NATO chief: Kuwait plays central role in promoting regional security

BRUSSELS, May 5 (KUNA) -- NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg Tuesday underlined that Kuwait plays "a central role in promoting regional security and that Kuwait is a force of moderation and a voice of reason in a fast changing and turbulent region".
NATO deputy spokesperson Romero Carmen told the Kuwait News Agency (KUNA) that Stoltenberg made the statement during a bilateral meeting with Kuwaiti National Security Apparatus Chairman Sheikh Thamer Ali Al-Sabah earlier today.
Sheikh Thamer also meet with the North Atlantic Council which is made up of the 28 permanent representatives of the NATO.
They discussed the main security challenges and events in the region, including Syria, Iraq, Libya, Iran and Yemen, noted Carmen.
Both sides stressed that "we all share commons security challenges and threats posed by terrorism and extremism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and the spillover from failing and failed states." Stoltenberg said that recent events in the region, "including the rise of a particularly barbaric form of extremism, have underlined the need for us to work even more closely together for international security, stability and peace." He underlined that "Kuwait has proven to be a trailblazer in the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative (ICI)." He also said that Kuwait is helping to bring NATO closer to the Gulf region since Kuwait has generously offered to establish a NATO-ICI Regional Center." On his part, Sheikh Thamer updated the NATO Secretary General and the members of the North Atlantic Council on how the implementation of the center is progressing.
The Secretary General and the North Atlantic Council also welcomed progress made in the NATO Kuwait Transit Agreement.
The Secretary General stressed that both the NATO-ICI Center and the Transit Agreement show that NATO and Kuwait are really moving forward with their partnership, the spokesperson told KUNA. (Pick up previous) nk.mt