Thread by @VP

Tomorrow marks 70 years since the United States and 11 of our allies signed the North Atlantic Treaty & committed ourselves to “safeguard the freedom, common heritage & civilisation of [our] peoples, founded on the principles of democracy, individual liberty and the rule of law.

In the 70 yrs since, the US has kept our commitments – & we’ve urged our European allies to do the same. And as @POTUS said yesterday when he met with @jensstoltenberg, in the last 2 years, “Tremendous progress has been made – & @NATO is much stronger because of that progress.”

We’ve been making historic investments in our national defense and @NATO. America is leading on the world stage once again and part of leadership is being as good as your word and holding your friends and allies to theirs.

.@NATO is a mutual defense pact, not a unilateral security guarantee. We need all Allies to contribute to this joint endeavor and honor their commitments.

.@POTUS has made it clear that we will not stand idly by while @NATO allies purchase weapons from our adversaries that threaten the cohesion of our alliance.

Turkey must choose. Does it want to remain a critical partner in the most successful military alliance in history or does it want to risk the security of that partnership by making such reckless decisions that undermine our @NATO alliance?

China’s expanding influence will necessarily demand more of America’s attention and resources. As we meet that challenge, our European allies must do more to maintain the strength and deterrence of the @NATO Alliance.