NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Monday that planes shot down in the United States and Canada in recent days are “part of a pattern” in which China and Russia are stepping up “surveillance and intelligence activities” against alliance countries.
“What we have seen about the United States over the past week is part of a pattern in which China, as well as Russia, is ramping up intelligence and surveillance activities against NATO allies using many different platforms. We see it in cyberspace, we see it with satellites, more and more satellites, and we see it with balloons,” he explained.
The Norwegian politician said this at a press conference ahead of the meeting of defense ministers of the transatlantic organization in Brussels, Tuesday and Wednesday.
For Stoltenberg, this trend “underscores the importance” of surveillance and the Alliance’s increased presence, as well as intensifying and strengthening the way allies share intelligence and how they monitor and protect their airspace.
With that in mind, he announced that at this week’s meeting, defense ministers will discuss increased Allied cooperation in space.
“Share more data, collect more data, including from commercial satellites, and then share it across the NATO chain of command,” he said.
I was in contact with the Department of Defense today regarding operations in the Great Lakes region.
The US military has deactivated another “object” over Lake Huron.
I appreciate the decisive action of our fighter pilots.
The American people deserve far more answers than we do.
— Jack Bergman Department (@RepJackBergman) February 12, 2023
The US Department of Defense is currently unaware of the origins of the three devices shot down in the US and Canada over the past three days and is still unable to confirm whether they are Chinese, as well as the spy balloon shot down on the 4th .
US Deputy Secretary of Defense and Hemisphere Affairs Melissa Dalton said the device shot down over Lake Huron, Michigan, on Sunday afternoon, as well as the two previous ones in Canada and Alaska, were shot down “as a precautionary measure.” and stressed that “there was no collateral damage in any of the surgeries last week”.
Several diplomatic sources have indicated that the issue of the downed artifacts will not officially be part of the ministerial meeting, although it is possible that US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will update his colleagues on the situation.
Source: La Neta Neta
Karen Clayton is a seasoned journalist and author at The Nation Update, with a focus on world news and current events. She has a background in international relations, which gives her a deep understanding of the political, economic and social factors that shape the global landscape. She writes about a wide range of topics, including conflicts, political upheavals, and economic trends, as well as humanitarian crisis and human rights issues.
