NATO foreign ministers this week will discuss what the alliance can do to better address security challenges outside Europe, including by training Iraq’s military in Iraq and cooperating with the European Union to choke off people-smuggling operations in the central Mediterranean.

NATO secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday a major focus of the ministers’ meeting will be on “projecting stability beyond our borders.”

The two-day meeting starts Thursday in Brussels.

Stoltenberg said the ministers will discuss a recent request from Iraq’s prime minister to expand a NATO military training program for Iraqi officers already underway in Jordan to Iraq itself. He also said NATO is considering stepping up aid to the U.S.-led coalition combating the Islamic State group in Iraq and Syria by supplying AWACS command and control aircraft.

(AP)