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To the day 75 years ago, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Iceland, Italy, Norway, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal, the United States and the United Kingdom signed the North Atlantic Treaty in Washington, the founding treaty of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Since then, the Alliance has grown from 12 to 32 Allies, following the recent accession of Finland and Sweden.
75 years on, this politico-military alliance continues to ensure the collective defence of its Allies, a principle enshrined in Article 5 of the North Atlantic Treaty, according to which an attack against one or more of its members is considered an attack against all. To this end, NATO has three fundamental tasks: deterrence and defence, crisis prevention and management, and cooperative security.
Belgium at NATO
Belgium is home not only to the Alliance’s headquarters in Evere, but also to one of its two strategic headquarters – SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) in Casteau near Mons. SHAPE coordinates the Alliance’s military operations. Being the host country of the organisation positions Belgium as a supportive and credible partner.
Our country also contributes to NATO’s tasks. In addition to providing capabilities for deterrence and defence planning, Belgium is also currently involved in efforts to strengthen the Alliance’s eastern border in response to Russian aggression in Ukraine. Our country is involved in monitoring the airspace of the Baltic States, and has also integrated troops into the multinational battle groups deployed in Lithuania and Romania.
Belgium is also very active in the field of human security. It fully supports United Nations Security Council Resolution 1325 on women, peace and security. The theme of “children and armed conflict” is also a priority, as is climate change, which is taking on increasing importance at NATO. These themes are also taken up by our country in other organisations such as the United Nations, the OSCE and the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
Finally, Belgium has traditionally been active in the fields of arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation, in line with its actions in other international fora.
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