From 6-9 October, almost 300 parliamentarians from the 31 NATO countries will meet in Copenhagen, Denmark, to discuss security policy challenges currently facing the transatlantic defence alliance.
The meeting is the annual session of NATO’s Parliamentary Assembly (PA), the democratic/parliamentary arm of the alliance. The assembly will be taking place on Danish soil for the first time since 2005. As speaker of the Danish Parliament, Søren Gade will host the assembly.
»The Assembly is an important gathering for discussions across national and party political divides. NATO’s decisions require unanimity among the alliance’s members. The Parliamentary Assembly serves an important purpose in forming a common approach to the current realities of security policy that changed when Russia attacked Ukraine«, says Søren Gade.
Members of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly will pass resolutions, approve reports and discuss important decisions taken at the NATO summit in July.
The Danish delegation comprises 10 Members of the Danish Parliament led by Chair Mads Fuglede (The Liberal Party) and Vice-Chair Karsten Hønge (Green left).
The session opens with a press conference on Friday, 6 October. The Chair of the Danish delegation, Mads Fuglede (The Liberal Party), the Acting President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Michał Szczerba from Poland and General Secretary of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly Ruxandra Popa from France will attend the press conference. The panel will respond to questions about the purpose of the PA and its current duties.
The PA will be in session on Saturday, 7 October and Sunday, 8 October. Among others, the Danish Minister for Foreign Affairs, the Danish Minister for Defense and the Danish Minister for Development Cooperation and Global Climate Policy will attend, accompanied by a team of experts.
On Monday, 9 October, Speaker of the Danish Parliament Søren Gade, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen, NATO Deputy General Secretary Mircea Geoană and Speaker of the Ukrainian Parliament Ruslan Stefanchuk will speak to the plenary session.
There will be a presentation by Belarusian human rights activist Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya on the same day.
The full programme for the Parliamentary Assembly is available on NATO PA’s website.
For further information, please call:
Claus Brask
Press officer at the Danish Parliament
+45 33 37 34 48
Originally published at https://www.thedanishparliament.dk/en/news/2023/09/nato-pa-session
