NATO: Moscow mustn't waste money fighting imaginary enemy

NATO’s Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen Brussels – Sohail Shehab NATO’s Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said at the end of the NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in the Belgian capital, Brussels that the discussion tackled the situation in Kosovo and the missile defence issue. He also expressed the international community’s concern regarding Russian plans to set up a missile system north of its territories, considering it to be a threat to NATO countries. “There must be a deal with Moscow to deal with the issue,” he said. The NATO chief also mentioned worries about the proliferation of weapons of Libya, calling for greater governmental control in that respect.
Rasmussen said in a press conference held Wednesday evening, which Arabstoday attended, at the NATO headquarters: “We discussed the situation in Kosovo, following tension between Serbian and Kosovan authorities north of the county where a Serbian minority live, resulting in both parties building blocks and walls separating them.”
The Secretary General said: “Let’s be clear that violence is unacceptable, it is thus naturally unacceptable that our soldiers or any members of international missions be subjected to attacks in Kosovo.”
He stated that NATO “KFOR” troops were present in Kosovo to provide security to the public saying: “Our soldiers work in accordance with UN mandate, and we fully support the leadership of these troops and their soldiers.”
He added: “We recently noticed some progress, Serbian President Boris Tadic demanded those who built the barricades to return to their homes…there were similar instances in Belgrade, Pristina who reached an agreement to remove barricades, and one was removed.”
Nonetheless, he called on both parties to take further steps, warning that “tension will have bad impact on Kosovo and Belgrade and the general region.”
Rasmussen moved on to discussing the crisis with Russia, particularly its missile defence plans, saying: “We discussed the issue of our cooperation with Russia on the eve of our anticipated meeting with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov here in the NATO HQ…we agreed that NATO-Moscow co-operation was key, and we could achieve a lot more than we already have.”
He pointed out that cooperation was important to achieve stability in Afghanistan and other countries. “We cooperated in fighting terrorism and fighting against piracy, and we will contune operations such as those with mutual interests.”
However, he admitted that there were areas of disagreement between the parties such as the missile defence issue, which NATO intends to set up on Eastern Europes’ Russian borders.
“NATO’s stance on this is clear. We need missile defence for the security of our countries. We believe the shield is more secure… and we want at the same time to build trust and promote transparency (in relationships with Russia), thus we invited Minister Lavrov. We agree that dialogue is necessary and NATO is committed to it, but we noticed that Russian plans to set up missiles in close regions to our NATO countries threatens our security and reminds us of the confrontation phase in a previous era. I believe that there is a principle misunderstanding of the issue of our defence system, and we look forward to our meeting with Lavrov to clear the air.”
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev earlier threatened to target the shield if an agreement concerning it was not reached. However, Rasmussen said that he believed Medvedev had left "the door open for dialogue”.
He warned that “Russia will spend money in vain if they decide to use it fighting an artificial enemy,” in an implicit indication of the possibility of Russia building a similar missile defence system, or entering a new arms race. Rasmussen commended the NATO-Russia cooperation in the field of fighting terrorism in Afghanistan and fighting against piracy, expressing his hope in more development in the area.
Rasmussen said that Russia knew from experience that instability in Afghanistan was not in the region’s best interest. Moscow cooperates with ISAF forces in the passing supplies to its troops in Afghanistan. Rasmussen later said that if Russia took unwarranted steps against missile defence, it would contradict its interests.
In response to a question about  arms proliferation in Libya, he said: This issue is of interest, and I remind the UN Security Council that it is the new authorities’ responsibility to control this matter.”
When asked about the Arab Spring events in northern Africa and the Middle East, he said it was “encouraging…what happened is that people realised freedom and democracy to be the force moving people in Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, and other places. I hope a strong and stable democracy rises in the region and in the world, and I am confident of this happening in the future.”
Rasmussen previously announced that NATO’s last meeting held in April was immediately following the launch of its Libyan operation, a campaign that saw relative successs. “We concluded that our campaign has ended in success in last October. I have seen with my own eyes during my visit to Tripol that the Libyan people can look forward to the future with hope.”
The NATO chief added: “Afghanistan is our priority mission. Focus will remain on the full transfer of power to the Afghani authorities,” noting that the international community stressed, during the Bonn conference early this week, on setting its “long-term commitments towards Afghanistan.”
Rasmussen insisted that NATO would continue to act in “its full role”.
“We will study the kind of support we can provide as part of our cooperation with Afghanistan, after the full transfer of authority in 2014…there will be an assistance package specified for approval at next year’s Chicago summit for NATO leaders.”
He added: “We will make sure that the Afghani Security Forces are capable of being charge, and we will take over the training of the army and security in order to carry out this mission.”
On a different note, Rasmussen expressed his regret at the unprecedented death of 24 Pakistani soldiers in a NATO air-strike, which resulted in a severe deterioration of relations with Islamabad, saying: “We need full cooperation with Pakistan, there are no alternatives to that, and I hope to see improvement in our relations.”