Stoltenberg: North Macedonia will soon become 30th NATO member

“And NATO’s door remains open,” Stoltenberg said. “What started in 1949 with 12 members, has proven a powerful force for peace. An Alliance that others strive to join, showing the historic success of NATO.”

Past success, however, doesn’t guarantee success in the future, Stoltenberg continued.

“Questions are being asked on both sides of the Atlantic about the strength of our partnership. And yes, there are differences,” he said.

Stoltenberg said members of the Alliance belonged to many different nations, with diverse geography, history, and political parties.

“Republicans and Democrats. Conservatives and Labour. Independents, greens and many more. This is democracy,” he said.

Open discussion and different views should not be considered a sign of weakness, but of strength, Stoltenberg said.

He acknowledged disagreements within NATO on issues such as trade, energy, climate change, and the Iran nuclear deal as “serious issues and serious disagreements.”

“But we should remember that we’ve had our disagreements before,” Stoltenberg said, listing as examples the Suez Crisis in 1956, the French withdrawal from military cooperation in NATO in 1966, and the Iraq War in 2003, “strongly supported by some Allies and equally strongly opposed by others.”

But the strength of NATO, he said, is that despite differences, Allies had always been able to unite around their core task: “To defend each other.
Protect each other. And to keep our people safe.”

“We have overcome our disagreements in the past, and we must overcome our differences now. Because we will need our Alliance even more in the future,” Stoltenberg said in his speech to Congress.