THE SECRETARY GENERAL
LA SECRÉTAIRE GÉNÉRALE
056 CIR 20 E
3 March 2020
TO SECRETARIES OF DELEGATION FOR DISTRIBUTION TO ALL MEMBERS
Dear Member,
I am profoundly saddened to inform you that former NATO PA Vice-President Bruce George
of the United Kingdom passed away on Monday 24 February after a long illness.
Bruce was a member of the House of Commons for 36 years, and joined the Assembly in
1982. As a Rapporteur and Chairman of the Political Committee in the years preceding and
immediately following the end of the Cold War, he was one of the leading figures who steered
the Assembly through these transformative years. He wrote about this period and the
Assembly’s pioneering role in opening dialogue with parliaments from the former Warsaw Pact
countries in the commemorative
book published on the occasion of the Assembly’s 50
th
anniversary in 2005, which can be found here:
https://nato-pa.int/document/nato-
parliamentary-assembly-1955-2005-0
A deeply committed Atlanticist, Bruce led the UK delegation from 2005 to 2010. He was elected
Vice-President of the Assembly in 2007. During his tenure on the Bureau, he helped shape
the Assembly’s response to the Georgia-Russia
war, advocating for a firm response to
Russia’s actions and clear support for Georgia’s Euro-Atlantic
aspirations. In 2011, he was
awarded the Medal of Honour by the President of Georgia in recognition of his contribution to
the country’s democratisation.
Bruce George left the UK Parliament in 2010. He re-joined his former Assembly colleagues for
the memorable evening reception held in the Central Lobby of the UK Parliament in London
on the occasion of the spring meeting of the Standing Committee in March 2015, and again
for the
special meeting commemorating the Assembly’s 60
th
anniversary in Paris in July 2015.
Bruce was an academic
–
by training and at heart
–
and author of several books on defence
and transatlantic relations. He also served as President of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly
in 2002 to 2004. In both the NATO PA and the OSCE PA, he participated in and led multiple
election monitoring missions
–
a way for him to highlight the important role of parliamentarians
in upholding democratic values and assisting countries in transition.
His long-standing friends in the Assembly will remember his remarkable oratory skills, warm
personality, optimism and sense of humour.
The Assembly is indebted to Bruce for the unique contributions that he made to the Assembly,
particularly during key turning points in its history.
INTERNATIONAL SECRETARIAT
· SECRÉTARIAT INTERNATIONAL
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