St. Levi Press, Jakarta


The NATO Foreign and Defense Ministers have come together for a two-day meeting in Brussels. The conference serves as preparation for the upcoming NATO Summit in Chicago on May 20-21. An important focus of the meeting is NATO’s role in Afghanistan following the 2014 handover of full responsibility for security.
The international community intends to continue supporting Afghan security forces after 2014 through training as well as financial assistance. NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen reaffirmed in Brussels: “Ours is a long-term partnership with the Afghan people.”


With a view to the recent terrorist attacks in Afghanistan, Foreign Minister Westerwelle said: “The fact that Afghan forces were the ones to strike back at the terrorists is good news.” This, he said, showed that Afghanistan was making progress in building up its own security forces. The Minister added that the jointly agreed timetable would be adhered to. Enlarge image German Defense Minister Thomas de Maizière with his counterparts, Dimitros Avramopoulos of Greece and Csaba Hende of Hungary (© NATO) The Ministers of the Atlantic Alliance consulted in Brussels as part of a larger discussion of NATO’s future capabilities and assets as well as disarmament and arms control. At the Summit in Lisbon in November 2010, the NATO partners mandated a review of NATO’s deterrence and defense posture.
The review process, which is to be completed by the time of the NATO Summit in Chicago, aims to determine an appropriate combination of nuclear and conventional armed forces, including missile defense and instruments of cooperative security. This is intended to equip the Alliance to effectively combat the challenges and threats of the 21st century.
The Foreign Ministers will conclude the conference by joining with Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov for the NATO-Russia Council on 19 April. This meeting provides an opportunity to discuss practical cooperation between NATO and Russia, including the issue of missile defense.