Address by Jaap de Hoop Scheffer

NATO Secretary General

ATA Council Meeting, NATO HQ, May 10, 2006

Report by Jonathan Nuss

ATA Secretariat

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer NATO Secretary General (NATO photo)

On May 10, 2006, H.E. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer held a meeting with members of the ATA Council at NATO Headquarters in Brussels.
 
Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer outlined some of the key policy issues and strategic concerns which continue to define the Alliance's role in the 21st century.
 
Much of the Secretary General's speech covered themes which will be at centre of the upcoming NATO Summit in Riga, Latvia.
 
On the political side, Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer assured the ATA Council that he will continue to stress the point that NATO is not the world's policeman. He asserted that in order to deal with the global security problems of the 21st century, NATO must not seek to be a global organization – but rather it must seek global partnerships through contact countries (such as Australia and Japan) and international organizations, such as the European Union and the United Nations.
 
Other items on NATO's political agenda for Riga include NATO enlargement, NATO's continued role as a political organization (alongside its military role), and NATO's task of ensuring energy security throughout the Alliance by protecting infrastructure and safeguarding supply  routes.
 
With respect to military policy, Afghanistan (ISAF) will be at the fore of the discussion. The south of Afghanistan is extremely volatile, and will serve as a test for ISAF. At full deployment, there will be 26,000 ISAF troops in Afghanistan – and despite the difficulty of the mission, Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer maintained that the allies must stay the course in order to avoid Afghanistan's collapse into a haven for terrorists.
 
NATO-Russia cooperation will be an important theme of the military dialogue (within the context of the Petersburg Summit). Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer asserted that Russia is an important partner for NATO, and that relations ought to be further developed.
 
Military discussion will also focus on the development of a fully operational NATO Response Force (NRF), as well as the NATO Training Initiative in the Broader Middle East.
Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer affirmed that there are many volatile elements in the international political arena which may affect the direction of the discussion at the summit in November.
 
However, one thing is certain, the Riga Summit will assume an important function as NATO continues to redefine and transform itself. NATO's relevance in international affairs will be heavily influenced by how this transformation is carried out. Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer insisted that NATO must find 21st century answer to 21st century questions.