Thank you to Rob and Jean Charles, and it is a great pleasure to be here today.
Ladies and gentlemen, NATO is an organisation born out of the ashes of the Second World War.
An organisation for which the UK post-war Labour Government of the time saw an urgent need.
One which our post-war Foreign Secretary, Ernest Bevin, worked night and day to bring into being because he saw the need for collective security.
NATO was founded on the belief that when it comes to the safety and security of our people, Europe and North America stand stronger together.
And that is as true today as it was all those years ago.
And today, our alliance is strong. It has grown in membership — and I’m very pleased to welcome our newest member, Sweden, to their first cyber defence conference as a full NATO ally.
And our alliance has been brought closer together by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
It is clear that 75 years after its foundation, we need NATO more than ever.
Now, my Party entered government in the UK a few months ago at a new and dangerous time for the world. The global picture is more turbulent now than it has been for decades.
As the UK’s Chief of Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin said a few weeks ago, we are witnessing a unique era of contest and competition:
One where our adversaries are becoming increasingly emboldened and aggressive, testing our collective security on a daily basis.
And that contest is played out in two realms: the physical and the cyber.
And as we meet here today, Ukrainian soldiers — many of them trained by our armed forces here in the UK — are fighting for their country’s freedom on the front lines of Donetsk and Luhansk, in their bid to repel Russia’s appalling invasion and to be able to decide their own future.
But the war is also raging on another frontline, in cyberspace.
Aided by allies, including the UK, Ukraine has had to defend itself from crippling Russian cyber attacks on its electricity grid, its airports, and other critical national infrastructure.
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