Our strength lies in the fact that North America and Europe are always together in NATO in defense of our peoples, freedoms and democracy, said today the deputy secretary general of the alliance, Radmila Shekerinska, at a ceremony at the alliance's headquarters in Brussels to mark the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, BTA reports.
Fear could not win on that day 25 years ago and it never will, she added. We are determined that such an attack will never happen again. The world has changed, but the use of violence to instill fear and insecurity has not disappeared, Shekerinska added.
She pointed out that after the events 25 years ago, Article 5 of the Washington Treaty on Mutual Defense was triggered for the first time. America is not alone - its friends were with it then, as they are now, Shekerinska pointed out.
Scott Outkirk, chargé d'affaires at the US mission to NATO, said that his country remembers how its allies have provided support in the years that followed. This relationship remains at the heart of the pact today, despite new threats, he added. Today is a reminder that a free society and freedom are not a given, Outkirk said.