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“One for all, and all for one”: Foreign Minister Baerbock at the NATO meeting in Brussels
Flags of the member states at the entrance of the NATO headquarters in Brussels, © Photothek Media Lab
This Thursday, NATO is celebrating its 75th anniversary. In light of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine, the Alliance remains a vital guarantee of security for us in Germany, too. Read on to learn more about the meeting in Brussels.
The Meeting of NATO Ministers of Foreign Affairs, which takes place today and tomorrow in Brussels, is in a certain sense historic. For one thing, Sweden has a seat at the North Atlantic Council table as a full member for the first time, after becoming the 32nd and most recent country to join NATO. Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministers will mark the 75th anniversary of the founding of the Alliance.
On the agenda at the meeting is the security situation on Allied territory since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine as well as the continuation of support for Ukraine, preparations for the NATO Summit to be held in Washington, D.C., from 9 to 11 July, and cooperation with NATO partners in the Asia-Pacific region.
Collective defence – at the heart of NATO for 75 years
Since the end of the Second World War, NATO has been one of the key guarantors of freedom and security on the European continent. The transatlantic alliance remains indispensable for the security of Germany and Europe. At the heart of this alliance is Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, which states that every member country can count on its allies in Europe and North America to defend it should it come under armed attack, and that every member will in turn support its allies.
NATO-Ukraine Council discussions
On Thursday, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba will join the Foreign Ministers for a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Council to discuss the situation in light of Russia’s war against Ukraine and further assistance. Ukraine’s security is enormously important to NATO and its member states. The Alliance unreservedly supports Ukraine’s right to defend itself. The future of Ukraine lies in the EU and in NATO. At the summit in Vilnius in 2023, the NATO partners emphasised that Ukraine will become a NATO member when the partners give their approval and the conditions for accession are met. Relations between NATO and Ukraine go back to the early 1990s, and have developed since then to become one of NATO’s most important partnerships. Since 2014, following Russia’s illegal annexation of Crimea, cooperation has intensified in important areas – with cooperation on averting cyber attacks, for example, and Ukrainian soldiers taking part in NATO exercises and operations.
Since the Russian invasion in February 2022, many countries that are also NATO members have provided an unprecedented level of support. Many of them have supplied Ukraine – in some cases via the EU – with weapons, ammunition, and light and heavy military equipment, including anti-tank and air defence systems, howitzers, drones, tanks and fighter jets. Via NATO itself, member states have pledged more than 640 million euro for Ukraine’s urgent needs, including cold-weather clothing, bulletproof vests, fuel, transportation vehicles, secure means of communication, mine clearance equipment and medical supplies. The question of how to continue providing Ukraine with the best possible targeted support in its fight against the Russian aggression will certainly be one of the most important topics of the talks today and tomorrow in Brussels.