Katherine Leach, the Ambassador of the United Kingdom to Armenia wrote a piece on her blog entitled, “Building Stability in an Unpredictable World – the NATO Summit in Wales 4-5 September.” The NATO Summit taking place in Wales hosted the largest gathering of international leaders ever in Britain with 4000 delegates and 1500 journalists. The summit is charged with ensuring collective peace and global security.
In the blog, Ambassador Leach speaks about alarming events in Ukraine, Libya, Iraq, Syria, Gaza and West Africa, and in particular noted that “… an arc of instability is spreading from North Africa through to the wider Middle East, with the barbaric violence of Islamic State fighters in Syria and Iraq raising the prospect of the Middle East’s historic mosaic of religions and peoples – including important Armenian communities – being brutally destroyed.”
These events, many of which seem to be spiraling out of control, are an integral part of NATO’s agenda. The Ambassador notes that there are three key themes that leaders at the Summit will need to address.
The first of those themes include Russia’s operations in Ukraine and the “‘hybrid’ conflict we have witnessed in Ukraine (including use of irregulars, propaganda and deniable soldiers/equipment without insignia),” the Ambassador said and added that there was a pressing need to adapt and be more innovative.
The second theme encompassed the need to look at the NATO International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) mission in Afghanistan and how to support the Afghan government and train the Afghan National Security Force. “The first day of the NATO Summit is devoted to discussion with the 24 countries who have been part of the ISAF force, our most valued partners. Armenia is one of these – a CSTO member who, uniquely, has also been committed to peacekeeping missions in Kosovo and Afghanistan over the past ten years. Armenia’s current contribution to ISAF is greater than some NATO Allies, and is only marginally less than France’s. We want to say thank you,” Ambassador Leach wrote.
The third and final theme of the NATO Summit included building and strengthening relationships with valued NATO partners.
The Ambassador went on to say that it was a privilege to host President Serzh Sargsyan and the Armenian delegation at this year’s NATO Summit.
