NATO Secretary General visits Norway
The NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, traveled to Norway on Friday in an introductory visit in his new capacity as the head of the Alliance.
Rasmussen and the Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg discussed the challenges of the mission in Afghanistan, NATO relations with Russiaand the ongoing consultations to shape a new Strategic Concept for the North Atlantic Alliance, amongst other issues.
In a joint press conference with Stoltenberg in Oslo, Rasmussen said that NATO and its partners in ISAF are engaged in close consultations with the USon the way ahead in Afghanistan. The Secretary General also encouraged all allies and partners in Afghanistanto provide additional military and financial resources to enhance the training and capacity building of the Afghan security forces.
Addressing the media, Rasmussen mentioned that NATO will maintain the right balance between operations outside our territories and fundamental commitments ensuing from Article 5 of the Washington Treaty. There is no contradiction, he stated, between those two fundamental tasks. The Secretary General stressed that Afghanistanexemplifies this best: today our security indeed starts there.
The NATO Secretary General was received by His Majesty King Harald V. He also held meetings with the Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Minister of Defence Grethe Faremo, as well as the President of the Parliament Dag Terje Andersen and members of the Standing Committee on Foreign and Defence Affairs and the Norwegian Delegation to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly.
He attended the “Army Summit 09” at the Askershus Fortress, including a demonstration by the Special Forces and the Telemark Battalion.