Why partners matter:
four foreign ministers explain
What are partners?
Well, all of the operations you can
see here are NATO operations,
but none of the people you see here
are from NATO countries.
They’re from partner countries.
And these countries are
becoming increasingly important.
To find out why, I caught up
with four foreign ministers,
past and present, old and young,
and from partner and NATO countries,
to see why partners
are becoming so key.
Partnerships have
become more important.
Do you see this as a lasting trend?
I’ve been from the beginning
as Foreign Minister of Italy
a strong supporter of partnerships.
I think they represent an added value,
exactly because there are
many, many regions in the world
where NATO cannot be
as the global cop
intervening always and everywhere.
We have to rely on reliable partners.
How important do you feel the use
of partnerships is to operations?
They are very important.
They are very important for
many reasons, one them is practical.
That means the more partners
we have, the stronger we are.
The second one,
even more important, is political.
That means that our vision
of the world or our mission
is understood and supported
by non-members of NATO and the EU.
So, that makes our message stronger
and our impact stronger.
If we don’t help,
if we don’t enable these partners
to become strong partners,
capable to contribute
to our common security purposes,
we fail a very important political goal.
In the Mediterranean, in Africa,
in what we used to call the broader
Middle East... there are partners.
More partners
means spreading costs.
So, how much has
the financial crisis played a role
in making partners more important?
Do you think it’s not just a choice,
but actually a necessity
because there’s
a lack of money in the EU?
It is a necessity,
but not because of money.
We will always
find the money we need,
but it’s a necessity
to show that we are not isolated
in our understanding
of things around us.
There’s not much money in Europe.
How can Europe defend itself better?
I will tell you something.
Still there’s quite a lot
of money around in Europe.
It’s a question of will.
The real question is:
Are we ready to give more money
to our own defence and security?
With partner countries
having such heavy involvement,
is being a NATO partner
just like being a NATO member?
In practical terms, yes.
In political terms, no.
Because in political terms,
the fact that you are part
of this currently 28 members club is
very important to everybody who is
perceiving the country from outside.
They treat you as a NATO member
state or a non-NATO member state.
Especially important
for the South-East-European context.
Therefore,
I would not underestimate
the importance of this formal bit.
And what does this mean
for the potentially biggest
of the partnerships,
between NATO and the EU?
We must not ignore the fact
that there is no real formal
framework for NATO and the EU
to work and cooperate together,
to share information,
which is not normal.
Both NATO and the EU are based
on the same values and principles
and the membership
is largely identical.
Nonetheless,
because of bilateral problems
we are wasting huge potential.