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Security is teamwork: Foreign Minister Wadephul is travelling to a meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Helsingborg and to the GLOBSEC Forum in Prague
Meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Helsingborg © TT NYHETSBYRÅN
On 21 and 22 May, the NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs will be meeting in Helsingborg, Sweden. At their meeting, Ministers will prepare for the upcoming NATO Summit in Ankara and also discuss how to further strengthen and enhance the effectiveness of the North Atlantic Alliance.
This will require wide-ranging and dependable investment in our defence, in line with the decisions taken last year – because Russia continues to pose a threat to our security. Germany was therefore one of the first countries to declare its commitment to the goal that all NATO Allies should spend 5% of their GDP on defence. This is part and parcel of fair burden-sharing within the Alliance, and Germany is facing up to this responsibility. What is important now is to swiftly and sensibly make these investments, so that our military capabilities can be further developed within NATO. Foreign Ministers will therefore also discuss support for the defence industries.
Prior to departing, Foreign Minister Wadephul issued the following statement: “With the historic decisions from the Hague Summit last year, the NATO Allies vigorously renewed their commitment to the transatlantic alliance and prepared the ground for a NATO 3.0. And it is precisely on this foundation that we will build. Germany is taking responsibility for playing a leading role in this process. Our goal is a new distribution of burdens that reflects Germany’s and Europe’s economic and military potential.”
Sweden, which itself only joined NATO in March 2024, is hosting its first NATO Foreign Ministerial. After 200 years as a non-aligned country, Sweden has joined NATO in response to the threat posed by Russia. Finland, too, has been a member of NATO since 2024, meaning that the North Atlantic Alliance now comprises 32 countries and is larger and stronger than ever before.
In addition, the Foreign Ministers will discuss continued support for Ukraine, as Ukraine is also defending the security of NATO Allies against Russia. We in the Alliance in turn have much to learn from Ukraine in terms of its experiences and military capabilities.
Prior to departing, Foreign Minister Wadephul issued the following statement:
In Sweden, I intend to make concrete proposals on how we can continue to firmly support Ukraine in defending freedom in Europe and how, vice versa, we can benefit from the impressive achievements of Ukraine’s armaments industry.
The situation in the Middle East, too, is linked to our security. We are all feeling the effects of the situation there. Germany, along with more than 30 other countries, is therefore prepared to play a role in securing the Strait of Hormuz.
Immediately afterwards, Minister Wadephul will travel on to Prague to attend the GLOBSEC Forum 2026 – one of the most important security and defence conferences in Europe. At the Forum, decision-makers from the spheres of politics and business will meet with scholars to discuss how Europe can continue to safeguard its security in a multipolar world order. The aim is to strengthen the European defence industry, better protect critical infrastructure and technologies and reduce strategic dependencies. No country can do this on its own. That is why the Forum in Prague will bring together representatives from more than 75 countries.