Members of the Assembly’s committees met NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at NATO Headquarters on 24 March 2006 to discuss NATO operations, NATO-EU relations, NATO transformation and other current security issues such as the fight against terrorism, member states’ defence budgets and military capabilities. The gathering, part of the Assembly’s regular dialogue with the Euro-Atlantic executive, was followed by two briefings: on NATO’s public diplomacy strategy (given by Assistant Secretary-General Jean Fournet) and on the adapted CFE Treaty (given by Michael Miggins, Head of Arms Control and Coordination Section).

The NATO Secretary-General gave a comprehensive brief on current NATO Operations. Referring to NATO-EU relations he noted that “it takes three to tango”, and that Ankara, Nicosia and the EU had to reach agreement. Until this was achieved, NATO and the EU would seek informal channels for discussion. The next such informal meeting would be a dinner between the foreign ministers of both organisations in Sofia (on 27-28 April 2006). Regarding the cost of military operations, Secretary-General de Hoop Scheffer suggested “more common funding and more common assets” and also proposed “more common owning” of airlift capability along the lines of AWACS. He urged parliamentarians to help bring home the message about the need for investment in security. He defined NATO as a “political-military organisation” and called for a change in attitude: “if we discuss something we should avoid thinking that it must be followed by action”. As far as the development of the strategic concept was concerned, he believed that consensus would not be easy to achieve but that member states were working on “comprehensive political guidance” which could indicate the way ahead.

Earlier in the day, the NATO Secretary General received WEU Assembly President Jean-Pierre Masseret (France, Socialist Group). The President announced that the Assembly would discuss a report on the evolution of NATO at its December session (4-6 December 2006 in Paris) immediately following the Riga Summit (28-29 November 2006). He invited the Secretary-General to address the plenary debate. The President also expressed concern over recent problems with the institutional dialogue between NATO and the EU saying that voters would not want the two organisations, in which almost three quarters of the member states were represented by the same governments, to limit themselves to a few topics and exclude some of the more burning security issues. The President also talked to the Secretary-General about the future of the Balkans. Mr de Hoop Scheffer believed that stability in the Balkans depended on the continuation of a policy of Euro-Atlantic integration. President Masseret observed that while economic integration was not so controversial, what was still missing was a political Europe. It was necessary to define the place Europe should have in the world.

During the question and answer session forming part of the meeting with the Secretary-General, the Chairman of the Assembly’s Defence Committee, Robert Walter (United Kingdom, Federated Group) who had just visited European NATO Forces in Kabul, asked about plans to replace the existing six-month ISAF rotating command with a permanent headquarters. He also wanted to know what resources NATO member states were providing to the Afghan government to help it tackle the production of and trade in narcotics and how NATO dealt with the “porous” border between Afghanistan and Pakistan. He suggested that Pakistan develop a closer partnership with ISAF. The Assembly’s Rapporteur on Afghanistan, Jean-Pierre Kucheida (France, Socialist Group), who had also been to Kabul, said that the reconstruction of the country would be a long and difficult task. Violence against ISAF forces was again on the increase and only slow progress was being made with the formation of an Afghan Army. His impression was that NATO forces would need to stay in Afghanistan for at least 10 more years, which meant that vital resources would be committed there and could not be used for other operations.

Mr de Hoop Scheffer said that NATO could not solve all Afghanistan’s problems. There was need for a concerted effort by the whole international community. It could take up to 15 years before Afghanistan had a stable economy. The security situation was particularly difficult in the south, where ISAF forces were under threat from improvised roadside bomb attacks. He believed that it would prove a severe test for many NATO Allies to stay the course in Afghanistan. He confirmed there were plans to restructure ISAF command and create a composite headquarters once enlargement to the south had been completed. He believed that the necessary financial resources had been pledged to deal with the drug problem under the Afghanistan Compact adopted in London 31 January 2006. However, NATO’s role was not to fight drug trafficking but to provide security and stability. This did not rule out shared intelligence. NATO’s relations with Pakistan remained complicated although the Alliance had gained credibility after its recent humanitarian operations.

Other questions put forward dealt with NATO’s role in defining common objectives and ensuring, to a degree, a comprehensive approach – for instance in the fight against terrorism – and the suggestion that meetings should be held between the internal (“homeland”) affairs ministers of NATO member countries (Ignacio Cosido (Spain, Federated Group)); whether there should be stronger action against narcotics production (Joao Mendes Bota (Portugal, Federated Group)); armaments cooperation between Algeria and Russia and the NATO Mediterranean Dialogue (Elsa Papadimitriou (Greece, Federated Group)); relations between NATO and Ukraine (Zmago Jelincic (Slovenia)) and the situation in Moldova (Florina Ruxandra Jipa (Romania)).