Opening statement

by NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
at the meeting of NATO defence ministers

Ministers, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon and welcome to this meeting of the NATO Defence Ministers in Noordwijk.

Let me first of all thank Minister van Middelkoop for hosting us in this beautiful location here in Noordwijk.

We are grateful for your hospitality. We are meeting today to ensure the success of our operations and to strengthen our ability to deal with the threats and challenges we face today and those we are likely to have to confront tomorrow.

As we do so, let us pay tribute to the bravery and dedication of the men and women who take part in NATO-led operations from the Balkans to Afghanistan. We express our condolences to all the nations and in particular the families who have lost soldiers and civilians serving in these operations.

Our men and women are courageously defending our security and our values, in the most demanding circumstances. We are proud of them, and of what they achieve every single day. We are determined to see our operations and missions through to completion.

Our top priority today is Afghanistan, where we are supporting the United Nations’ efforts under a UN mandate. The most important thing the international community can do is to strengthen Afghan capacity – so that Afghanistan can stand on its own feet. NATO is helping to bring that day closer.

We are training, mentoring and equipping the Afghan National Army. We are supporting local security and development through the Provincial Reconstruction Teams. We are providing training to the government in the fight against narcotics.

And first and foremost, we are helping to provide a secure environment in which the Afghan people can build their country. We are fighting, together with the Afghan forces, against the Taliban and other extremists, because we believe in fundamental human rights, and we know what the Taliban and the terrorists they support will do if they regain power.

Later today, we will discuss international support for Afghanistan, also with our troop contributing partner nations, Minister Wardak of Afghanistan and representatives of the United Nations, European Union and the World Bank.

Nous allons aujourd’hui parler du Kosovo parce que nous demeurons attachés à un avenir pacifique pour les Balkans occidentaux et nous jouerons notre rôle dans la mise en œuvre des résultats des pourparlers en cours pour trouver une solution au problème du statut final du Kosovo. Alors que nous attendons le rapport de la Troïka en décembre, la KFOR se tient prête à faire face à tout problème de sécurité au Kosovo.

Demain, nous examinerons comment mieux préparer nos forces à relever les défis du XXIe siècle en matière de sécurité. La vérité est que nous exigeons beaucoup de nos forces armées aujourd’hui – tant par le nombre de missions qu’elles sont appelées à accomplir que par la cadence opérationnelle élevée de ces missions. Nous discuterons demain de la façon d’aborder ces défis, de manière à disposer des forces dont nous avons besoin, quand nous en avons besoin.

Demain, nous rencontrerons aussi notre homologue russe, M. Serdioukov. Nous examinerons un certain nombre de questions importantes inscrites à l’agenda de sécurité euro-atlantique, dans une enceinte en effet qui a pris une signification croissante pour la promotion et le maintien de l’entente euro-atlantique et de la transparence : le Conseil OTAN-Russie.