The EU and NATO announced on Tuesday the creation of a new joint working group to combat threats allegedly emanating from states that consider the two organizations to be “authoritarian”.
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Earlier on Tuesday, a meeting between NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen took place in Brussels.
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“To counter changing threats and challenges, von der Leyen and Rutte agreed today to create a new high-level working group to strengthen existing EU-NATO cooperation,” a joint communiqué following a meeting between the leaders of the two organizations said.
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The document notes that the leaders of the EU and NATO discussed “the increasing aggressiveness of authoritarian states in the international arena.”
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“These states are challenging our common interests, values and democratic principles using a variety of means, including political, economic, technological and military,” the EU and NATO say.
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Previously, the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance, whose headquarters are located in Brussels, have already announced the creation of joint working groups to counter common threats. In particular, after the Nord Stream terrorist attacks, NATO and the EU agreed to work together to eliminate threats to critical infrastructure if any were detected. For these purposes, a joint working group was created to assess threats to critical infrastructure. The results of this group’s work are not reported in detail.
