Today, marking the 75th anniversary of NATO, the President of the Republic defended the importance of Euro-Atlantic dialogue and the “strengthening of its European component”, framing this organization as an “instrument of peace”, but “ready for war”.
In a message published on the official website of the Presidency of the Republic, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa considers that there is a situation in which “international crises are worsening, particularly in Europe”, highlighting “the invasion of Ukraine by Russia” and “the influence of wars on the economy, growth, inflation and interest rates”.
In this context, “the President of the Republic underlines the importance of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), which is celebrating its 75th anniversary and of which Portugal was one of the founding countries, stressing the importance of its security and defense policy, guided by a culture of consensus and shared democratic values, as well as the importance of Euro-Atlantic dialogue and the strengthening of its European component,” reads the note.
According to the head of state and supreme commander of the Armed Forces, “the enlargement of the Alliance, the result of the imperative reason to preserve a strategic balance” makes this organization “a platform for understanding between spaces, continents and countries, expressed in a collective will for an organization that is above all an instrument of peace, ensuring that, while it is ready for war, it is deterring and avoiding it”.
“In marking the date, the head of state also praises all the women and men who, over these 75 years, have made their hard contribution so that this Alliance has maintained its purpose, determination and capacity for intervention,” the note adds.
Portugal has been a member of NATO since it was founded in 1949. This political and military alliance was formed by the United States of America, Canada, France, the United Kingdom, Germany and Norway, among others. Greece and Turkey joined in 1952. Hungary and Poland in 1999.
Bulgaria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Romania joined NATO in 2004, Albania and Croatia in 2009, Montenegro in 2017 and North Macedonia in 2020, and most recently Finland in 2023 and Sweden this year.
With these two most recent additions, already in the context of the war in Ukraine that began with the Russian invasion of February 24, 2022, the Atlantic Alliance now has 32 member countries.
