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NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg stated that NATO will continue to assess whether its presence in the Black Sea region should be adapted, in response to the threat posed by Russia.
Speaking at a joint news conference with Bulgarian Prime Minister Kirill Petkov after their first meeting, Stoltenberg said NATO was closely following Russia’s military growth in and around Ukraine.
“We will respond decisively to end the deterioration of our security environment, including strengthening our collective defense stance,” Stoltenberg said. He stressed that NATO does not see an imminent threat against any member of the alliance, but sees “increased tensions and this is important for all NATO allies, especially for allies in the Black Sea region.”
Stoltenberg explained that “since the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia and the intervention in eastern Ukraine, NATO has implemented the greatest strengthening of collective defense in a generation by tripling the size of NATO rapid reaction forces in Poland and in countries the Baltic, as well as increasing its presence in the Black Sea region with naval and air police patrols ”.
“We will continue to appreciate the need to further adapt our position, our presence, even in the southeast of the region, because we must be confident that we can always protect ourselves all against any increased threats and tensions,” he said.
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