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Good evening. We had a very good first discussion on the overall themes of our summit in the United Kingdom, next September. 

At the Summit, NATO will be looking outwards, and to the future. 

First, by investing in the right capabilities and in strong partnerships, so that we remain robust and ready to respond to future challenges.

Second, by reinforcing the transatlantic link which remains the foundation of our security. 

And third, by taking stock of the progress of our mission in Afghanistan and preparing to open a new chapter in our engagement.  

In ISAF we have built one of the biggest coalitions in recent history, including one quarter of the world’s nations.  This shows how significant partners have become over the last two decades to our success as an Alliance.  They add value to our operations. They provide insight to our consultations. And they enable NATO to foster change, and build peace and security in Europe and beyond.

Simply put: we need partners. And partners need NATO.

Therefore, we need to keep our political ties strong through regular consultations. And we need to retain what we call our interoperability – that is our ability to work and operate together - through more training and exercises. 

Most of the challenges we face, now and in the future, go beyond the borders of nations or NATO. So it is vital that we continue to work with those partners who want to consult with us, and with those who can act with us. And it is vital that we assist those who need our help. This is an investment in our security, and an investment in our future.

Our experience from twenty years of operations also shows the value of building defence capacities as a way to bolster security in unstable parts of the world.  It is more effective to provide support to countries before a crisis may come - to make sure that it never comes at all.

We are already working with a number of countries to help them build democratic and accountable security structures. To clear the damage caused by conflict. And to strengthen transparency and good governance.

Libya is a prime example where this can be useful. And our efforts in response to the Libyan government’s request for support are taking shape, in close coordination with those of other international actors.

So as we prepare for the Summit, we will also discuss how we might help countries beyond the Alliance build their own capacities. So that we can project stability through cooperation.  

This afternoon Foreign Ministers have also discussed the situation in Ukraine. And we have just adopted a statement that expresses our views on the current situation in Ukraine.

“We follow closely the situation in the country.

We condemn the use of excessive force against peaceful demonstrators in Ukraine. We call on all parties to refrain from provocations and violence.

We urge Ukraine, as the holder of the Chairmanship-in-Office of the OSCE, to fully abide by its international commitments and to uphold the freedom of expression and assembly. And we urge the government and opposition to engage in dialogue and launch a reform process.

A sovereign, independent and stable Ukraine, firmly committed to democracy and the rule of law, is key to Euro-Atlantic security. Ukraine remains an important partner of NATO and the Alliance highly values Ukraine’s contributions to international security. Our partnership will continue on the basis of the values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law. NATO remains committed to supporting the reform process in Ukraine”.

With that, I’ll be happy to take your questions.

OANA LUNGESCU (NATOSpokesperson): NPR.

Q:Thank you, Mr. Secretary General. Afghanistan, of course. Howserious are you about conveying to President Karzai that the zerooption is indeed alive and well? What is NATO's deadline if the U.S. isgiving him until the end of the year to sign the BSA? He doesn't seemto think that this is a valid threat, regardless of your increasingreminders that there's a big financial cost to come with this, too,with international aid.

And was President Karzai invited to come to this meeting?You've gotthe Foreign Ministers and the Interior Ministers coming, but isn't hereally the one that needs to get the message? Thank you.

ANDERS FOGHRASMUSSEN (NATO Secretary General):  On thelatterI think you know the answer, that it is a Foreign Ministers meeting andthis is the reason why it is the Foreign Minister, the acting ForeignMinister, who is invited. And by the way, we have also invited theMinister of Interior, because he's responsible for security in therun-up to presidential elections in Afghanistan. So this is the reasonwhy those Ministers are the invitees.

Now, let me stress that when you speak about a zero option, azerooption is not our planning basis, but, of course, the so-called zerooption can be the unfortunate outcome of decisions, or non-decisions,in Afghanistan. Let me reiterate that we are prepared to stay inAfghanistan beyond 2014 with a mission to train, assist, advise theAfghan Security Forces. But it's no surprise that we have to make clearthat we need a firm legal framework for our presence in Afghanistan.

So this is the reason why we have stated the obvious. Namely,we need asignature. We need, first of all, a signature on the Bilateral SecurityAgreement between the U.S. and Afghanistan, and next we need asignature on a Status of Forces Agreement that will provide theframework for a NATO-led presence in Afghanistan beyond 2014.

I would be reluctant to fix an exact date... what is the exactdeadline?  But it is a fact that we need some time to planproperly that deployment after 2014, and in the case that there is nolegal framework from the 1st January in 2015, we also need some time toplan to withdraw personnel and equipment.

I mean, this is just to state the obvious. It can't be asurprise, andI think that message has been delivered in very clear terms to theAfghan authorities.

OANA LUNGESCU:Associated Press.

Q:Hi, Mr. Secretary General. Could you explain what you think is thereason behind, and President Karzai has made these expressions, andcould you tell us concretely, today, what the Ministers have decided interms of trying to encourage him to sign the Bilateral SecurityAgreement?

ANDERS FOGHRASMUSSEN: Afghanistan will be discussed tomorrow in theISAF meeting, and that discussion will take place in the presence oftwo Afghan Ministers, so that will be the venue for delivering messagesfrom NATO and ISAF Ministers to the Afghan Government. And I'm notgoing to guess about motives.  

OANA LUNGESCU:Over there.

Q:I'd like to follow up with Libya. You mentioned Libya. Could youtell us what... you mentioned that there's going to be some changes.The requests of support are taking shape there. Could you justelaborate on what that means exactly?

ANDERS FOGHRASMUSSEN: Yes, some months ago, actually last spring, wereceived a request from the Libyan Government to assist Libya indeveloping a security architecture. We have looked closely into that,and in collaboration with the Libyan authorities, we have now provideda platform for providing such assistance. And we are prepared now toassist the Libyan Government in developing their security architecture.We have established a small team that will work with the Libyanauthorities, and in close coordination with other actors, internationalorganizations, as well as individual nations, in order to ensure noduplication and complementarity in the way we assist the Libyans.

OANA LUNGESCU:(Inaudible).  

Q:Thank you so much, Excellency. Mustafa Basherat from Radio FreeEurope, Kabul Bureau. From the last two days that I am here in BrusselsI have heard one message from everybody that if BSA is not signed NATOcannot continue their mission in Afghanistan. So I understand from thismessage that by now NATO has one mission that train Afghan SecurityForces, but another mission that also may have been killed. Now, themission is complete, but don't you think that right now thousand youngOsamas living on the border Pakistan and Afghanistan, and after 2014 ifNATO and ISAF leave Afghanistan there will be a new threat for theinternational community?

ANDERS FOGHRASMUSSEN: Yes, but let me stress that I, too, hope thatwewill be able to deploy a train, advise, assist mission to Afghanistanafter 2014. Don't make any mistake. We feel strongly committed to thefuture of Afghanistan. And the planned deployment of a training missionto Afghanistan is actually decided in collaboration with the AfghanGovernment. We made that decision at the Chicago Summit in May 2012.President Karzai was there. We agreed to establish that trainingmission beyond 2014. So this is still our intention, and we arecontinuing planning not to waste time.

So if we get an invitation from Afghanistan we are alsoprepared todeploy. But NATO is not an occupation force. We intend to helpAfghanistan. And of course, it is a precondition that we get aninvitation, and an invitation should be accompanied by a proper legalframework, and that's all.

Of course, at the end of the day it's an Afghan decision. Wedo notimpose anything on Afghanistan. It's an offer from our side to actuallyhelp the Afghan Security Forces continuing their capabilitydevelopment, so we make sure that they will also be able to take fullresponsibility for security in the future.

So, at this stage it's an hypothetical situation that we won'tbe thereafter 2014. I still hope we will.

OANA LUNGESCU:One last question over there.

Q: TVImedi, Georgia, Sandro (inaudible). You mentioned Summit 2014.Will it be enlargement-oriented Summit, I mean, concerning Georgia aswell? Can we get Membership Action Plan or some other form ofcooperation? Thank you.

ANDERS FOGHRASMUSSEN: Today we have discussed the overall themes forthe Summit. We have not yet decided on the exact agenda, so it's muchtoo early to say anything about how we will address the open-doorpolicy in exact terms, at the Summit. That remains to be seen. There'sstill nine months to go.

OANA LUNGESCU:Thank you very much. Good evening.