Secretary General counts on France to support NATO reform
On 15 October, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen met with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Prime Minister François Fillon and Minister of Foreign Affairs Bernard Kouchner in Paris. He also delivered a speech entitled “Les défis de l’OTAN” at the Institut Français des Relations Internationales (IFRI).
With French officials, the Secretary General raised the fact that President Sarkozy's decision to take its full place in Alliance structures was paying off for France. He also discussed the new Strategic Concept, missile defense and the main items on the agenda of the upcoming Lisbon Summit on 19 and 20 November.
In his keynote address, he made a vibrant plea to coordinate and limit to the minimum defense cuts across Europe, which he feels not only run the risk ultimately of undermining economic development, but also endanger the transatlantic link and therefore the Alliance’s enduring purpose:
"History has clearly shown that Europe enjoys more peace and more stability when the United States is actively engaged, both politically and militarily. Today, NATO is the framework of this engagement, and we must preserve its solidity," said the Secretary General.