NATO Defence Ministers meet in London
On 18-19 September 2008, the Ministers of Defence of 26 Allied countries met in London. During informal sessions they exchanged views on a broad range of security and defence aspects of NATO’s agenda.
From the event
News
- 18 Sep 2008 - NATO
Informal Meeting of NATO Defence Ministers (additional information) - 9 Sep 2008 - NATO
Informal Meeting of NATO Defence Ministers (updated)
18 Sep 2008
The primary focus of discussion was the ongoing transformation of the Alliance. This included such topics as – for example – identifying best ways for ensuring appropriate defence spending levels in support of missions or availability of critical assets including helicopters.
Ministers also consulted on the current developments in the Euro-Atlantic area affecting vital security interests of member states.
NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer briefed the journalists after the meeting: "We concluded, ministers concluded, that NATO has a robust, a flexible, and experienced planning capability able to respond in a timely way to any requirement. Ministers discussed and concluded that planning and training for collective defence of NATO territory is what this alliance has done for the past 60 years; there's nothing new in there, and there will be nothing new in there. Continuing to do that is what ministers concluded, we'll continue what we did. We’ll maybe step up some elements here or there, but continuation of what we have done is important."
