Final press conference

JAAP DE HOOP SCHEFFER (Secretary General of NATO): Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. It is my great pleasure to announce a decision taken a few minutes ago by the Heads of States and Government in the North Atlantic Council to appoint Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as the next Secretary General of NATO. Yes, you may applaud.

(APPLAUSE)

DE HOOP SCHEFFER: It gives me great pleasure to announce this because every Head of State and Government was fully convinced that Anders Fogh Rasmussen is the man who will take up the transformation of NATO, and he'll play an extremely important role in guiding NATO and guiding the now 28 Allies through the coming period of the 21st Century.

You know that there has been discussion over the past 36 hours. But the fact that we are standing here next to each other means that during that discussion a solution has been found also for the concerns expressed by Turkey, and that we all very much agree and are unanimous on this nomination. So I would say in the presence of the Président de la République and Chancellor Merkel, this is a very special occasion, and let them be the first to congratulate Anders Fogh Rasmussen. It is with pleasure that I give you the floor.

(APPLAUSE)

ANDERS FOGH RASMUSSEN (Prime Minister, Denmark and next Secretary General of NATO): Thank you very much, Mr. Secretary General. I'm deeply honoured to be appointed as the next Secretary General of NATO, and I will do my utmost to live up to the confidence shown to me by my colleagues.

Today is indeed an historic day. Not only because a Dane assumes the post as Secretary General for the first time, but first and foremost because we celebrate the 60th anniversary of the most successful peace movement the world has ever seen. Today we have celebrated the French-German friendship. We have celebrated European unity. We have celebrated the Transatlantic partnership, and I look very much forward to continuing the good job done by Secretary General Scheffer in the transformation of NATO to manage the new challenges of the 21st century.

And let me take this opportunity, Mr. Secretary General, to commend you for the excellent job you have done during more than five years, and it is indeed an honour for me to continue your work. And I look very much forward to assume the post as Secretary General on the 1st of August this year. Thank you.

DE HOOP SCHEFFER: Thank you very much.

RASMUSSEN: Thank you.

DE HOOP SCHEFFER: Thank you very much.

RASMUSSEN: Yes.

DE HOOP SCHEFFER: Thank you very much.

RASMUSSEN: You're welcome.

DE HOOP SCHEFFER: Bravo. Alors, je voudrais tout d'abord remercier une fois encore nos hôtes français et allemand pour leur extraordinaire hospitalité.  Merci, Monsieur le Président.  Merci, Madame la Chancellière.  Et je voudrais également exprimer ma sympathie aux habitants de Strasbourg, de Kehl et de Baden-Baden dont le quotidien a été compliqué par l'événement qui s'est déroulé dans leur villes.

Ce sommet a marqué plusieurs étapes importantes.  D'abord, l'Albanie et la Croatie ont pris place autour de la table de l'OTAN, assumant les avantages et les responsabilités que comporte l'adhésion.

La France reprend toute sa place au sein de l'OTAN pour le plus grand avantage de l'Alliance et aussi, je pense, de l'Union européenne.

As you've seen in the Summit Declaration we welcome the French decision to fully participate in NATO's structures, and it goes without saying that this French decision will be implemented according to the rules and procedures of the Alliance with the involvement of all relevant bodies, including the Council in permanent session.

Alors, Messieurs, Dames, l'OTAN rentre sa 61e année.  Et elle se porte bien.  Mais ce sommet était aussi une réunion de travail.  L'Alliance a aujourd'hui comme à l'avenir des questions importantes à traiter.  Et nous avons accompli ici au cours des dernières 24 heures un travail substantiel.  Nous avons eu des discussions.  Et nous avons pris des décisions importantes sur les défis les plus immédiats pour l'OTAN.  Et c'est bien l'Afghanistan.

Nous avons parlé stratégie.  Et je peux vous dire que cette Alliance est unie sur la nécessité d'une approche globale, sur la nécessité d'une approche régionale, le renforcement du leadership afghan, d’un plus grand effort du secteur civil et d'un engagement ferme s'inscrivant dans la durée.  Et nous mettons des ressources au service de cette stratégie.

Coming out of this meeting we have established a NATO Training Mission Afghanistan to oversee higher level training for the Afghan National Army, and training and mentoring for the Afghan Police. We will provide more trainers and more mentors for the Afghan Police. We will deploy the forces necessary to support the upcoming elections in Afghanistan. We will provide operational mentor and liaison teams required to support the current and further teams as the Afghan National Army enlarges, and we will manage a trust fund to sustain the enlarged Afghan Army. The bottom line is this: When it comes to Afghanistan this Summit and this Alliance have delivered.

We also discussed this important second issue important to Euro-Atlantic security today, but also in the future: NATO's relations with Russia. There's a clear shared view in this Alliance. We must cooperate with Russia, and we want to cooperate with Russia because we share common security interests. And we want to use the NATO-Russia Council to the fullest potential to step up our practical cooperation from Afghanistan to arms control to anti-piracy. But we must also use it, the NATO-Russia Council, to air our differences, and we have real differences. One on what happened in Georgia, on the Treaty on the Conventional Forces in Europe, and on the sometimes harsh rhetoric coming from Moscow. The bottom line is this: We think that this relationship can deliver more than it has until now if all parties take the necessary steps. And we will engage Russia in that spirit.

Finally we also look to the future of NATO. Heads agreed; heads of state and government, to launch the process to update the 1999 Strategic Concept which I think is very necessary. The new concept to be agreed at the next NATO summit we'll need first to update our theory with the practice of what we already do; from piracy to cyber defence, even to Afghanistan. And it will have to give direction on what NATO must do more in the 21st Century.

In all... Un sommet excellent.  Et c'est dans cet esprit que c'est un grand plaisir de passer la parole au président de la République Nicolas Sarkozy.  Monsieur le Président.

NICOLAS SARKOZY (President, France): Je ne vais pas rappeler ce qu'a excellement dit notre secrétaire général.  Juste deux ou trois remarques.  D'abord, la joie d'avoir travaillé avec Angela Merkel.  Le sommet du G20, le sommet de l'OTAN, je veux réaffirmer la totale identité de vue sur tous les sujets.  Encore hier soir, au dîner, sans trahir de secret, Angela Merkel et moi nous avions dit que ce sommet devait être conclusif, y compris pour la nomination d'un secrétaire général.

Nous étions convaincus qu'il fallait une conclusion.  Parce que le temps des sommets internationaux où on parle pour ne rien décider, ce temps est révolu.  Et de ce point de vue la force de l'axe franco-allemand compte.

Et naturellement Angela Merkel, comme moi, nous avions soutenu la candidature excellente de M. Rasmussen.  Et je me réjouis qu'il ait été désigné à l'unanimité comme nous l'avions demandé hier soir.

Deuxième élément, des remerciements au président Obama qui s'est engagé puissamment dans toutes les décisions que nous avons prises.  C'était son premier sommet de l'OTAN.  Ça a été facile de travailler avec lui.  Il a tenu son leadership.  Il a tenu ses engagements.  Et pour nous, entendre le président des États-Unis dire:  "Il faut une Europe de la défense. Il faut une Europe plus présente dans la structure atlantique.  Il faut des alliés debout et des alliés forts."  C'est quelque chose qui répond à l'engagement de la France de reprendre toute sa place dans le commandement intégré.

Enfin, troisièmement, nous militions, Angela Merkel comme moi pour que l'Europe prenne plus sa place dans l'organisation atlantique.  Eh bien, c'est le cas.  Et je dis à tous les Français qu'avec une France qui reprend toute sa place au sein de l'organisation, l'Europe pèsera davantage.  Je voudrais remercier à mon tour le secrétaire général pour l'excellence de son travail.  C'est donc une histoire internationale qui a commencé il y a quatre jours, deux sommets... deux sommets conclusifs, deux sommets opérationnels, deux sommets dont les décisions vont pouvoir changer le cours des choses et préparer l'avènement d'un nouveau monde.  C'est ce que nous souhaitions.

ANGELA MERKEL (Chancellor, Germany): [Translated from German] I would like to congratulate the NATO Secretary General Elect on his new job and simultaneously, I would like to express my special thanks to the NATO Secretary 'in being'. Although I am aware that it is yet too early to talk about farewell, he has earned special thanks for the conduct of his job.

This summit has proven NATO's agility and preparedness to give the right answers to the challenges at stake: We agreed a new strategic concept, we approved the way ahead in Afghanistan and we agreed to revitalize the NATO-Russia Council.

Nicolas Sarkozy and I agreed to start this morning with a symbolic act of great importance not only to the French and to the German people. To meet in the middle of the river Rhine, just walking across a bridge which unifies two nations that have been fighting each other for so long, it means to me also a special thanks to our ancestors who unified both sides of the Atlantic Ocean 60 years ago.

As they gave the right answers to the challenges of their time, so we have to fulfill our generation's task to ensure NATO's success in the 21st century.

My special thanks go to the Presidents of France and the United States who made this summit a success. Transatlantic partnership is nothing written on paper, it is a living partnership being adapted for future challenges.

I am happy to say that I am very pleased with the results of this summit.