NATO Secretary General thanks EUROCONTROL for continued cooperation | WPN World People News

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg visited the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL) on 18 January 2019 to meet Director General Eamonn Brennan and reaffirm the close collaboration between the two organisations.

The Secretary General thanked EUROCONTROL for their continued commitment to the Memorandum of Cooperation, in place since 2003. The Alliance’s partnership with EUROCONTROL is crucial in protecting civil and military aviation activities from common threats such as cyber-attacks, but also in the preparation and execution of exercises, such as Trident Juncture 2018, NATO’s biggest exercise since the Cold War. This operational and technical collaboration has increased over the years, owing to the very sharp growth in civil air traffic and the need to take account of military requirements, particularly those of NATO's Strategic Commands. “It is that civil-military cooperation in air traffic management that is at the heart of relations between our two organisations” Mr. Stoltenberg said, stressing NATO’s commitment to pursue enhanced cooperation in the future.

Through close collaboration with EUROCONTROL, the Alliance achieved a milestone at the NATO Summit in July in its ability to move planes at the speed of relevance – or Rapid Air Mobility. Allied aircraft supporting NATO missions will be given a NATO Call Sign. This means that they will receive priority handling by Air Traffic Control in Europe.

Source:North Atlantic Treaty Organization