North Atlantic Council condemns terrorist attacks in Paris

USPA NEWS - The North Atlantic Council, representing all NATO Allies, has strongly condemned Friday´s terrorist attacks in Paris. The Council expressed deepest condolences for the families of the victims. NATO and all Allied flags continue to fly at half-mast at NATO Headquarters.

In a statement issued on Monday (16 November 2015), the Council called the barbaric attacks “an attack on our core values of freedom, democracy, and human rights.“ The Council expressed deepest condolences for the families of the victims, and “strong solidarity with the government and the people of France in their unwavering determination to deal with the terrorist threat.“ Allies said they were more determined than ever to counter and defeat terrorism and extremism. The Council further noted that a number of Allies are working with France on their ongoing operations and investigations.

“These attacks are meant to terrify, but they will only strengthen our resolve. Terrorism and extremism can never defeat democracy and our open societies,“ the Council said.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg delivered the Council´s statement following a minute of silence held at noon at NATO Headquarters. Allied Ambassadors, together with the NATO International Staff, International Military Staff, and national delegations gathered to pay tribute to the victims and in solidarity with France.

Prior to the moment of silence, Secretary General Stoltenberg signed a book of condolences for the victims of the attacks at the French Delegation to NATO. “My deepest condolences“¦ terrorism will never defeat democracy,“ Mr Stoltenberg wrote. At the signing ceremony, the Secretary General was received by Ambassador Jean-Baptiste Mattéi, France´s Permanent Representative to the North Atlantic Council.

Statement by the North Atlantic Council in response to the terrorist attacks in Paris;
We have just held a minute of silence at NATO in memory of the victims of the barbaric terrorist attacks in Paris. Allies stand together with France in sorrow and solidarity. We condemn these attacks in the strongest terms. They were an attack on our core values of freedom, democracy and human rights.

We express our deepest condolences to the families of the victims. Our thoughts are also with the many who were wounded. We stand in strong solidarity with the government and the people of France in their unwavering determination to deal with the terrorist threat. We are all more than ever determined to counter and defeat the threat of terrorism and extremism. A number of Allies are already working with France on their ongoing operations and investigations in the wake of the attacks.

These attacks are meant to terrify, but they will only strengthen our resolve. Terrorism and extremism can never defeat democracy and our open societies.