Celebration of 70 years of the transatlantic Alliance took place in Washington, DC
By Levan Abramishvili
Friday, April 5
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg hailed the Treaty, saying: "its reach is vast, and it has stood the test of time - because we have united around our core commitment to protect and defend one another".
Jens Stoltenberg addressed a joint meeting of the United States Congress, making him the first leader of an international organization ever to do so. The Secretary General's speech focused on the bond between Europe and North America, the enduring strength of the NATO Alliance and the importance of unity in the everchanging world that poses new types of threats to the world peace and democracy.
Stoltenberg stressed the importance of NATO allies coming together and overcoming their differences.
"We face unprecedented challenges, challenges no one nation can face alone. The global balance of power is shifting. The fight against terrorism is a generational fight. We are only just seeing the beginning of the threats in the cyberspace. Artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and big data could change the nature of a conflict more fundamentally than the industrial revolution and we will need to continue to deal with more assertive Russia." Said Stoltenberg in his speech.
Elaborating on the topic of Russia, he talked about the country's pattern of behavior that Georgia and Ukraine had to face in 2008 and 2014, respectively.
"In 2014 Russia illegally annexed Crimea. The first time in Europe that one country had taken a part of another country by force since the WWII and we see a pattern of Russian behavior, including a massive military buildup from the Arctic to the Mediterranean and from the Black Sea to the Baltic. The use of military-grade nerve agent in the United Kingdom. Support for Assad's murderous regime in Syria. Consistent cyber-attacks on NATO allies and partners, targeting everything from Parliament's to power grids. Sophisticated disinformation campaigns and attempts to interfere in democracy itself." Said The Secretary-General.
Jens Stoltenberg went on to list all the collective defense reinforcements that NATO put in place in response to the aforementioned threats: "For the first time we have combat troops deployed in the east of our alliance, we have increased the readiness of forces, tripled the size of the NATO Response Force, modernized our command structure, bolstered our cyber defenses".
Stoltenberg reaffirmed his support of Georgia and Ukraine from the US Congress floor: "...we have stepped up our support to our close partners, Georgia and Ukraine, sovereign countries with a sovereign right to choose their own path." This statement received a standing ovation from the members of The Congress.
NATO Secretary General stressed that NATO isn't looking to provoke conflict, but to prevent it from happening: "we do not want to isolate Russia. We strive for a better relationship with Russia, but even without a better relationship, we still need to manage a difficult one. So we need to talk - and we do talk; to reduce risks, to avoid incidents, accidents, and miscalculations. we also need dialogue in order to work for arms control."
Stoltenberg also emphasized the importance of the fight against all kinds of terrorism: "Terrorism comes in many forms: some perpetrators misuse religion, others misuse political ideology. They claim to be different from each other - fighting for different causes, but they are all the same. They believe in hatred, violence and killing innocent men, women, and children. They are nothing more than cowards."
He mentioned the mosque shootings that happened in Christchurch, New Zealand last month: "Terrorists attack our freedom, our values and our way of life. Our answer must be more openness and more democracy. Our values will prevail. Freedom will prevail over oppression. Tolerance over intolerance and love will always prevail over hate. I see this in the flowers laid outside the mosques in Christchurch New Zealand, I see this in the lives led by the young survivors of the attacks in Norway and I see this in New York and Washington to indomitable cities, cities that were not intimidated, not defeated, but which rose stronger than ever from the horror of that September morning." - Recalling the terrorist attack of 9/11 in 2001 that completely reshaped the world politics and incited increased fight against terrorism all over the world.
Stoltenberg highlighted the significance of increased budget for NATO defense: "In an ideal world, we would not need to spend any money on defense. But we do not live in an ideal world. Freedom has enemies, and they need to be deterred and if deterrence fails, we need to fight.
...Future enemies of freedom may choose violence again, our desire for a peaceful world is simply not enough. ...NATO allies must spend more on defense. This has been the clear message from President Trump and this message is having a real impact. After years of reducing defense budgets, all allies have stopped the cuts and all allies have increased the defense spending. Before they were cutting billions, now they're adding billions. In just lost two years European allies and Canada have spent an additional forty one billion dollars on defense. By the end of next year, that figure will rise to one hundred billion. This is making NATO stronger. That money will allow us to invest in new capabilities our armed forces need."
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, Davit Zalkaliani also attended the ceremony. In his speech he reaffirmed Georgia's aspirations to join the Euro-Atlantic: "it's a fact that Georgia's foreign policy priority is the integration into Euro-Atlantic structures. It's already enshrined in the main document - The Constitution of Georgia, as well as numerous resolutions of the parliament. The program of the government declares the top priority the full integration into the European structures. Georgia is recognized as the frontrunner among other aspirant countries."
Zalkaliani delivered some important statistics: "The aspiration of Georgian people is confirmed by the three main pillars: the first of all, Georgia is the most operational partner of NATO, it contributes significantly to the NATO operation in Afghanistan, biggest contributor - 870 Georgian soldiers serve in Afghanistan back to back with our allies. ...at the same time we are increasing our defense and security capabilities - we have already met the NATO requirement - 2% GDP on military spending. As well as 20% of major military acquisition. And the third dimension is the black sea security and here again, we are very actively engaged in the strategic dialogue with our NATO partners."
Zalkaliani mentioned that Georgia has all the means to become a member of NATO and the only decision that remains to be made is the political one: "We have the Bucharest summit decision that there is a consensus among all NATO allies that Georgia will become NATO member. There was a reiteration of this decision during the next summits and reconfirmation that Georgia has all practical tools for eventual membership. The only decision now remains is the political one and we have to be ready for this moment. We are doing everything possible. We aren't discouraged by the fact there is no political decision taken yet."
The Minister stressed the importance of bilateral collaboration with the NATO allies: "We are developing our very strong bilateral cooperation with the Allies and with one of the main strategic partner, the United States. The relationship with the United States is at an all-time high right now. We are developing defense and security, which increases our defense and resilience. We are developing bilateral cooperation with France, Germany, and other NATO allies and I hope that, by doing this, we are approaching the time for the political decision to be taken."
The Ambassador of Georgia to the United States, Davit Bakradze, positively assessed that Georgia was present at the celebration of 70 years of the transatlantic Alliance in Washington DC. "We heard very clear messages of support regarding Georgia's integration" - said Bakradze.