19 Nov. 2003

Lord Robertson visits France News 18/11/2003 - NATO Secretary General of NATO to visit France Background NATO-EU cooperation As part of his farewell tour of NATO and partner countries, NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson visited Paris on 19 November 2003. Lord Robertson met for talks with President Chirac, Foreign Minister de Villepin and Defence Minister Alliot-Marie. Discussions focused on NATO’s ongoing transformation to meet today’s threats, particularly the need for more usable and rapidly deployable forces. The recent proposals for strengthening EU defence capabilities and NATO-EU cooperation were also discussed. Lord Robertson repeated his call for the EU to bring its military capabilities into line with its economic clout, which now accounts for nearly a third of global production. In this regard, the Secretary General welcomed France’s decision to increase its defence budget and praised the government for the reorganization of its armed forces.