Werner Hoyer, Minister of State at the Federal Foreign Office and Member of the German Bundestag, leaves on 19 October for Moscow, where he will attend a core group meeting to prepare the 47th Munich Security Conference scheduled for February 2011. In a planned speech on NATO’s new Strategic Concept Hoyer will also highlight the importance of the Alliance’s cooperation with Russia.

In connection with the ongoing deliberations on NATO’s new Strategic Concept, Hoyer today (19 October) issued the following statement:

”With his draft new Stategic Concept Secretary General Rasmussen has provided an excellent basis for further discussions within the Alliance in the run-up to the Lisbon Summit. We welcome the clearcut language on the ever increasing significance of the Alliance’s partnerships, also and in particular with Russia. Given Russia’s importance, I am very glad President Medvedev has accepted NATO’s invitation to attend the Lisbon Summit.The only way to address the most pressing issues affecting European security is for Russia and the Euro-Atlantic institutions to work together. To move forward on arms control and nuclear non-proliferation, conventional disarmament or also the unresolved conflicts in our shared neighbourhood, we need constructive cooperation with our Russian partners.“