Remarks

There are moments in time that change the course of history.

They mark us for the rest of our lives, and that September day, 25 years ago, is one of them.

In just one day, nearly 3,000 innocent people were killed, thousands more were injured, and millions of lives were changed. That day, America was wounded, and the world was wounded too.

Today, we remember every life lost and all lives shattered. We remember the worst, the horror, the disbelief, the fear, but we also remember the best: the courage of the first responders, the solidarity of so many people and so many nations around the world. America was not alone. Your friends, your Allies were with you then, and they are with you here today.

9/11 was the first and only time in NATO's history that we have invoked Article 5, one for all and all for one. The promise that unites us every day. It keeps us strong and safe, no matter what. Our world has changed radically since 2001, but the use of violence to spread fear, to spread chaos, has not disappeared.

We take strength from the fact that North America and Europe always stand together in NATO to defend our people, to defend our freedoms, and to defend and protect our democracies. We stand watch in this Alliance to safeguard that freedom, to protect us from oppression. We are united in our determination to ensure that an attack like the one on 9/11 never, ever, happens again. Terror did not win, on that bright blue day, 25 years ago, and terror never will. Thank you.