16 Nov. 2005

Parliamentarians discuss NATOs future role Opinion Speech by NATO Secretary General at the NATO Parliamentary Assembly annual session Copenhagen, 15 November 2005 Key links NATO Parliamentary Assembly Addressing NATO parliamentarians, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the upcoming 2006 NATO Summit needed to provide more clarity on what Europe and North America want to do together in NATO. The Secretary General was speaking at the 51 st session of the annual NATO Parliamentary Assembly in Copenhagen. It brought together over 350 parliamentarians from 40 NATO and partner countries to discuss the Alliance’s future role and missions. Structuring transformation Mr. De Hoop Scheffer said that NATO’s broad range of missions was a testimony to its successful transformation, but also raised questions about the Alliance’s future evolution. “If we want to continue NATO’s success story, we need to get more clarity about what Europe and North America want to do together in NATO – and how they want to do it,” the Secretary General told the Assembly. “Achieving this clarity, and giving more focus and structure to NATO’s transformation, lies at the heart of our next Summit,” he stressed. The Secretary General said that NATO’s role in nation-building, the fight against terrorism, and the use of the NATO Response Force, were some of the key issues that needed to be addressed by Alliance governments and parliamentarians ahead of the the planned 2006 and 2008 Summits.