Annual session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly urges allied governments to “stand by Ukraine until victory is achieved”

11 October 2023

The Annual Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly (NATO PA) took place in Copenhagen, Denmark, on 6-9 October 2023. More than 250 members of lawmakers from the 31-member states and 20 partners parliaments discussed a range of transatlantic security issues, examined the outcomes of NATO’s Vilnius Summit in July and adopted further recommendations for NATO’s adaptation. The Assembly hailed the “biggest ramp up of collective defence in the Euro-Atlantic area in decades” and appealed to member states to continue to boost budgets and arms production.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky addressed the Assembly via video-link, which in turn sent a strong message urging allied governments to “stand by Ukraine until victory is achieved”. Polish lawmaker Michal Szczerba, who was elected as President of the NATO PA in Copenhagen, said “We must – again and again – reaffirm our firm support for Ukraine, its democracy, independence and sovereignty; its right to self-defence and self-determination”. The legislators also condemned the violence in Israel and awarded the Women for Peace and Security Award to Sviatlana Tsikhanouskaya, the leader of democratic forces in Belarus.

NATO has long recognised the importance of parliamentarians in supporting its work, and the independent NATO PA, which was formed in 1955 consists of 274 delegates from the 31 NATO member states. Each delegation is based on the country’s size. In addition to delegations from NATO member states, delegates from associate countries and parliamentary observer delegations take part in Assembly activities and bring the total number of delegates to approximately 330.

Through its discussions and meetings, the assembly helps to promote transatlantic solidarity in the various legislative assemblies and to further the aims and values of NATO. However, its policy recommendations have little more than an advisory status within NATO, and it has no formal mechanism for holding NATO accountable. During the annual session, members adopted 16 draft reports (see box 2)  in the Assembly’s five Committees (Civil Dimension of Security; Defence and Security; Economics and Security; Political; and Science and Technology) and six resolutions distilling the NATO PA’s policy recommendations (see box 1).

One the of the Assembly’s key goals is for a Centre for Democratic Resilience to be set up at NATO headquarters – NATO currently has no unique structure dedicated to democratic resilience.  NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana said that he and Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg “are doing everything we can to enlarge consensus” for the Centre to be set up.