Reception for the 75th anniversary of NATO – US mission to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

SECRETARY BLINKING: Thank you very much. Thanks, friends. It’s very hard to follow, but it’s so good to see you, and we look forward to President Truman’s permanent appointment shortly after tonight.

So first of all, welcome, everyone. And Julie, thank you for welcoming us into your very humble home. (Laughter.) I know you’ve been complaining for a long time about how there just isn’t much wiggle room, and we can all understand what you mean by that.

Julie arrived in Ukraine just months before Putin’s full-scale invasion. The fact that the Alliance has not only weathered this crisis but emerged larger, stronger and more united than ever before is due in no small part to the leadership of Ambassador Smith. There is no one I would rather have – and more importantly, the President would rather have – representing the United States at this time and in this place than Julie Smith. Thank you very much. (Applause.)

Likewise – and I think all my colleagues agree on this – the United States could not have wished for a greater champion of this alliance for all members of NATO than Jens Stoltenberg. No one could have done a better job of holding us together when others tried to divide us. No one could have done better to really move the alliance forward. And Jens, we’ve all said it in different ways at different times, but it’s always worth repeating: We are so grateful for your leadership. (Applause.)

I would also like to thank all the permanent representatives of the Alliance countries and the work that you do every day with your teams to really advance the work of the Alliance. None of this happens by itself. None of this happens automatically. This is because of the work you do every day to advance our alliance.

Now I’m really happy that we are her as we rename the conference room of the U.S. mission to NATO “Secretary Albright.” She was, like for so many of us, a true mentor, but also a friend, a supporter and an incredible advisor. I think we all miss her every day, but we are also animated by her spirit, her determination, and in many ways her vision of what the United States can be, should be, and what this alliance can be and should be. This would be her kind of night. She loved NATO and contributed greatly to it.

Almost exactly 25 years ago – on the other side of the Atlantic, at the Truman Library in Missouri – Madeleine officially welcomed Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary into the alliance and, to celebrate the moment, quoted an old Central European expression: Hallelujah. (Laughter.) So the alliance grew to 19 members. Of course, today we are 32.

At the time, Madeleine and her colleagues were also looking forward to another summit in Washington – the one to mark the 50th anniversary of our alliance. She reminded listeners that day that NATO’s strength depends on its unity. And she warned, and I quote her: “We know that when the democracies of Europe and America are divided, cracks appear, through which the forces of evil and evil penetrate [forces of] aggression may occur; [but] that if we stand together, [there is] No force on earth…more powerful than our solidarity in the name of freedom.”

Madeleine understood this because she had personally experienced it. As a young child, her family was forced from their home not once but twice – first by the Nazis, then by the Communists – before finding refuge in the United Kingdom and then the United States.

Someone else understood this deeply: Harry S. Truman. He understood on a personal level what can happen when we allow the forces of evil, the forces of aggression, to spread.

When the United States entered World War I, he rejoined the U.S. National Guard and was appointed commander of an artillery unit that saw brutal fighting in France. He later wrote the following: “I know the strain, the mud, the misery… of the soldier in the field. And I also know his” – and today she adds – “courage.”

This experience led Truman, as did generations of men and women who survived the two world wars, to believe that history would not repeat itself. Harry Truman believed that the best and perhaps only way to ensure this was to link America’s destiny with that of other nations who shared our values; that everyone undertakes to defend each other’s territory as if it were their own.

Now, those of us here today may take this for granted in some ways now, after 75 years, but this was a radical belief in its time, and it was also an untested one. And in some ways it’s easy to assume that NATO’s success was somehow preordained. That wasn’t it.

It required that the Alliance’s 12 founding members – and then those who came after – not only establish foundations of peace, but then continue to consolidate and adapt those foundations to new challenges, challenges that NATO’s founders could not possibly have foreseen.

And that is exactly what our alliance has done for three quarters of a century. In this way, NATO helped prevent the Iron Curtain from enveloping the free nations of Western Europe, how it helped avert war with the Soviet Union, and how it helped newly independent nations embark on the path to democracy.

For these and many other successes, we are indebted to the millions of soldiers, sailors and airmen whose courage and willingness to risk their lives reinforced our sacred obligation to defend one another.

We are also indebted to all the leaders and diplomats who have shaped the Alliance over these 75 years – not only those who were present at its founding, but also those who have participated in NATO’s many recreational activities in the decades that followed. Their shared service has given generations of people on both sides of the ocean that binds us a rare and invaluable gift: unparalleled security.

And yet, as we meet here tonight, that security – along with the Alliance’s founding principles of democracy, freedom and the rule of law – is once again being called into question, called into question by those who believe that “might makes right” and by those who do would try to redraw boundaries by force.

And of course we know that many new challenges have emerged – again, ones that NATO’s founders could not possibly have foreseen, challenges that would have been unimaginable for NATO’s architects: a growing climate crisis, cyberattacks, disinformation.

The Alliance is addressing these threats as it always does: by adapting together.

Over the last three years, we have strengthened our deterrence, we have strengthened our eastern flank, we have increased investment in our defense industrial capabilities, we have launched a new strategic concept, and we have welcomed two exceptionally capable new members – all tasks , which our leaders will promote at the Washington Summit in July.

But even as our alliance changes, even as it evolves, its purpose remains. Our alliance is a defensive one. There have never been and never will be any plans on the territory of another country.

As Truman said at its founding, the purpose of this defense alliance is to enable us to get on with the real business of life, the real business of government, the real business of society: “to achieve a fuller and happier life for all… our “citizens.”

So the true measure of NATO’s success is not just the enemies it deters or the territory it defends, but the way our citizens have used their security and their freedom to live their lives in concrete ways to improve.

No wonder democracies continue to make major sacrifices to join this alliance. No wonder nations far beyond the transatlantic region – including dozens represented here tonight – are seeking to deepen their partnership with NATO.

So as we celebrate this extraordinary alliance, let us not lose sight of why we founded it or why it has endured these 75 years. And let us recommit ourselves to strengthening the foundations of peace and anticipating new and emerging threats.

Finally, together, let us protect everything we have built over 75 years under NATO’s protective shield and ensure that it remains strong to continue building in the next 75 years and well beyond. To each and every one of you, who is the life force of NATO today: thank you, thank you, thank you for your commitment. Thank you for your partnership. Thank you for your solidarity. Thank you for the work that still lies ahead of us.

Thank you all. (Applause.)

AMBASSADOR SMITH: Thank you, Mr. Secretary. And Mr. Secretary General, the floor is now yours. Thank you very much. (Applause.)