Travelling Peters says new NZ pact with Nato within months
Foreign Minister Winston Peters says a new partnership agreement between New Zealand and Nato will be concluded within months.
Peters held meetings at a Nato summit in Brussels, Belgium overnight Friday, meeting with foreign ministers of the 32-country collective defence organisation, meeting with counterparts from Belgium, Germany, Netherlands, South Korea, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba.
“Nato is the world’s largest and oldest political military organisation, which New Zealand has co-operated with for decades – from Kosovo to Afghanistan. But as our shared values of human rights, the rule of law, freedom and democracy come under sustained attack, our longstanding co-operation with our traditional partners must be enhanced,” Peter said in a statement.
“New Zealand is committed to working together with Nato partners to contribute to collective security, such as through our support for Ukraine’s self-defence.”
The Government has since 2023 been working through a new “individually tailored partnership programme” with the Nato alliance, a new form of partnership arrangement. “We expect to conclude this partnership in the coming months, agreeing tangible areas of co-operation.”
While New Zealand is not a member of Nato, the alliance has taken a greater interest in its “Indo-Pacific partners” in recent years due to their proximity and dealings with China, described by the alliance last year as a “systemic” competitor challenging the international order.
New Zealand has similarly taken a greater interest in participating in the
Winston Peters Foreign Minister
alliance’s meetings. Former Prime Ministers Jacinda Ardern and Chris Hipkins, and former Foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta have attended Nato summits in recent years.
After Brussels, Peters would head to Stockholm, Sweden, for a bilateral meeting with Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billström. Earlier this week, he visited Cairo, Egypt and Warsaw, Poland.
While in Cairo, where he met the Egyptian foreign minister and the head of the Arab League, Peters announced the Government would provide $2 million in humanitarian assistance for people affected by conflict in Gaza, and $4m for conflict Sudan.
“New Zealand is committed to working together with Nato partners to contribute to collective security.”