U. S. Secretary of state Antony Blinken spoke about the 75th anniversary of the north atlantic treaty organization, nato. Along with jerry general and u. S. Ambassadors julian smith. Its about 20 minutes. We do have three very special announcements. First, during this anniversary year, the u. S. Mission will be renaming its executive Conference Room after madeleine albright, are 64 secretary of state. Many of you knew her. I know you did. And the first woman to ever serve in that role in the United States. As many of you know, secretary albright played a crucial role in advocating for nato enlargement, leading to the inclusion of several central and Eastern European countries. She also championed natos involvement in conflict resolution and peacekeeping efforts, particularly during the balkan wars of the 1990s. Albrights diplomatic finesse and Strategic Vision strengthened natos role as a cornerstone of transatlantic Security Cooperation and it is so fitting that we honor her tonight. Particularly with so many of my u. S. Colleagues here that had a very close and special relationship with secretary albright, including secretary blinking and former colleagues tim obrien, and susie george, among others. Second, id like to draw your attention to a very unique item that we have borrowed from the nato archives. This one might surprise you a little bit. Natos first cookbook yes, thats right, you heard me correctly, titled the best of taste, published in 1957 by the Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic officers wives club, the book highlights recipes representing the 15 allies at the time. Now dwight d eisenhower, by that time president of the u. S. Submitted his favorite recipe, oldfashioned beef stew. Now in that spirit, we have prepared a wonderful menu for you tonight, but this is not included beef stew. So rest assured. But what we did do tonight with the menu is we have created an array of very distinct dishes featuring the specialties in the special food of each of natos 12 founding members. So you will see trays passing tonight with flags on them denoting which country that particular dish is from. Finally, and this is what i am really most excited about, i would like to introduce our special guest of honor, beyond the two gentlemen standing to my left and right are special guest of honor, Harry S Truman himself immortalized in bronze for his namesake home in commemoration of natos 75th anniversary. The eight foot statue created by a missouri artist is a very generous gift from the Truman Library institute. I would like to thank our guest from the institute here tonight and also recognize president trumans eldest grandson. [ applause ] after tonights event, president truman will be displayed permanently under the pergola in the garden behind us for residents and visitors to truman hall to admire for generations to come. Clifton, will you please do the honors and unveil our guest of honor [ applause ] and now, without further ado, it is my pleasure and honor to introduce secretary of state, tony blinking to share a few words with us on this special occasion. Thank you, friends. Very hard act to follow. But its so wonderful to see and we are looking forward to president trumans permanent placement shortly after this evening. First, welcome, everyone. Julie, thanking you for welcoming us your humble home. I know you have been complaining for long time theres just not a lot of elbowroom here. And we can all see what you mean by it. Julie arrived just months before putin arrived the full scale lunch against ukraine. The fact that the alliance is not only whether this crisis, but emerged bigger, stronger, more united than ever, is in no small part because of bassett or smith leadership. There is no one i would rather have, and more important, the president would rather have, representing the United States in this place, at this time than julie smith. Thank you. Similarly, i think all my colleagues are united in believing this. The United States, for all the members of nato, none of us could have hoped for a greater champion for this alliance. Then jens stoltenberg. No one couldve done a better job holding us together when others were trying to divide us. No one couldve done a better job caring the Alliance Forward and we have all said it in different ways and times, but it always bears repeating, we are so grateful for your leadership. [ applause ] i also want to thank all of the permanent representatives from the alliance countries for the work you are doing every single day. With your teams, to really move forward with the work of the alliance. None of this happens by itself. None of this is automatic. Is because of the day in and day out work you are doing to lead our lives forward. Now, i am really pleased we are here renaming the Conference Room for secretary albright. She was, as for so many of us, a real mentor as well as a friend, a supporter, and incredible counselor. I think we all miss her every single day. But we are also animated by her spirit, her determination. And, in many ways, animated by her vision of what the United States can be, should be, as well as what this alliance can be and should be. This would be her kind of night. She loved it nato. And she made a huge contribution to. Almost exactly 25 years ago, across the atlantic, at the Truman Library in missouri, she formally welcomed poland, Czech Republic and hungary into the alliance. And she quoted an old Central European expression to mark the moment. Hallelujah. [laughter] that grew the alliance to 19 members. Today, of course, were 32. At the time, madeleine and her counterparts were also looking forward to another Washington Summit that was the one marking the 50th anniversary of our alliance. She reminded the audience that day natos strength depends on its unity. And she warned, and i quote her, we know that when the democracies of europe and america are divided, crevices are created through which forces of evil and forces of aggression may emerge; but that when we stand together, there is no force on earth more powerful than our solidarity on behalf of freedom. Madeleine understood this because she lived it personally. As a small child, her family had been driven from their home not once but twice first by the nazis, then by the communists before finding refuge in the United Kingdom and then the United States. Someone else understood this profoundly, harry s. Truman. He understood on a personal level what can happen when we allow the forces of evil, the forces of aggression to spread. When the United States entered world war i, he rejoined the u. S. National guard, and he was put in command of an artillery unit that saw brutal combat in france. He later wrote this, i know the strain, the mud, the misery of the soldier in the field. And i know too his and add today her courage. The experience left truman, along with generations of men and women who survived the two world wars , determined that history would not repeat itself. Harry truman believed that the best way, maybe the only way, to ensure that was to bind americas fate to that of other nations who shared our values, for all to commit to defending one anothers territory as if it were their own. Now, those of us here today in some ways may take that for granted now, after 75 years, but this was a radical belief in its time, and it was also an untested one. And in some ways its also easy to assume that natos success was somehow preordained. It wasnt. It required that the 12 founding members of the alliance, and then those who came after, not only to build foundations of peace, but then to keep fortifying, adapting those foundations as new challenges emerged, challenges that the founders of nato couldnt possibly foresee. And for threequarters of a century, thats exactly what our alliance has done. Thats how nato helped prevent the iron curtain from enveloping the free nations of western europe, how it helped avert war with the soviet union, and helped newly independent nations walk the path to democracy. For those achievements and so many others, we are indebted to the millions of soldiers, sailors, aviators whose courage and willingness to put their lives on the line have given weight to our sacred commitment to defend one another. Were also indebted to all the leaders and diplomats who shaped the alliance over these 75 years. Not just those who were present at the creation, but also those present at natos many recreations over subsequent decades. Their collective service has given generations of people on both sides of the ocean that joins us a rare and invaluable gift, unprecedented security. And yet, even as we meet here this evening, that security, together with the alliances Core Principles of democracy, liberty, the rule of law, this is once again being challenged. Challenged by those who believe that might makes right and those who would seek to redraw borders by force. And of course, we know many new challenges have emerged, again, ones that the founders of nato could not possibly have foreseen, challenges that wouldve been unimaginable to natos architects. A growing climate crisis, cyber attacks, disinformation. The alliance is meeting these threats as we always have by adapting together. Over the past three years, weve enhanced our deterrence, weve reinforced our eastern flank, weve ramped up investments in our Defense Industrial capacity, weve launched a new strategic concept, weve welcomed two exceptionally capable new members. All work that our leaders will Carry Forward at the Washington Summit in july. But even as our alliance changes, even as it evolves, its purpose remains enduring. Ours is a defensive alliance. Its never had and it never will have designs on the territory of any other country. As truman said at the founding, the purpose of this defensive alliance is to allow us to get on with the real business of life, the real business of government, the real business of society. Achieving a fuller and happier life for all our citizens. In that way, the true measure of natos success is not merely the enemies that its deterred or the territory its defended, but all the ways our citizens have used their security, used their freedom to improve their lives in tangible ways. No wonder that democracies continue to make great sacrifices to join this alliance. No wonder nations far beyond the transatlantic region , including dozens represented here this evening, are striving to deepen their partnership with nato. So, as we celebrate this extraordinary alliance, lets not lose sight of why we created it, or why it has endured these 75 years. And lets recommit ourselves to shoring up the foundations of peace, as well as anticipating new and emerging threats. Finally, let us together protect all weve built in 75 years under natos shield, and ensure that it remains strong to keep building for the next 75 years and well beyond that. To each and every one of you who are the life force of nato today, thank you, thank you, thank you for your engagement. Thank you for your partnership. Thank you for your solidarity. Thank you for the work that still lies ahead. Thanks, everyone. [ applause ] thank you very much, mr. Secretary and secretary general, the floor is now years. Thank you very much. Secretary general stoltenberg secretary blinken, tony; ambassador smith, julie, thank you so much for hosting us all here tonight. Ministers, ambassadors, dear friends, its great to be here at the truman hall next to president harry s. Truman, at least, a statue of him, and together with the grandson of harry s. Truman. So this is really a truman evening. And it is in particular great to be here as the secretary general of nato, because im not able to think about any individual person that has played a more Important Role for this alliance than president truman. Because we have to try to imagine how the world looked like at the end of the second world war. Because then the plan was of course to get the troops, the forces back home. That was the case for everyone, but especially for the United States, who sent people across the atlantic and to europe to help end the second world war. The United States left europe after the first world war. That was not a big success. So therefore, im glad that after the second world war, the United States decided to stay. To stay with their forces, stay with their troops, and not only that, but also to underpin the transatlantic bond with the marshall aid, with a big Economic Program to underpin the transatlantic bond. And then on top of that, not only keeping their forces and providing Enormous Economic support to europe, but on top of that, actually signed a treaty obligation to protect and defend allies in europe. And canada. And the president responsible for all those decisions, knowing that to not bring back the troops, not bring back all the boys after war was potentially a very unpopular, difficult decision. Economically costly, politically costly, and of course also paying in human cost. The president responsible for that decision that was brave and not obvious and actually controversial at the time was president harry s. Truman. So therefore, we would be here and would have not been a 75th anniversary to celebrate if it hadnt been for that very brave political decision by the United States to stay in europe. And therefore, it is great to celebrate the 75th anniversary, and to do that at truman hall together with the grandson and next to the statue of the great president. Then, ever since the alliance was established or founded in 49, it has been a Great Success. Preserving peace, preventing war, and enabling economic will prosperity. And the fact that, as mentioned both by tony and julie, that we have gone from 12 members to now 32 demonstrates that at least we have there is at least something right we have done over these years. Establishing a group that so many want to join. And the Great Success has been enabled or has happened not least because of u. S. Leadership, from president truman to president biden, from secretary acheson to secretary blinken, and from general eisenhower to general cavoli, and also supported by many very capable u. S. Ambassadors, today represented by julie smith. So many thanks to all them for their leadership and the commitment they have demonstrated to our alliance over all these years. Then, what we will do tomorrow is to celebrate, but we will also do what has actually made this alliance a success, and that is to focus on how can we continue to adapt. Because the only reason why we are the most successful alliance in history is for two reasons one, our unity; and second, that weve been able to change when the world is changing. So therefore we need to prepare for the upcoming nato summit in july, where we once again are going to celebrate but also going to demonstrate our ability to take the necessary decisions to demonstrate our unity and ensure that we stand together. Because i cannot tell you exactly what the next crisis or the next conflict or the next war will be, but what i can tell you is that regardless of what the next crisis will be, we will be safe as long as we stand together. North america and europe. Because together we represent 50 of the worlds economic might and 50 of the worlds military might, so as long as we stand together, no one can threaten us. We are safe. So if we ensure that we demonstrate that at the summit in washington, our unity and our ability to change, then well continue to be the most successful alliance in history. And that will be in the spirit of president truman and that will be in the spirit of this alliance over these 75 years. Thank you. [ applause ] thank you very much, mr. Secretarygeneral. Thank you, two over guests this evening. I also must say thank you to the amazing team at u. S. Nato and truman hall that are responsible for bringing together this incredible event this evening. And to our honored guests, please enjoy a taste from the 12 the rental original founding allies, maybe take a glimpse at that cookbook from very long ago. And do enjoy the music tonight provided by some members of american pops. And last but not least, i ask you, before you leave tonight, please do sign the guest book so we can remember this very historic occasion. Thanks again, and enjoy your evening. 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