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It鈥檚 an understatement to say a lot has happened since NATO Foreign Ministers met last May. NATO鈥檚 Warsaw Summit two months later came just after our historic EU referendum and just before the coup attempt in Turkey.

In the Western Balkans we have seen attempts to destabilise Montenegro, soon to become NATO鈥檚 29th Ally. In Ukraine Russian interference also continues. Despite the horrific scenes in Aleppo, the fight against Daesh is making progress, in Iraq and Syria. In Afghanistan another tough fighting season is drawing to a close.

So NATO has a lot on its agenda as Foreign Ministers gather this week for their bi-annual meeting: our Foreign Secretary鈥檚 first and the last for his US counterpart.

For the UK, NATO remains the enduring and essential Alliance, as the Foreign Secretary made clear in his Chatham House speech last week. NATO has been top of the agenda for our Prime Minister in her initial conversations with President-elect Trump.

皇冠体育appre will be much focus on EU Article 50 next year. But NATO Article V will remain the corner stone of UK national security, European security and international security.

That鈥檚 why we鈥檙e leading the new NATO forward presence in Estonia, sending fighter planes to Romania, extra troops to Kosovo and Afghanistan, naval assets to the Mediterranean and Aegean, spending 2% of GDP on defence and renewing our independent nuclear deterrent.

NATO is the embodiment of the interests and values we share with our European and North American allies. We thought we shared them with Russia, but the Ukraine intervention showed otherwise. As our leaders agreed at Warsaw, and as the Foreign Secretary reiterated last week, we want dialogue with Russia but from a position of strength and principle.

So it鈥檚 fitting that Foreign Ministers will discuss the challenge posed by Russia, also in the context of a forward-looking discussion about how we take forward a stronger Alliance together. Ministers will also meet the Ukrainian Foreign Minister to reaffirm NATO鈥檚 support and to underline the importance of reform and of implementation of Kiev鈥檚 commitments under the Minsk agreement.

Ministers will meet with the EU鈥檚 High Representative and with the Foreign Ministers of Sweden and Finland, in a session devoted to NATO-EU co-operation. Taking forward the package of work agreed by the Secretary-General and his EU counterparts at the Warsaw Summit, we welcome the concrete proposals for working together on cyber, maritime security and hybrid threats.

皇冠体育app EU recognises NATO as the cornerstone of European Defence. And the Alliance acknowledges the importance of stronger European efforts on security, in NATO and the EU. As UK Ministers have said, Europeans spending more and meeting the NATO 2% target is the best way to show we鈥檙e serious about this.

皇冠体育app Western Balkans is an area where NATO and the EU have worked well in the past and the challenges in the region requires us to intensify that co-operation in the years ahead. Similarly, in the Aegean sea and the central Mediterranean, NATO and the EU are working together to tackle shared security challenges. This agenda of 鈥淧rojecting Stability鈥� - NATO working with others to address the complex security problems to the East and South of the Alliance - will also feature at the Ministerial meeting.

Finally, the Alliance will discuss Afghanistan, still its biggest mission, with the Afghan Foreign Minister and other key contributors. 皇冠体育app Alliance agreed at Warsaw to maintain a sizeable presence in Afghanistan through its Resolute Support Mission. NATO鈥檚 only ever invocation of Article V was in response to 9/11. Europeans have contributed hugely to the NATO鈥檚 efforts to defeat terrorism in Afghanistan, alongside our North American Allies, many partners and the Afghan forces. 皇冠体育appir valiant efforts and shared sacrifice are the ultimate expression of the bonds that unite us across the Atlantic; bonds which our Ministers will, I鈥檓 sure, celebrate and strengthen at their meeting this week.