NATO Secretary General: Freedom is more important than free trade

Created: 05/24/2022, 13:12

Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General of NATO.

© Markus Schreiber/AP/dpa

Trade with China brings economic benefits to many NATO countries.

However, Jens Stoltenberg believes that relations with authoritarian countries should be examined.

Davos - At the World Economic Forum in Davos, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called for trade relations with China and other authoritarian countries to be reviewed.

"The war in Ukraine shows how economic relations with authoritarian regimes can create vulnerabilities," he said on Tuesday.

He cited the example of dependence on raw materials and energy, as well as foreign control over critical infrastructure such as the 5G mobile communications standard and the export of artificial intelligence technologies.

"Values ​​more important than profit"

"I and many of us who are here today have worked intensively for a globalized economy," said Stoltenberg.

But now you have to recognize that economic decisions have an impact on security.

“Freedom is more important than free trade.

Protecting our assets is more important than profit,” emphasized the Norwegian.

According to Stoltenberg, this is about Russia, but also about China.

The authoritarian regime in the country does not share the values ​​of the NATO countries and is undermining the rules-based international order, he said.

Stoltenberg stressed that he was not arguing against trade with China.

At the same time, however, he made the limitations clear.

"Free trade has brought us all great prosperity and wealth - but the problem is that (...) some of this trade, some of this economic interaction with authoritarian regimes undermines our security," he said.

In these cases, you have to choose security over vulnerability.

dpa