NATO chief pushes new strategy for alliance, promotes missile shield

By Zhang Wen

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen called on the 62-year-old military alliance Thursday to transform into a modern force against new threats, despite times of austerity.

Rasmussen made his plea at the start of a highly unusual joint session with both the foreign and defense ministers from NATO's 28 nations gathering in Brussels to discuss the bloc's new strategy ahead of a summit next month in Lisbon.

"NATO's core mission to protect the 900 million citizens of NATO countries from attack must never change, but it must be a modern defense against modern threats," AFP quoted him as saying Thursday.

The ministers were to discuss a draft of NATO's new "strategic concept" - a text revised every decade that serves as a mission statement for the alliance.

The 11-page strategic concept has not been made public, but it is expected to touch on 21st century threats including cyber attacks, missiles from "rogue" states, terrorism and Somali piracy.

Shen Dingli, deputy director of the Center of American Studies at Fudan University, told the Global Times that NATO's transform might push the alliance to go more "global," which makes its function go beyond traditional security defense.

"A new strategy as such, if being agreed upon, will transform the organization from a defensive alliance into an offensive military one," Shen said.

According to media reports, Rasmussen also called on the alliance to press ahead with plans to create an antimissile shield for Europe in the face of threats from ballistic missiles from hostile states.

Earlier this week, US Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Frank Rose said during a conference at the Atlantic Council that NATO members are very close to endorsing Washington's development of a Europe-based missile shield.

US Defense Secretary Robert Gates told reporters Thursday there was "broad agreement" on missile defense plans.

European countries, however, worry about how much the system would cost and how it would work, as fiscal austerity measures have swept across Europe in the wake of the global recession.

"Missile defense won't be cheap, but neither will it break the bank," Rasmussen stated in an International Herald Tribune commentary Thursday.

"European countries would much rather concentrate on defense closer to home. And to many Europeans, economic development, the employment rate and social security are far more important than fighting terrorism," Zhang Niansheng, the Brussels bureau chief of People's Daily, pointed out.

The US, however, believes that NATO should keep its sights set on wider horizons, according to a BBC report.

Then there is the question of how all this fits regarding relations with Russia.

Russia has voiced concerns that European missile defense systems could undermine its own security and has questioned the missile threat posed by Iran.

Agencies contributed to this story