April 7, 2009

Hungary and NATO: British Consul General Speaks at 60th NATO Anniversary Observance

Clayton State University Director of the Office of International Programs John E. Parkerson, Jr., was among the diplomats attending the 60th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) celebration held at the Robins Museum of Aviation at Robins Air Force Base in Macon, GA, on April 7th.The ceremony was held in conjunction with the State of Georgia and Georgia based-NATO Consuls. Parkerson, who is also a member and past president of the Board of Trustees of the Clayton State University Foundation, has served as the honorary consul of Hungary since July 2007. A unit of the University System of Georgia, Clayton State University is an outstanding comprehensive metropolitan university located 15 miles southeast of downtown Atlanta.
 

Her Majesty's Consul the Honorable Martine Rickerd, OBE, was the keynote speaker on behalf of the Consuls. Chris Young, chief of protocol for the State of Georgia Director of International Affairs, spoke on behalf of Georgia Governor Sonny Perdue. Christopher Smith, a Macon-based attorney who also serves as the honorary consul of the Kingdom of Denmark, worked with the base to arrange the observance.

In all, diplomats representing NATO countries of Canada, Germany, Greece, Luxemborg, Denmark, Hungary, Slovenia, France, Lithuania and United Kingdom in addition to the United States were represented.
 

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was established by a treaty signed in 1949. The treaty tied the security interests of the United States to those of the nations of Western Europe and other areas which were then concerned with the military and security threat posed by the Soviet Union.