ISTANBUL - NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer explained on Sunday his views on Iraqi interim government's demand for military training, Afghanistan, new transatlantic security cooperation and a new NATO.
Scheffer held a news conference after delivering a speech at the conference, ''NATO At a New Crossroads'' jointly organized by Turkish Economic and Social Studies Foundation (TESEV) and U.S. think-tank organization German Marshall Fund.
Stating that last year was a tough year for transatlantic relations and for the Alliance, Scheffer recalled that the controversy over Iraq pitted European countries against each other. He noted that it created major frictions across the Atlantic and it provoked many pundits to dust off every conceivable stereotype about the ''irreconcilable differences'' between America and Europe.
There was a new momentum in transatlantic security cooperation, Scheffer stated and noted that there was a reappraisal of NATO as the major instrument for that cooperation.
Scheffer listed components of new transatlantic security cooperation. He stressed that NATO was ready to act outside of Europe and noted that new military equipment should be further improved for fulfillment of changing duties of NATO. Scheffer added that NATO should act in cooperation with the European Union (EU) in security.
(EÖ-BRC) 27.06.2004