NATO Secretary General attends opening of UN General Assembly
NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen joined other world leaders at the opening session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Wednesday (24 September 2014). The session focused on a range of security threats to the international community, including the crisis in and around Ukraine, and the advance of ISIL in Syria and Iraq.
The Secretary General on Tuesday discussed those threats with the Secretary General of the United Nations Ban Ki-moon. They discussed the impact of the crisis in and around Ukraine, and stressed the need for the international community to unite in the fight against the threat of ISIL.
Mr. Fogh Rasmussen updated the UN Secretary General on the outcomes of the NATO Wales Summit, including the capacity building initiative to help strengthen local forces, in close coordination with international partners such as the UN.
Mr Fogh Rasmussen thanked the UN Secretary General for the close cooperation. He stressed that NATO and the UN have reached an unprecedented level of cooperation over the last five years, both in political terms and in operations, but there is further scope to develop relations in the future. They exchanged views on the UN-mandated NATO-led mission in Afghanistan and prospects for a new mission to train, advise and assist Afghan security forces from January.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Secretary General addressed cadets at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He outlined NATO's role and the importance of the transatlantic bond in a dramatically changed security landscape. On Monday (22 September 2014), Mr. Fogh Rasmussen participated in the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative.