NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg shakes off criticism, and praises Australia

Jens Stoltenberg says he isn’t bothered by Paul Keating describing him as a ‘supreme fool’.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese greets NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg in Vilnius. Picture: Reuters

Jens Stoltenberg has brushed off “supreme fool” criticisms of his leadership of the NATO alliance as Anthony Albanese emphasised that Australia would be engaged in supporting the alliance’s efforts in Ukraine “for as long as necessary and to the best of our capacity’’.

Australia has deepened its partnership with NATO countries – now numbering 32 after Sweden has been admitted as a member – in areas of cyber and hybrid warfare.

Mr Stoltenberg said Australia’s involvement in the NATO ­alliance was “really valued” ­because regional security was global. “What happens in the Indo-Pacific region matters for NATO, what happens in Europe matters in the Asia Pacific,’’ he said, stressing that the Russian invasion of Ukraine had global ­implications.

“We are extremely grateful for Australia’s strong support of Ukraine; it really makes a difference every day,’’ he said.

Mr Stoltenberg showed no agitation about the remarks of former prime minister Paul Keating, who criticised him for trying to set up a NATO office in the Indo-Pacific in what he ­ perceived as an anti-China ­manoeuvre.

“Of all the people on the international stage, the supreme fool among them is Jens Stoltenberg. Stoltenberg by instinct and by policy is simply an accident on its way to happen.” Mr Keating had said.

The Prime Minister countered that view with an effusive welcome to Mr Stoltenberg at the opening of the two-day summit, congratulating him on his reappointment for another year, noting “it is very well deserved”, and on his leadership of NATO and what the alliance was doing to promote regional security.

Mr Albanese said Australia has been impacted by the war in Ukraine as well, despite the geographical distances, particularly in the areas of inflation and the economy, and he reiterated that Australia stood strongly with Ukraine.

He said Australia would continue to work with NATO in areas such as cyber, and he noted that Australia, like NATO, also recognised that climate change was a security threat.

“We will engage for as long as necessary and to the best of our capacity,’’ he vowed.

Several world leaders were due to meet Mr Albanese on the sidelines of the NATO summit, including French President Emmanuel Macron, and the issue of the Australia-EU free-trade deal was expected to be top of the agenda. France is one of several European countries protecting its farming interests, which is blocking any agreement from making progress.

Mr Albanese said Australia was not asking for anything that hadn’t been given to other countries in free-trade deals. “My message to President Macron will be we want to conclude this agreement but we won’t be signing up to things not in Australia’s national interest,” he said.

Within hours of the summit beginning, Mr Macron announced he would provide Ukraine with long-range Scalp missiles.

“I have decided to increase deliveries of weapons and equipment to enable the Ukrainians to have the capacity to strike deeply while keeping our doctrine to allow Ukraine to defend its territory,” said Mr Macron, who is wary of giving Ukraine unfettered membership of the NATO alliance. Instead the US, Britain, France and Germany are pushing for an “Israel-style” security guarantee whereby the four countries will continue to supply arms to Ukraine to defend itself. Talks over the wording and strength of the assurances were continuing on the first day of the summit.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky expressed fury that Ukraine may not be invited to join NATO, describing the current discussions at the NATO summit as “absurd”.

The Russian ambassador to Belgium Alexander Tokovinin told the Russian news agency RIA that NATO’s embrace of Ukraine increases the risk of direct conflict between NATO members and Moscow. The Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov criticised France’s offer of the longer-range missiles.