Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
Secretary General of The North Atlantic Alliance
Discussion "The Alliance in the Changing World" in Bratislava on 17th July 2009.
Question What could we expect from the NATO in the future? Does it try to become a global organization?
Mr. Secretary General, thank you very much for your inspiring speech. My question concerns NATO’s future direction as there are two competing visions of NATO. One, supported by France, promotes strong orientation on core euro-atlantic values and it calls NATO to come home and focus on its Article 5 basis. Another reflects the needs of globalized world and requires NATO’s worldwide engagement. Where do you think should NATO go? What will be your message for NATO to go? How will the new strategic concept define NATO’s spheres of activity?
Answer There is no aim by NATO to be globally engaged but we need global partners.
NATO should have not the ambition to become a global cop. NATO should not be the United Nations; NATO is not the international fire brigade, which goes to every place in the world where fire brigade might be. But, in here comes the but, as we see in Afghanistan, when, like there, the United Nations Security Council asks: „Could you, in the defense of those core values that we are speaking about lead for the Security Council crisis management operation?“ the Allies should not say no like in the case of Afghanistan scenario, the Allies will not say no again in the future. But having something else in my mind, the pretension that NATO is a global cop: NATO doesn´t have neither financial means, nor the political ambition to be a global cop or nor would NATO ever find a consensus on that. I think we can easily have that vision in the new strategic concept embodied: we need global partners, we can not deny that Australia is a very important global partner for NATO. It is very far, on the other part of the world, but it is very close to us and it is a democracy. Australia is based on the same values that you have in Slovakia or in my country Netherlands. So it is very valuable participant in Afghanistan, but we have also very intensive dialogue. That is what I mean by global partnerships - Japan is a global partner as well: I was twice in Japan over the past five and half years, we have a political dialogue, Japan is also a major donor in Afghanistan. Global partners, but not global NATO, not a „gendarme du monde“.
Military transformation is one of the most significant hitches. We need effective forces.
If you want to hear a note on the minus side of the balance - I discussed it with the Defence Minister Baška this morning but that is not a message that is specifically for Slovakia. You have been doing relatively well in this regard but if you want to have a general remark where I'm critical including self-critical about the past time it is the slow pace of military transformation. We still do not have the pace sufficient to the fact that we do not need huge territorial armies anymore but we need to make our forces effective. The damage of fast aircraft and helicopters that we see everyday in Afghanistan is a signal that we have not been doing too well in that regard. So military transformation is one of those areas – that's also a message to the new members (I don't too much like the notion of new members because we can hardly say that after 5 years Slovakia is a new member) but I hope you know what I mean. On that military transformation part there's a lot of work to be done included new members.
Secretary General about the NATO-EU relationship regarding Turkey and possible further development.
Let us not blame Turkey, you didn't do that but let me state that warning, let us not point the finger at Ankara when there is discussion about the NATO-EU relationship. It is true that the relationship between Turkey and EU is a relevant factor in the NATO-EU relationship which leaves a lot to be done. We need the investment in the EU-NATO relationship and the Cyprus problem and the relationship between Turkey and the EU and the way Turkey feels treated by the EU. This question needs the highest level political attention. Let me repeat what I said many times before also publicly: We can not solve it. This needs really highest level attention and with the highest level I really mean state government. There is a solution to be found on the side of the EU and there is a solution to be found on the side of NATO and the complexity of the problem is that it is easy to finger point but by finger pointing we do not solve the problem. This is on the minus side on my balance sheet after five and half years. I would like to see the NATO-EU relationship develop much stronger than it has developed. We really need to strengthen the partnership between NATO and the EU and that is absurd than with 22 nations in common we have not been able to do that. But again – highest level political attention.
Transcript by Miriama Gurínová, Simona Kordošová, Miroslav Mizera (Slovak Atlantic Commission)
