North Atlantic Treaty Organization
June 17, 2015
Joint statement by the NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker
The EU and NATO are unique and essential partners who share common values and strategic interests. We work side by side in crisis management operations, capability development and political consultations to support international peace and security.
Our cooperation is particularly important in the context of declining defence budgets in many of our Member States. We need to strengthen the potential of our strategic partnership to minimise unnecessary duplication and maximise cost-effectiveness.
We welcome efforts both by NATO Allies and EU members to enhance their defence capabilities and, in this respect, we support continuing close cooperation and complementarity between the two organizations. A stronger European Defence will contribute to a stronger NATO.
We look forward to the June European Council taking decisive steps in this regard.