Brussels marks 75 years of the NATO alliance
Baku, April 4, AZERTAC
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) turns 75 today, and to mark this occasion, foreign ministers from the 32 allied countries will meet in the headquarters in Brussels, according to The Brussels Times.
On 4 April 1949, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United States and the United Kingdom signed the North Atlantic Treaty, the founding treaty of NATO, in Washington.
The alliance aimed to ensure the collective defence of its members, a principle enshrined in the Treaty, which states that an attack on one or more of its members is considered an attack on all of them. Three-quarters of a century later, the alliance has grown from 12 to 32 allies, following the recent accession of Finland and Sweden.
Celebrations for this anniversary will begin at the NATO Headquarters in Brussels during the Foreign Affairs Ministerial Conference on 3 and 4 April. On the actual anniversary, some ministers and NATO leaders will give a speech at a ceremony.
Larger commemorations will be held at the 75th anniversary Summit in Washington DC in July. These occasions also mark crucial opportunities for allies and partners to reinforce the alliance’s unity, especially in light of questions surrounding the United States' commitment, and in the face of a new era of strategic competition.
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