NATO marks milestones as Norfolk festival begins
This is a big year in NATO’s history. In March, we welcomed our 32nd ally, Sweden, and on April 4 marked the 75th anniversary of our great alliance.
It also takes place at a time of unpreceded upheaval. In 1949, when the nations of Europe were emerging from the destruction of World War II, the 12 founding members wanted to provide a shield that would allow their nations to recover and prosper in peace, united around a set of shared values.
Today, after 75 years, we are considerably more numerous, with 1 billion of our fellow citizens in 32 allied nations. We still hold those values dear: peace, democracy, freedom and the rule of law, while Article V of the treaty, our very own “one for all and all for one” pact, remains the bedrock of the greatest military alliance in history. I need not remind you, that Article V has only been invoked once in our alliance’s history, when in the wake of the 9/11 attack, NATO airborne surveillance aircraft were sent to watch over American skies.
But today, our world has turned infinitely more complex, unpredictable and dangerous. There are more armed conflicts today than there have been in generations.
War has returned to Europe, with its wanton destruction and untold casualties following Russia’s brutal, savage and unprovoked invasion.
Technological advances have made it easier for state and non-state players alike to acquire new weapons or repurpose older ones on the battlefield, but also by targeting our cognitive resilience. Our adversaries have become emboldened, challenging a system of rules that has kept the peace and allowed us to prosper for decades.
In other words: we are facing more threats, coming at us faster and from everywhere.
The allies have understood the threat, agreeing to the most ambitious defense plans since the end of the Cold War, conducting exercises on a scale we have not seen in decades with a renewed focus on deterrence and defense. They are spending more on defense, with at least two-thirds of the allies expected to spend 2% of their GDP on defense this year. As it has throughout its history, NATO is adapting to new challenges and demonstrating its unity, strength and resilience. But in 2024, we do not have the luxury of time. We need a rapid and profound transformation, so that together we remain able to continue to defend every part of the Alliance and keep our fellow citizens safe.
As I mentioned in the introduction to this column, we are celebrating a big anniversary this year. The next NATO Summit will take place later this summer in your nation’s capital, where heads of state and government will mark the occasion with pomp and circumstance.
In the meantime, we get to gather with our friends and families in Hampton Roads for our own giant block party. We will celebrate our alliance and honour our hosts in NATO’s “Home in North America.” This will include more different uniforms than you will see anywhere else in America, military bands, a flag raising, a parade through the streets of Norfolk and an exhibition rugby game.
The Norfolk NATO Festival has for 71 years celebrated another kind of bond: the friendship between the people of beautiful Tidewater and the NATO staff and their families, working in the strategic headquarters of Allied Command Transformation or operational headquarters of Joint Force Command Norfolk.
Over these many decades, I believe we have developed a mutually beneficial relationship and this festival offers all of us an opportunity to come together and celebrate it. I therefore look forward to seeing many of you as we feast our great alliance and long-standing friendship.
Win as a team.