In December 1949, Konrad Adenauer gave an interview to the American provincial newspaper Cleveland Plain Dealer. This interview would make history. For in it, Adenauer spoke publicly for the first time about something that sounded preposterous to many people in those days: about the possibility of Germany’s rearmament.

No doubt he deliberately chose a less prominent platform for this issue. No parliamentary speech. No policy statement.

A culture of restraint was the order of the day. The idea that Germans could bear arms once again had to be formulated very carefully. And yet in spite of that, the situation was such that it called for precisely this direction to be taken.

The path leading the Federal Republic of Germany into NATO was by no means something that could be taken for granted. When Germany joined in May 1955, ten years after the end of the horrific war that Germans had brought upon our continent, it was a foreign policy milestone. And in German debate it is often forgotten that this actually took place prior to the establishment of the Bundeswehr in November that same year.

Germany’s security policy therefore did not begin with the formation of its own armed forces but with the conscious decision to anchor our defence in an alliance from the outset. And an alliance means one for all, and all for one. It applies unconditionally. That describes the magnitude of Adenauer’s decision at that time – and the magnitude of the Allies’ commitment to us.

NATO membership is a commitment to a defence alliance. Yet it is more than that. It is a commitment to a community of shared values that stands for security and freedom.

We Germans have benefited more than almost anyone else from this alliance over many decades. For the Federal Republic of Germany was the eastern flank of NATO during the Cold War. Here, hundreds of thousands of allied troops stood alongside the Bundeswehr.

The fact that these allies sent soldiers to protect Germany barely one decade after the horrors of the World Wars and the Shoah was a huge sign of trust and a great act of reconciliation, for which we must be eternally grateful.

In the 1980s, I served as a soldier in short-service engagement on the NATO eastern flank, which ran right through the divided Germany. Forty years later, I was a reservist in Lithuania, so at the point where the eastern flank of NATO now lies.

Much has changed in these 40 years. But the most important thing has not. Soldiers serve together under the blue flag of NATO, standing shoulder to shoulder, and are willing to give their all if the need arises.

We are aware of the significance of this community in the Alliance. No country, and that includes Germany, is in a position to single-handedly defend its freedom, its security and its democratic values.

For me, the anniversary we are celebrating today is more than just a ceremony. Thankfulness now means the determination of my country, the Federal Republic of Germany, to further strengthen the NATO Alliance.

Today, we in the Alliance face a new strategic reality. If it wasn’t already plain, Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has brought home to us how fragile security and freedom can still be – even in Europe, which many already regarded as a continent of eternal peace.

Let me be quite clear: in Ukraine it will be decided whether it is possible to move borders through the use of force on the European continent. Whether our security architecture will hold firm. The responsibility is ours, and it brings with it considerable tasks. We need to drastically adapt our defence expenditure to levels that were normal during the 1980s.

The NATO of the future must be more flexible, more resolute and technically more superior. We have taken the right decisions to achieve this at the NATO Summit. Now, after the Summit, we need to focus on what matters, the credibility of our deterrence, of our military capabilities. We must and we will master this Herculean task.

Our strength lies in unity.

Seventy years of German membership of NATO – that is more than a historic milestone. It is a promise for the future. That we are willing to embrace responsibility. Shoulder to shoulder with our allies.

NATO has a greater role to play than it has had for decades – we have a greater role to play than we have had for decades. That must be clear to all of us who bear political responsibility. Our security, our freedom, our prosperity are at stake. A strong NATO is the guarantor of peace on our continent.