‘Peace must begin in Dayton;' Final day of NATO concludes with recommendations for spending, Ukraine
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Since Thursday, around 300 people from 32 NATO Nations across the world have been in our area.
The last event of the NATO summit was a joint session.
Hundreds of delegates were in the Schuster Center theater to hammer out the final resolutions they will pass on to the NATO Ministers of Defence, who are meeting next month.
Dayton Congressman Mike Turner reminded them all of the Dayton Peace Accords, 30 years ago, that ended the war in the Balkans.
'Our goal as NATO is peace. Peace must begin with us. Peace must begin in Dayton,' Turner said.
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Turner and the delegates quickly emphasized that peace and democracy are the goals, but they require security.
The NATO Secretary General made it clear that several world powers threaten that potential peace.
'Some will say in three years they are able to attack us, some will say in five years, and some will say in seven,' Mark Rutte said.
Rutte said Russia is threatening not just Ukraine but many other countries.
He said they are working with several other powerful countries, and it is troubling.
'The Russians, Iran, North Korea, China. China is now rapidly ramping up its defense spending and production,' Rutte said.
The delegates even heard a plea from a Ukrainian representative, though they are not a NATO country, what happens there will impact everyone in NATO.
'We build up the Ukrainian armed forces as a first layer of defense going forward after a potential ceasefire/peace deal. Let's hope we'll get there as soon as possible,' Rutte said.
The Parliamentary Assembly agreed on a handful of resolutions for consideration by NATO's Ministers of Defence at their next meeting in June.
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