Brussels, 06/02/2006 (Agence Europe) - High level leaders discussed the future of trans-Atlantic relations on the first day of 3-5 February Munich conference. They discussed the present state and future of NATO and the European Security and Defence Policy and the inter-relationship between the two.
Angela Merkel, speaking at the conference for the first time since she became German Chancellor (she spoke for the very first time last year as the Christian Democratic Union candidate for this post), opened up the debate by saying: "NATO is the clamp of transatlantic interests and values. If it wants in future to remain so in 10, 20 years, then, I believe, we must openly discuss what NATO must achieve. In my view, it must be the forum in which permanent joint threat analysis must be conducted and discussed. It must be the place in which consultations are conducted on new sources of conflict which emerge in the world and should in my opinion be the place in which political and military actions are coordinated." She called for NATO to have primacy and for other paths only to be taken if there is no consensus. "If everyone agrees, which must be discussed, then the NATO Council can naturally take over these tasks and in daily political consultations show that this is practicable. This also means that political conflicts can be discussed for which immediate military operations or action is not necessary. This means that the situation in the Middle East or in Iran must in my opinion be discussed here."
The new German Defence Minister Franz Josef Jung, addressing the Munich Security Conference for the first time, said: "If the Alliance wants to preserve its position as the first instance for consultation on security issues, it must become more political again, in other words, it must be used as a political instrument for shaping the security environment. Article 4 of the North Atlantic Treaty obliges us to consult together if we are threatened. This means that we must talk about all important security issues in the Alliance, too." In addition to Iran, he gave as an example energy security. But Dr. Jung warned: "We will overstretch NATO if we burden it with all the tasks of safeguarding peace and security. The attraction of NATO is highlighted by the fact that more and more states are aiming to become a member. One the other hand, NATO is not at all a kind of mini-UN or OSCE. We need coordination and exchange of views with our non-American and non-European friends as well. We should, however, carefully avoid to create more and more institutional bodies. In the future, more tasks will have to be shared." In this connection Angela Merkel asked: "Where do the limits of what NATO can do?" She pointed out that resources are tight. She proposed the "further development" of the Alliance's Strategic concept in 2008-2009, after further enlargement.
Merkel's comments were welcomed by the US Congressional delegation at Munich. Senator Joseph Lieberman, (Democrat - Connecticut) praised Merkel's directness and Senator John McCain, (Republican - Arizona) noted a change in tone since last year's speech by then Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who expressed similar ideas.