
NATO Foreign Ministers met in Brussels December 3-4, 2024 for their last gathering of the year.
NATO Expands Partnerships in the Middle East
For the first time, His Majesty King Abdullah II of Jordan participated in a meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers to discuss NATO’s southern neighbourhood and how best to work together to address common challenges to security. Jordan is one of NATO’s most important partners in the Middle East, and Secretary General Mark Rutte noted that NATO will soon open a Liaison Office in Amman as an important step “in making our deep relationships in the region even stronger”.
Strengthening the NATO-Ukraine Partnership
Ministers also met in the NATO-Ukraine Council with Minister Andrii Sybiha of Ukraine and the new European Union High Representative Kaja Kallas. Secretary General Rutte underscored how Ukraine has resisted Russian aggression, noting that the “situation on the battlefield is difficult, and we have to do everything we can to get more military aid into Ukraine”. Mr. Rutte condemned Russia’s recent launch of an experimental intermediate range ballistic missile and noted that deploying this capability “will neither change the course of the conflict nor deter NATO Allies from supporting Ukraine”.
The Secretary General said that NATO Allies are stepping up with more military support for Ukraine, a new command to coordinate assistance and training, and a financial pledge of 40 billion euros as a minimum baseline for this year.
NATO Addresses Russian Cyber Threats
On Wednesday, NATO Foreign Ministers addressed Russia’s hostile actions in NATO countries, including acts of sabotage, cyber-attacks, and energy blackmail. The Secretary General said that “none of these actions will deter us from supporting Ukraine or making our own defences stronger”.
Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has highlighted, once again, the need to understand the battlespace from a cyberspace perspective, assessing the impact of cyber events on military operations to inform Commanders’ decision-making.
NATO Boosts Cyber Defences
Allied Command Transformation’s Cyber Coalition 2024 exercise is currently underway, featuring an experimentation campaign on Cyberspace Situational Awareness. In collaboration with Allied Command Operations, Joint Force Command Naples, and industry partners, the campaign aims to develop dashboards that correlate mission, threat, and network information. These dashboards will provide a crucial cognitive advantage for the Alliance and Allies in cyberspace operations.