5 Jan. 2004

New Secretary General takes up office Background The NATO Secretary General News 17/12/2003 - NATO First day in office of new NATO Secretary General Mr. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer Opinions 05/01/2004 - NATO Press Statement by NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer Biographies Jaap de Hoop Scheffer Multimedia Video of the arrival of the new Secretary General (.wmv/6079kb) Audio file of the press conference (MP3/1703kb) Audio file of the Q&A (MP3/1490kb) High resolution photos The new Secretary General of NATO, Mr. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer of the Netherlands, took up his duties on 5 January 2004, beginning an initial four-year term in office. He arrived at NATO Headquarters in Brussels at nine o’clock in the morning to be greeted by the Deputy Secretary General, Ambassador Minuto Rizzo, the Chairman of the Military Committee, General Kujat, and the Dean of the North Atlantic Council, Ambassador Kovanda of the Czech Republic. In a brief address to the media he paid tribute to his predecessor, Lord Robertson, saying that NATO had taken on new responsibilities and “is going through a continuous process of transformation to be able to meet new challenges”. Mr. de Hoop Scheffer said that his main priorities were to continue this transformation, to ensure the smooth entry of the seven countries expected to join NATO this year, and to improve dialogue between Europe and North America. He singled out Afghanistan as the main challenge on the Alliance’s current agenda, saying that NATO and the international community cannot afford to fail in the effort to stabilize the country. NATO’s partnerships, and particularly its relations with the European Union, were also a key priority, he said. Mr. de Hoop Scheffer is the 11th NATO Secretary General, following Lord Robertson, who held the post from 1999 to 2003.