As it was announced on the official page of NATO (www.nato.int), Mr. Jens Stoltenberg, NATO Secretary General , visited the European Organisation for the Safety of Air Navigation (EUROCONTROL) on Friday 18th January 2019 to meet Director General Eamonn Brennan and reaffirm the close collaboration between the two organisations.
Mr. Jens Stoltenberg thanked EUROCONTROL for their continued commitment to the Memorandum of Cooperation, in place since 2003. The Alliance’s partnership with EUROCONTROL is crucial in protecting civil and military aviation activities from common threats such as cyber-attacks, but also in the preparation and execution of exercises, such as Trident Juncture 2018, NATO’s biggest exercise since the Cold War. This operational and technical collaboration has increased over the years, owing to the very sharp growth in civil air traffic and the need to take account of military requirements, particularly those of NATO’s Strategic Commands.
Through close collaboration with EUROCONTROL, the Alliance achieved a milestone at the NATO Summit in July in its ability to move planes at the speed of relevance – or Rapid Air Mobility. Allied aircraft supporting NATO missions will be given a NATO Call Sign. This means that they will receive priority handling by Air Traffic Control in Europe.