Jaap de Hoop Scheffer bows out on his birthday...
Friday night the leaders gather in the German city of Baden Baden for a working dinner before main talks on Saturday. Onset of talks about a new NATO security declaration, discussions over NATO relations with Russia and the election of a new Secretary are the focus of the first day of the jubilee meeting. US President is also expected to ask for further assistance of the alliance in the Afghan mission.
Report by Joanna Najfeld.
NATO members' opinions on the future of NATO vary. Poland and other Baltic states are in a group of countries who would like to see the 'one for all, all for one' Article Five of the Washington Treaty strengthened. Head of Poland's National Security Bureau Aleksander Szczygło says NATO should be open to admitting new states, as part of the alliance's strategy for the future. As regards NATO relations with Russia, sentiments within the alliance are divided with many members, especially former communist countries of Eastern Europe, voicing opposition towards the French and German closeness with Moscow, said NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in a press interview.
Another focus of media attention is the election of the new Secretary General to succeed Jaap the Hoop Scheffer as of the first of August this year. Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski had been mentioned as a possible candidate. The most probable winner is the Danish premier Anders Rasmussen.
On the issue of the Afghanistan mission, it is expected that the US will ask for more military and non-military help from NATO members. Right now there are about 70 thousand foreign soldiers in the country. Half of them are American. The Polish contingent numbers sixteen hundred troops and is about to increase by four hundred.
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Photo: NATO/nato.int