NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană underlined the importance of investing in defence and innovation at the Leangkollen Security Conference in Oslo, Norway. The Deputy Secretary General delivered a speech during the conference’s opening session entitled “Ukraine Holds the Future of Democracy and Security in Europe”, according to a press release issued by NATO.

Against the backdrop of changing security dynamics and increasing strategic competition, Mr Geoană emphasised that it is crucial to invest in developing new technologies, saying: “technologies can make the difference between winning and losing.” Mr Geoană thanked Norway for its strong support for NATO’s new innovation initiatives, the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic (DIANA) and the Defence Investment Fund.

In addition, the Deputy Secretary General noted that Russia’s war in Ukraine has demonstrated the continuing importance of heavy weapons on the battlefield, saying: “we must balance digital warfare with kinetic warfare if we are to maintain our security.” He identified a key lesson learned from the war as the need to invest even more in defence. On China, Mr Geoană warned that “we must not repeat the mistake we made with Russian energy with Chinese rare earth materials. To be dependent is to be vulnerable.”

Hosted by the Norwegian Atlantic Committee, the Leangkollen Security Conference brings together international and Norwegian researchers and senior officials to address defence, foreign, and security policy issues. The title of this year’s conference was „The Age of Great Power Competition – Democracy Versus Autocracy in Light of Russia’s War against Ukraine”.