(18 Oct 2024)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Brussels, Belgium – 18 October 2024
1. Wide of NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte arriving at the press conference
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Rutte, NATO-Secretary General:
"Allies agreed that air and missile defense remains an alliance priority. This is all the more important given Russia’s war against Ukraine, which has resulted in multiple NATO air space violations, including just yesterday in Romania. Let me express NATO’s solidarity with Romania and also commend the Romanian authorities and SACEUR for the quick and effective response to this incident. We will continue to increase surveillance, exchange information and coordinate individual and collective responses."
3. Wide of press conference
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Rutte, NATO-Secretary General:
“At this moment, our official position is that we cannot confirm reports that North Koreans are actively now, as soldiers, engaged in the war effort. But this, of course, might change. And anyway, even if North Korea is not physically there at the battlefield, then still they are helping to fuel Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine in every way they can and together with others like Iran, China is playing a role here, obviously, and of course, Russia itself."
5. Wide of press conference
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Mark Rutte NATO Secretary-General
”Well, let’s not forget that this man (Yahya Sinwar, leader of Hamas) was instrumental, basically the main architect behind the attack, the terrorist attack of Hamas on Israel on the 7th of October 2023, which cost 12 hundred almost 13 hundred people their lives, which was a full terrorist onslaught, attack on Israel. So as I said yesterday, I will not personally miss him. Obviously, there is the wider question of terrorism. NATO is, of course, vigilant in making sure that the alliance stays safe, and terrorism is a particular point of attention for the alliance.”
7. Wide of the press conference
STORYLINE:
NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte on Friday expressed "solidarity" with Romania after reports that Russia violated their air space yesterday.
Romania scrambled four of its fighter jets on Thursday after an unidentified object breached its airspace in the country’s southeast near the Black Sea, according to the Ministry of National Defense.
"Let me express NATO’s solidarity with Romania and also commend the Romanian authorities and SACEUR for the quick and effective response to this incident," said Rutte at the closing press conference of NATO Defense Ministers meeting in Brussels.
Romania, which shares a 650-kilometer (400-mile) border with Ukraine, has previously had Russian drones enter its airspace as Moscow attacks Ukrainian targets along the Black Sea and Danube River. Fragments of Russian drones have also been repeatedly found on Romanian territory near the Ukrainian border.
Rutte also reacted to reports that North Korean soldiers are fighting for Russia in their war against Ukraine.
South Korea’s spy agency, the National Intelligence Service, said Friday that Russian navy ships transferred 1,500 North Korean special operation forces to the Russian port city of Vladivostok from Oct. 8 to Oct. 13. It said more North Korean troops are expected to be sent to Russia soon.
“At this moment, our official position is that we cannot confirm reports that North Koreans are actively now as soldiers engaged in the war effort," said Rutte.
Rutte also commented on the confirmation by the Israeli military of the killing of Hamas chief Yahya Sinwar, stating that he "will not personally miss him."
Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork
Twitter: https://twitter.com/AP_Archive
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/APArchives
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/APNews/
You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/youtube/07b33292ea174b5a9dcfc4f90075bb26
Author: AP Archive
Go to Source
News post in October 23, 2024, 3:04 pm.
Visit Our Sponsor’s:
News Post In – News
