White House Says NATO Summit Prepares Ambitious Security Initiative, Alludes To Russia And China

JAKARTA - The countries that are members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will start a Summit meeting in Brussels, Belgium this Monday, June 14. In a statement Sunday, June 13, the White House said alliance leaders would launch an "ambitious" security initiative.

The White House said the initiative was taken to ensure security guarantees for its member states through 2030 and beyond. A White House statement said the new Strategic Concept would be prepared for adoption at the 2022 NATO summit.

It said the 30 member states would agree to revise the NATO Strategic Concept, to guide the approach to the evolving strategic environment, including Russia's aggressive policies and actions, the challenges posed by the People's Republic of China to security, prosperity and collective well-being. This includes transnational values and threats such as terrorism, cyber threats, and climate change.

"Allied leaders will launch a series of ambitious initiatives to ensure NATO continues to provide security to our citizens through 2030 and beyond," the statement added.

NATO leaders will support a new Cyber Defense Policy that improves coordination, to ensure the alliance is resilient to increasingly frequent and severe threats, including disruptive ransomware attacks against critical infrastructure.

The White House added that alliance members will rely on trusted service providers for next-generation telecommunications networks. In addition, NATO leaders will also affirm measures to ensure the alliance's technological superiority.

"Climate Security Action Plan, including reducing greenhouse gases from military operations and installations," the White House said.

Russia, climate change, Afghanistan and new technologies are among the topics planned for discussion during the one-day summit, which will culminate in a special leaders session in the North Atlantic Council room.

In addition, the NATO summit this time is planned to agree on reform of the alliance known as NATO 2030. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will define nine areas where NATO can modernize in the medium term, including more funding of joint allies for military operations.