Albright, Van de Veer discuss NATO’s future at Carnegie Europe
On 17 May, the day the Group of Experts submitted their recommendations for NATO’s new Strategic Concept, group chair Madeleine K. Albright and vice-chair Jeroen van der Veer took part in the public discussion “Next Generation of NATO” downtown Brussels.
The discussion aimed to further stimulate public debate about NATO's new Strategic Concept, which will be agreed by Allies at the Lisbon Summit in November. Participants were especially interested in the future of NATO's Partnerships as well as NATO's relations with Russia.
According to Dr Albright, "NATO has to be strong and smart. To be smart means to explore possible partnerships and strengthen them."
Both speakers stressed that even with diverging views on the way forward for NATO-Russia relations among the experts, they have all agreed that there is a strong need for cooperation and mutual partnership.
Several points were raised about how to improve public support for NATO in its members states. "NATO needs a good track record, a clear strategy on a way forward and clear messages," Mr Van der Veer said.
Nearly one hundred participants from Brussels’ foreign and security policy community attended the event, joined by students from the Collège d'Europe, the University of Gent and other educational institutions.
The discussion, which was organized by Carnegie Europe and the European Council on Foreign Relations (ECFR), was moderated by Fabrice Pothier, Director of Carnegie Europe, and Daniel Korski, senior policy fellow at ECFR.