NATO on Thursday marks 75 years since its founding with the Western alliance confronted by the urgent need to do more to help Ukraine win a war currently roiling Europe.
Foreign ministers from NATO’s 32 countries will hold a ceremony at its Brussels headquarters to fete the organisation that bills itself as the “most powerful and successful alliance in history”.
But, amid the cake-cutting and speeches, NATO is grappling with one of its most serious challenges since it emerged from the ashes of World War II in 1949 to counter the Soviet Union.
“As we celebrate NATO’s achievements, we do not rest upon them,” alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg said on Wednesday.
“Europe now faces war on a scale we thought was resigned to history.”
Since Russia launched its all-out invasion of Ukraine two years ago, a reinvigorated NATO has added Finland and Sweden to its ranks and bolstered its forces in eastern Europe.
Alliance members also have thrown their weight behind Kyiv — which is bidding to join NATO — by sending Ukraine weapons worth tens of billions of dollars.
But those supplies have now dwindled as support from leading NATO power the United States remains stuck by political wrangling. On the frontline, Ukraine’s outgunned forces have been pushed onto the back foot.
In the face of surging Russian missile attacks on its infrastructure, Kyiv is pleading with its Western backers to send all the Patriot defence systems they can spare.
