This year’s NATO summit, celebrating the alliance’s 70th anniversary, is due to take place in London in December, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg announced on Wednesday.

“London was the home of NATO‘s first headquarters. The United Kingdom was one of the Alliance’s twelve founding members and continues to play a key role in the alliance, making essential contributions to our shared security,” Stoltenberg said in a statement.

The meeting will be an opportunity for NATO leaders to “address the security challenges we face now and in the future,” he added. The exact date is still to be announced.

The summit comes months after Britain’s scheduled departure from the European Union. London plays an important role in European defense, as the second-largest contributor to NATO behind the United States.

NATO was founded on April 4, 1949, in Washington by the United States, France, Britain, and nine other Western states. The anniversary date will be marked by a meeting of NATO foreign ministers in the US capital.