Secretary General calls for staying the course in Afghanistan during Copenhagen visit
On 31 August, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen met with Denmark’s Queen Margerethe II and Prime Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen on official visit to Copenhagen. Discussions focused primarily on the NATO-led effort in Afghanistan.
During the visit, the Secretary General referred to the Kabul conference in July, at which the international community endorsed President Hamid Karzai’s plan for Afghan security forces to take over responsibility by the end of 2014. He expressed confidence in the Allied countries’ resolve to stay united in working towards that goal.
The Secretary General also met with Foreign Minister Lene Espersen, Defence Minister Gitte Lillelund Bech, as well as members of the Foreign Policy Committee and the Defence Committee of the Danish Parliament.
Mr Fogh Rasmussen later gave a speech at the University of Copenhagen, where he said that we have a clear choice in Afghanistan: to leave either before or after “we finish the job”.
He said he understands the temptation to look towards a quick withdrawal because of the high cost in resources and soldiers lives, but he explained that the costs would be higher if we left behind “a country in chaos”.
“It will also be very costly to our own security. It will strengthen the extremists. They will fight against our values – freedom of speech, democracy and human rights,” he said, adding that it would also spread instability throughout and beyond Central Asia.