1 Oct 2003

Prince Philippe of Belgium visits NATO Opinions 01/10/2003 - NATO Speech by His Royal Highness Prince Philippe of Belgium at a meeting of the North Atlantic Council 01/10/2003 - OTAN Allocution de son Altesse Royale le Prince Philippe de Belgique lors d'une réunion du Conseil de l'Atlantique Nord Multimedia High resolution photos of the visit Audio file of the speech by His Royal Highness Prince Philippe of Belgium and NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson at a meeting of the North Atlantic Council.MP3/4700Kb His Royal Highness Prince Philippe of Belgium addressed the North Atlantic Council, NATO’s top decision-making body, and met for bilateral talks with NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson during a one-day visit to NATO HQ on 1 October. “Under the Atlantic Treaty, Western Europe has known one of the longest periods of peace in its history. My country, so often Europe's battlefield, realizes its full significance,” said Prince Philippe in his address to the North Atlantic Council. He emphasized the importance of the Alliance’s current transformation to meet new security threats. In this regard, he said Belgium was pleased to be able to facilitate the construction of the new NATO Headquarters building, which will allow the transformed Alliance to function in the best possible way. Following His Excellency’s address to the North Atlantic Council, Prince Philippe was shown a model of the winning design for the new headquarters. Prince Philippe also met with the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, military representatives and staff as well as Belgian civilian and military staff working at NATO. He was accompanied by Foreign Minister Michel and Defence Minister Flahaut.