MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 14th July, 2023) NATO is inherently a Transatlantic alliance, but allies will continue to develop cooperation with Asia-Pacific countries in order to keep abreast of security globally, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on Friday.
"NATO has been a Transatlantic alliance and remains one," Scholz said at an annual summer press conference, adding that "We can no longer stay naive and we have to take into consideration the global situation, that is why a fruitful cooperation with countries which we have invited to the NATO summit is important for our common security. We will bear it in mind and continue to develop this cooperation after the Vilnius summit."
The NATO summit took place in Vilnius, Lithuania, from Tuesday to Wednesday. It was attended by all leaders of the alliance as well as by the four NATO partners from the Asia-Pacific known as the AP4: Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. It was the second time the AP4 participated in NATO's annual top-level event since the Madrid summit last year.
