madam president for most of the last century and most of this century so far nato has helped to keep the peace
yet there are those in this house who seek to undermine the very institution that has allowed us to cooperate with our american and canadian colleagues and a number of eu countries
how are we seeking to undermine this
not only by attacking nato but also by duplicating its structures
we are now seeing a situation where us and canadian personnel can sit with eu experts in one room under the umbrella of nato and then there will be exactly the same meeting excluding our us and canadian colleagues which is part of the eu structure on defence
what a needless waste of resources and time
we must remember the vital role that nato has played but we must also not forget that part of nato is burden-sharing
if we move towards a purely eu defence mechanism then it will be mostly britain and france who share that burden while others hide behind it
let us not forget the vital role that nato has played long may it continue
