defense
Baerbock: NATO is our central security anchor
Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock next to her American counterpart Antony Blinken at NATO headquarters in Brussels. photo
© Johanna Geron/Pool Reuters/AP/dpa
“As Europeans, we must and will contribute more to our own defense,” says Foreign Minister Baerbock. She cites the threat from Russia as the central reason.
“We have always believed that we can live together in peace on our European continent,” said the Green politician. “Now that the Russian president has broken with all this peaceful coexistence by attacking Ukraine and with it the European peace order, our highest responsibility is of course that we protect our Europe, that we protect our country, that we protect the people in our country Protect the continent in the best possible way. And NATO is our central security anchor for this.”
Baerbock emphasized that the European states within the alliance must do more for their own security by ensuring reliable spending on defense and investing together in the arms industry in the long term. “As Europeans, we must and will contribute more to our own defense,” said Baerbock.
NATO was founded on April 4, 1949 in Washington in response to the perceived threatening policies of the communist Soviet Union. This Thursday it celebrates its anniversary. At a ceremony at the headquarters in Brussels, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the foreign ministers of the now 32 member states want to commemorate the defense alliance’s successes and encourage solidarity.