Biden spotlights ‘enduring commitment’ to NATO in talk with alliance leader

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President-elect Joe Biden on spoke on Monday with the head of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) the more than seven-decade-old security organization that bonds the U.S. with much of Europe.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg took to Twitter after to the conversation to say he had just spoken with Biden “and congratulated him on his election as the next US President. I look forward to working with him to further strengthen #NATO as the cornerstone of our collective security.”

The NATO chief also thanked the president-elect for being a "long-standing supporter of NATO and the transatlantic relationship."

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The Biden transition, in a statement, said that “the president-elect underscored the importance of NATO to U.S. and European security and highlighted the United States’ enduring commitment to NATO – including its bedrock principle of collective defense under Article 5 – and his desire to engage in consultations with Allies on the full range of trans-Atlantic security issues.”

“The president-elect also expressed his desire to work with Secretary General Stoltenberg and Allies to ensure NATO has the strategic orientation and capabilities it needs to strengthen deterrence and to counter new and emerging threats, including climate change and global health security,” the transition team added.

President Trump, during his tenure in the White House, has had an at times stormy relationship with NATO and some of its member nations. The president has clashed with other NATO partners and two years ago appeared to threaten to quit the alliance.

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Biden’s call with Stoltenberg with one of four he had Monday with international leaders.

The president-elect also spoke with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, European Council President Charles Michel, and King Abdullah II of Jordan.