BRUSSELS - NATO is at the heart of U.S. foreign policy, according to a top U.S. diplomat.
Speaking June 8 at a Security & Defence Agenda debate in Brussels, Ivo Daalder - the new U.S. Ambassador to NATO - described the frequent visits to Europe by U.S. President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden as "no accident."
He said NATO's three future priorities are Afghanistan, Russia and a "new NATO fit for a new century." On Afghanistan, it is "absolutely necessary that we succeed" and "vital" that Afghanistan can hold its presidential elections in August securely. He went on to stress how important it was for Europe and the U.S. to agree on how to deal with Russia and called for a "more productive NATO-Russia relationship." But he added that the U.S. will not recognize the breakaway Georgian territories as independent countries.
Talks between the U.S. and Russia are ongoing on a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START) as the existing one ends in December. Russia wants to link it to the U.S. anti-missile plan in Europe, but Daalder said the U.S. "intended to discuss the full range of issues but not in the context of START."
He noted that no final decisions had been made on an ongoing missile defense review and that the key factors were "the cost and effectiveness of the system" and "the nature of the threat from Iran."
He also raised the issue as to whether NATO's "an attack on one NATO country is an attack on all" article should in the future apply to "energy strangulation" or "a cyber or bio attack of unknown origin" without taking a clear position either way.
Later, he described what happens in Pakistan as "of direct and immediate concern" to Americans and Europeans. The U.S. is spending $7.5 billion to help the country with economic and social assistance, something which he argued other parts of the world, including the EU, could do, too.
Daalder also argued that the time for more common NATO funding has come and that the burden should be shared more equitably.
As for NATO enlargement, he said "the door to NATO is open to any country wanting to join that meets the standards of membership and contributes to the security of the North Atlantic area," including countries like Macedonia, Georgia and Ukraine.
The Army's Future Combat Systems (FCS) program is ready to test a few components that soldiers may have in their hands by 2010.
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