Rutte: Co-op with NATO strengthens Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand

NATO's Article 5, which provides for collective defense in case of an attack on one of the alliance members, will not extend to partner countries in the Indo-Pacific region, according to NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte, Report informs via Russian media outlets.

"I don't think this will happen. But we see that thanks to cooperation with NATO, four countries in the Indo-Pacific region – Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand are becoming increasingly stronger," Rutte told journalists in Prague.

After the NATO summit in The Hague, Rutte and these four countries agreed on developing cooperation in the field of latest technologies, creating new opportunities for interaction in defense-industrial sectors, etc.