Office of the Historian
Declaration by the North Atlantic Council1
[Lisbon, February 25, 1952.]

The Declaration of Aims

In the course of their discussions in Lisbon the members of the North Atlantic Council reviewed the aims of their association.

They wish once more to emphasize that this association was forged as a shield against aggression. Its first aim is peace, and the armed strength which is being built up by the united efforts of the member nations will be used only for the defense of their countries and the security of their peoples.

The plan for the build-up of defense forces for the North Atlantic Treaty area laid down by the TCC has been adopted at the present session of the Council in the belief that defensive strength will prove the best deterrent to aggression.

The Council has learned with approval of the main provisions of the plan worked out between five of its members (France, Italy, Belgium, the Netherlands, Luxembourg) and the (West) German Federal Republic for a European Defense Community.

The establishment of this community will help to promote the closer association of the Western European countries and to strengthen the defense of the North Atlantic area.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, respecting the principles on which the community is founded, will support and cooperate with its institutions.

The arrangements to govern the relationship between the two organizations which have been approved at Lisbon will insure that in pursuit of the common objective, the defense of the North Atlantic Treaty area, the E.D.C. will reinforce and work within the framework of NATO.

The partnership between the nations of the North Atlantic Treaty is not for defense alone but of [for] enduring progress. The members of the Council look forward to the time when the main energies of their [Page 196] association can be less concentrated on defense and more fully devoted to cooperation in other fields for the well-being of their peoples and for the advancement of human progress.

Then, as now, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization will have to play its part, and to this end it has been agreed in Lisbon to strengthen its structure so that it may become a still more effective association of like-minded nations determined to maintain in peace the unity of purpose and effort achieved in the face of present dangers, and to express itself by continuous collaboration on common problems.

The understanding and sense of fellowship which the members wish to see develop between their countries cannot be achieved by governmental action alone. All citizens can play their part in the work of uniting the peoples in one Atlantic community which will afford, in ever increasing measure, the benefits of peace, freedom and prosperity.

  1. Source: A copy of Department of State press release 145, Feb. 26, 1952. A full set of the press releases is included in the library of the Department of State.

    The declaration was approved by the Council at its final session, Feb. 25; see telegram Secto 79, Feb. 25, from Lisbon, p. 157, for a report on that meeting. For the previous draft of this declaration and an explanation of its origin, see document C9–D/18 (2nd Revise), Feb. 25, supra.

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