North Atlantic Council with remarks by the Secretary General and SG Designate, 01 OCT 2024

Handover remarks in the North Atlantic Council by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg followed by NATO Secretary General Designate Mark Rutte at NATO Headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, 1 October 2024. 🗣 | NATO Secretary General: Thank you so much, Mario. Dear friends and colleagues, Dear Mark, When I became Minister for Industry and Energy in Norway in the early 1990s, the Prime Minister told me that I needed to be prepared for long meetings in the Parliament. And I had to sit for hours and listen to not always very exciting debates. But the Prime Minister also told me: “Remember that this is democracy. This is how we take care of our great nation. And how we make decisions together.” In the same way, I have sat here in the North Atlantic Council for 10 years. For more than 1000 Council meetings. And listened to discussions that I think we all can agree were not always very exciting. But all of them are part of how we take care of our great Alliance and how make decisions together. History was made in this room. Over the last decade we have achieved great things. We have undergone the biggest transformation of NATO in a generation. We have strengthened our defences. From having zero to eight NATO battlegroups, with tens of thousands of combat-ready NATO soldiers on our eastern flank. We have gone from thousands to half a million troops on high readiness. And from three to twenty-three Allies spending at least two percent of GDP on defence. And we have strengthened NATO as an institution. Doubling our common budget to ensure we can effectively deliver. Our family of Allies and partners has grown. Montenegro, North Macedonia, Finland and Sweden joined our Alliance. And Ukraine is closer to NATO than ever before. In 2014, we only provided marginal support to Ukraine. Now, our support is massive. And NATO is coordinating it through our new command in Germany. We have also broadened our partnerships in the south. Deepened relations with countries in the Indo Pacific. And NATO-EU cooperation has reached unprecedented levels. Europe and North America together in a strong NATO is the only way forward. Unity remains our greatest strength. It has been an honour for me to be at the helm of NATO. And to work with all your nations, and with everyone at this table and in this building. I thank you all. Civilian and military leaders, Members of the International Staff, the International Military Staff, and representatives of national delegations. And of course, I thank my dear Ingrid. And this time I will keep my promise, I am leaving Brussels in a few hours. And now Mark, it is over to you! You know NATO well. And you are well-known across the Alliance. You have the perfect background and experience to become a great Secretary General of NATO. During your many years, 14 years as Prime Minister you have demonstrated that you know how to build consensus. You have led 4 different coalition governments so you know how to make compromises. That is something which will be highly valued here at NATO. But you have also demonstrated that you don’t compromise on our values and principles. We see that with your personal commitment to our transatlantic bond. And your unwavering support for Ukraine. Now is the time for me to leave, and for you to begin your term as Secretary General of NATO. To mark the moment, I will hand you this gavel donated to NATO in 1963 by Iceland. It is used for special meetings in NATO. The last time it was used was when we had the last ministerial meeting in the old NATO building of the road. And then we use it again today. Whether you decide to use this every day it’s up to you. It’s a Viking gavel. Dear Mark, please receive this special gavel and let me invite you to take the seat of the Chair of the North Atlantic Council. Rest of the transcript can be found here: ▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬▬ SUBSCRIBE to this channel SUBSCRIBE to NATO News SUBSCRIBE to NATO History Connect with NATO online: Visit the Official NATO Homepage: Receive NATO updates via email: Find NATO on FACEBOOK: Follow @NATO on X/TWITTER: Follow NATO on Instagram: Find NATO on LinkedIn: Find NATO on Flickr: #NATO #OTAN