The European Union and NATO signed a new joint declaration on Tuesday to strengthen cooperation in such fields as counter terrorism, nuclear-related risks among others, Anadolu reported.

The signing ceremony at the EU headquarters in Brussels was attended by President of the European Council Donald Tusk, President of the European Commission Jean-Claude Juncker and Secretary General of NATO Jens Stoltenberg, ahead of a NATO summit in Brussels.

Addressing a joint press conference with EU leaders, Juncker pointed to strengthening cooperation since the last NATO summit in Warsaw in 2016.

"I wanted to welcome today's Declaration which is an important landmark in our partnership. It builds on what we have already achieved together over the last two years and it strengthens our commitments to one another."

Juncker also highlighted the progress in investment in security and defense.

"This is why as part of our new budgetary proposals we, the Commission, have proposed to increase defense spending by 22 times, bringing total defense spending to EUR 27.5 billion [$32.2 billion] from 2021 to 2027," Juncker said.

Stoltenberg said the declaration signed "is a strong commitment to strengthen the cooperation between the European Union and NATO."

"And today’s declaration builds on the one we signed in Warsaw two years ago. Since then, NATO and the EU have achieved an unprecedented level of cooperation," he said.

"Two years ago in Warsaw, we came together to strengthen EU-NATO cooperation aiming to promote peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area. Our respective efforts are mutually reinforcing, have improved the security of our citizens and strengthened our trans-Atlantic bond," the declaration said.