LOC13:23
10:23 GMT
BRUSSELS, March 22 (KUNA) -- NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer,
warned here Sunday that a failure in Afghanistan will seriously damage the
credibility of the 26-member Alliance and called for taking neighbouring
countries like Iran on board to resolve the problem in Afghanistan.
"Failure (in Afghanistan) is not an option because failure will heavily
effect
the credibility of NATO... If you want to get the region right, we need
Russia, you need Iran as well, as a neighbour and major player in the region,"
he told a conference on the future of NATO.
Afghanistan is the number one operational priority, he said, noting that
ISAF
has 60,000 troops in the Muslim country.
Referring to the "Big Tent" meeting in The Hague, on March 31, Scheffer
said "there will be a lot of talk of strategy with regard to Afghanistan,
including a more regional approach, more forces in the South of the country.."
"But we will have to ensure that we deliver on what we agree, which means
coordinated action and more resources," he told the Brussels Forum.
He said the upcoming NATO summit in Strasbourg (France) and Kehl (Germany)
on 3-4 April can "be a big step in the right direction.'
"The political constellation is favourable. There is a new US
Administration that is determined to take a fresh approach. . The return of
France to NATO's integrated military structure will strengthen the Alliance
and help reduce the ambivalence in the NATO-EU relationship," he said.
The NATO Summit will endorse a short but powerful "Declaration on Alliance
Security".
Scheffer said the future of NATO will be determined by three key factors:
First, the evolution of the global security environment , second factor is the
sense of common purpose among the Allies and the third factor relates to NATO
as an institution.
The 3-day Brussels Forum an annual high-level meeting of influential
European and American political, corporate, and intellectual leaders , ends
on Sunday. (end)
nk.bz.
KUNA 221323 Mar 09NNNN