A joint report issued by Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia has highlighted Egypt’s strategic partnership with NATO since 1994, marking its significant role in fostering peace, security, and stability in the region through the Mediterranean Dialogue.
The report unveiled the establishment of a forum involving Egypt and seven other non-NATO countries aimed at bolstering security and stability in the area.
Egypt’s increasingly strategic importance to the alliance is underscored by its role as a pillar of stability, a peace-maker, and a provider of security in the current geopolitical landscape.
This partnership facilitates a genuine dialogue and cooperation on shared challenges and mutual interests.
According to a statement released on Thursday, these nations will organize a celebration this coming Sunday, commemorating their 20 years of NATO membership since March 29, 2004.
The report reaffirmed Egypt’s longstanding partnership with NATO, initiated in 1994 as part of the Mediterranean Dialogue, which led to the establishment of a forum including seven non-member countries, including Egypt.
The addition of Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia to NATO is celebrated as a historic achievement.
This milestone represents a culmination of a lengthy and sometimes challenging period of democratic reforms and modernization concurrent with broader post-communist transformations in Eastern and Central Europe.
The report further emphasizes that the new NATO members have taken on the crucial responsibility of upholding shared democratic values and contributing to the collective security of NATO members and their partners, thereby defending peace and the rules-based international order.
Joining NATO was a key foreign policy goal, widely supported by the populations in these countries, with approval ratings exceeding 60%, and in some cases, reaching 80%.
The report notes that over its nearly 75-year existence, NATO has been instrumental in preventing conflicts and safeguarding peace for nearly a billion people.
The commitment of each member to mutual defence—that an attack on one ally is an attack on all—ensures security and prosperity for its members, allowing each nation to live in freedom.
