NATO TRANSFORMATION BASED ON SHARED DEMOCRATIC VALUES
In 2023, NATO Allies took further steps to adapt the Alliance to a profoundly challenging security environment, in line with the Alliance’s new Strategic Concept adopted at the historic NATO Summit in Madrid in June 2022.
The Summit held in Vilnius in July 2023 marked another significant milestone. The Assembly continues to insist that NATO adaptation must be grounded in the Alliance’s shared democratic values – as prescribed in the Strategic Concept.
Addressing the Vilnius Summit, then President Joëlle Garriaud-Maylam (France), urged Allied Heads of State and Government to “demonstrate our determination to defend our democracies in the face of imperialism and autocracies.” She stressed that “NATO’s adaptation will not be complete until we have effectively given substance to the Alliance’s commitment, as enshrined in its founding treaty and now in the Strategic Concept, to defend democratic values.”
The Assembly urges the establishment of a Democratic Resilience Centre at NATO Headquarters as a key instrument to operationalise this commitment – a recommendation it has reiterated in numerous reports and resolutions.
This priority was in particular focus during the Assembly’s Spring Session in Luxembourg. To demonstrate its commitment, the Chamber of Deputies of Luxembourg announced its intention to fund a position at the NATO PA dedicated to fostering democratic resilience within the Alliance, notably by assisting in promoting and implementing the Centre proposal.
Highlighting one of the Centre’s possible functions in a report and resolution on Russia’s disinformation, then President Joëlle Garriaud-Maylam (France) cautioned that disinformation “constitutes a severe threat to the security, societal cohesion and democratic functioning of the Alliance.”
Our democracies face their greatest challenge in a generation. We have overcome such challenges before. And we can do it again. If we properly understand the stakes. Allied governments must finally take concrete steps. It is now time to set up a Centre for Democratic Resilience at NATO Headquarters.
Michal Szczerba (Poland) NATO PA President → Annual Session, Copenhagen
Addressing the Assembly in Copenhagen, NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana highlighted the importance of Allied democratic values at a time of renewed strategic competition.
“We face a fundamental challenge not only to our nations and our peoples, but also to our values, to the things that make us who we are,” he stressed. “We are not a military alliance. We're not even a political military alliance,” he added. “We are a fundamental alliance based on our values of freedom, democracy and the rule of law.”
In terms of operationalising the commitment to shared democratic values, the Vilnius Summit did not live up to the Assembly’s recommendations. However, on other priorities, many of the Summit’s decisions were well in line with the recommendations in the Assembly’s Declaration 481 authored by Vice-President Linda Sanchez (United States) and adopted at the Spring Session in May.
The resolution on delivering on the Vilnius Summit decisions, authored by Tomas Valasek (Slovakia), welcomes the adoption “of far-reaching decisions that will make the Alliance stronger in the face of the deepest security crisis in the Euro-Atlantic area since the end of the Second World War” and urges prompt and full implementation.
The recommendations adopted at the Annual Session in Copenhagen outline the main lines of effort.
The bulk of these focus on continued, resolute support for Ukraine and strengthening the Alliance’s deterrence and defence posture. Following Finland’s accession to NATO in April, the Assembly has also continued to advocate for the prompt completion of Sweden’s accession to NATO as well as for strengthened support for partners at risk in Europe. The Assembly’s recommendations also recognise the systemic challenge posed by China and the need to strengthen partnerships with like-minded partners in the Indo-Pacific. With the Middle East in renewed turmoil, the Assembly has been keen to contribute its views on NATO’s future relations with the southern neighbourhood as part of the review launched by Allies at the Vilnius Summit. Lastly, the Assembly further urged Allied governments to work to strengthen the Alliance’s economic and technological resilience.
Assembly activities in Allied countries (Belgium, Finland, Germany, Iceland, Canada, Norway, Poland, Romania, Türkiye, the United Kingdom and the United States in March and June) supported the focus on NATO adaptation, which will remain a top priority as the Alliance prepares to celebrate its 75th anniversary in 2024.