20-21 March 2006

NATO Secretary General visits the United States Opinion 20-21 March 2006 Press point by NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and George W. Bush, President of the United States Multimedia Photos of the visit External link President Welcomes NATO Secretary General to the White House NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer visited Washington on 20 and 21 March, where he met President George W. Bush, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld and other senior administration officials. Two main topics were discussed: NATO’s continuing transformation in the context of preparations for NATO’s summit meeting in Riga in November and NATO’s ongoing operations and missions. On preparations for Riga, the Secretary General and his interlocutors discussed how to further strengthen NATO’s own capabilities and the Alliance’s ability to reach out to global partners, such as Australia, Japan, New Zealand and South Korea. On Darfur, the US President and the Secretary General agreed that if the African Union’s mission were to transition to a United Nation’s mission in six months time, NATO may well be asked for more support. In those circumstances, the Secretary General said he believed that NATO would look positively at such a request, not in terms of sending a NATO force as such but rather in terms of reinforcing its current enabling role in the area of planning, logistics and airlift. On Afghanistan, they expressed a shared commitment to continuing with expansion of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force into the south and then, as soon as possible, to the east of the country. On Iraq, President Bush expressed satisfaction that the NATO Training Mission was having a positive effect in producing well-trained officers that were proving their worth in ongoing operations against insurgents. The Secretary General also raised the issue of Iceland, following the recent announcement by the United States that it intends to withdraw the four F-16 fighter planes that it has stationed there. The US administration explained that it will continue discussions with Iceland on how to modernize their bilateral defence agreement. Should they decide that a NATO role could be appropriate in ensuring the continued air defence of Iceland, this would be considered by the North Atlantic Council in due course. During his visit to Washington, the Secretary General addressed the National Press Club, met representatives from a number of think-tanks and also spoke to students at the American University.