section_path: NATO Secretary General (2014–2024)/2020
section_name: 2020
paragraph_text: 2020
  
  The U.S. military's 2020 Baghdad International Airport airstrike, which killed the high-level Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, brought strong reactions from around the world. Stoltenberg said, following a meeting on 6 January, "all members of the Atlantic alliance stood behind the United States in the Middle East" and that "Iran must refrain from further violence and provocations."
  
  On 14 February Stoltenberg opened the Munich Security Conference. Amongst the topics he chose to address were Donald Trump 's call for the European allies to contribute more funds to the common military good, the situation in Afghanistan which he promised not to leave, and the desire of Russia to reimagine the world in terms of the spheres of influence of the post-war years of the 20th century. In a thinly-veiled reference to Chinese leadership in the 5G telecoms sector, he said that "Keeping our societies open, free and resilient must be part of our response... We should not be tempted to trade short term economic benefits for longer-term challenges to our security." Earlier in the day, Stoltenberg had dealt with the partnership issue, and listed New Zealand, Australia, Finland, Sweden, Ukraine and Georgia as such, saying "We support them, but they also support us. Many partners contribute to NATO missions and operations, for instance in Afghanistan or Iraq."
  
  There is a long-standing dispute between Turkey and Greece in the Aegean Sea. The disagreement flared in August. The same month Stoltenberg said that "Both Greece and Turkey are two valued allies and both contribute to our shared security. There are some disagreements and I welcome that there are bilateral contacts trying to address these differences," adding that NATO is not a part of these bilateral talks.
  
  In October 2020, Stoltenberg called for an immediate end to the fighting over the breakaway Nagorno-Karabakh region, an enclave that belongs to Azerbaijan under international law but is populated and governed by ethnic Armenians.