Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană met Cabo Verde's State Minister of Defence Janine Lelis at NATO Headquarters on Wednesday (29 May 2024) for talks on working toward a partnership between the Alliance and Cape Verde.
"NATO and Cabo Verde share the same values," said Mr Geoană following talks in Brussels. "You already have a close relationship with many Allies, including Portugal. You are strategically located at the crossroads of the Atlantic, connecting Africa to Europe and the Americas and regularly host Allied warships. We see potential for closer cooperation in a range of areas, including maritime security."
The Deputy Secretary General welcomed Cabo Verde's clear stance on Ukraine, including its vote in the UN General Assembly. Mr Geoană stressed that Russia's war has been felt across Africa, especially through trade disruptions and commodity price increases, being a reminder that "security is not regional, it is global" and that "what happens in Europe matters for Africa, and what happens in Africa, matters for Europe".
NATO already has several partners in Africa and is strengthening cooperation with the African Union to address common challenges, including terrorism, maritime security, and small arms proliferation. NATO's political dialogue with Cabo Verde goes back decades. In 2006, Cabo Verde hosted the NATO exercise Steadfast Jaguar on the island of Sao Vicente. This major exercise involving more than 7,000 troops tested the ability of NATO's rapid response force to carry out missions globally.
