12 Mar. 2002

Lord Robertson visits Paris NATO Secretary General, Lord Robertson, was in Paris on 12 March for talks with French Defence Minister Alain Richard. Among the issues discussed were international efforts to fight terrorism, NATO enlargement, NATO-Russia relations, the situation in the Balkans and France's contribution to NATO-led operations in the region. Just before this meeting, Lord Robertson had been invited to give a closing speech at the 7th annual strategic conference of the Institut de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques, together with Defence Minister, Alain Richard, and Javier Solana, the High Representative for Foreign and Security policy for the EU. In his speech on "NATO and the new security challenges", the Secretary General discussed the future of transatlantic security cooperation, outlined the essential military contributions needed to defeat terrorism, and other asymmetric threats, and the challenges posed by the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and regional crises. Lord Robertson concluded by stating that NATO's successes are attributable to three lessons it has learned during its five decade history: "Our security is best assured through transatlantic cooperation; cooperation builds stability; and preserving peace means maintaining capable, well-equipped military forces". Additional information: "NATO and the new Security Challenges" - Speech by the NATO Secretary General at IRIS, Paris - 12 March 2002 The official website of the Institut de Relations Internationales et Stratégiques (IRIS)