are planned over the next two years.

MIA file photo