NATO will commemorate its 75th anniversary with a ceremony in Brussels on Thursday, underscoring its ongoing relevance amid heightened Russian threats and uncertainties about its future.
NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will lay a wreath, and foreign ministers from NATO member countries will deliver speeches affirming the alliance’s crucial role in securing peace and freedom in the Western world.
The event will also feature discussions led by Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba and others, focusing on the ongoing conflict in Ukraine and NATO’s relations with Russia.
The leaders included; top EU diplomat Josep Borrell and representatives from NATO’s Indo-Pacific partners, Australia, Japan, South Korea and New Zealand.
Founded by the U.S. and 11 other countries at the onset of the Cold War to deter the expansion of the communist Soviet Union, NATO has grown to 32 members with Sweden and Finland’s recent entry.
The alliance is a collective security pact in which, according to Article 5 of the NATO founding treaty, an attack on one member of the alliance “shall be considered an attack against them all.’’
When NATO was formed in 1949, it had a clear foe in the Soviet Union.
But the dissolution of the Soviet bloc in 1991 prompted questions about the alliance’s purpose with no threat left to deter.
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The recent Russian invasion of Ukraine has reinvigorated the alliance with NATO allies in Eastern Europe, who are concerned about potential further Russian aggression. NATO has played a crucial role in garnering support for Ukraine against the invasion.
However, there are concerns about the potential return of former U.S. president Donald Trump to the White House after the upcoming presidential election. Trump has been critical of NATO’s defense obligations and has questioned the commitment of member countries to meet defense spending targets.
Despite increased defense spending from NATO allies during the Ukraine conflict, the United States still contributes the majority of alliance defense spending.
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