On 25 April 2024, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg received Atlantik-Brücke’s Eric M. Warburg Award in Berlin “for his outstanding dedication to the transatlantic friendship and partnership in turbulent times”.
The award was handed over in Berlin by German Federal Defence Minister Boris Pistorius and the laudatory remarks were held by Dr Irina Scherbakowa, co-founder of Memorial, a Russian human rights organisation awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 2022 for its mission to review political repressions in the former USSR and in today’s Russia.
Dr Scherbakowa said that Secretary General Stoltenberg, from the start, has understood the dangers that Russia’s aggressive behaviour against Ukraine meant for security and stability in Europe. She thanked the Secretary General, saying: “You did not have any
illusions about appeasing Putin, instead you worked on building up the military strength of the alliance and urged us to prepare for the threats coming from Putin’s regime”.
Before presenting the award to the Secretary General, Minister Pistorius described him as “a man who speaks his mind and who stands up for his beliefs and values”. Referring to the situation in Ukraine, the minister expressed his belief that the situation in the country “is Europe’s most decisive and strategic issue today”.
In his acceptance speech, Jens Stoltenberg warned that in today’s Russia, “the past echoes loudly in the present. Thought is controlled, freedom is curtailed, opposition is crushed.” He added that, “as Russia has become more oppressive at home, it has become more aggressive abroad, waging a fully-fledged war in Ukraine.”
The Secretary General emphasised the need to strengthen the alliance’s deterrence and defence, increase support to Ukraine, and work with friends around the world to ensure that NATO maintains peace and prosperity for its one billion citizens.
He showed confidence “that Ukraine will prevail because its cause is just. Democracy is stronger than autocracy. And Putin is wrong that we are not willing or able to defend our values. We are. The war in Ukraine demonstrates that security is not regional. It is global.”
The Atlantik-Brücke founded in 1952 is a non-profit organisation that has developed into a broad transatlantic professional network fostering cooperation between Germany, Europe, and North America, transcending sectors and party lines.
