EUROPE: The Prime Ministers of Spain and Britain, Mr Jose Maria Aznar and Mr Tony Blair, sent a joint appeal to NATO yesterday urging the military alliance to shape a new role for itself in the struggle against terrorism and weapons proliferation.
In a joint letter to the NATO chief, Lord George Robertson, the two leaders said the alliance's November summit in Prague "offers a unique opportunity to realize our common vision of a transformed NATO".
Mr Aznar and Mr Blair said NATO should use the Prague summit to adopt "a useful role against the new threats of international terrorism and arms of mass destruction" and to "renew its efforts to increase its flexible and deployable military capacities".
The prime ministers said NATO should recognise the need for a new role following the September 11 attacks on the US and the subsequent war on terrorism.
Spain and Britain "recognise the fundamental change undergone by international security after the September 11th attacks" and call for "efforts to ensure that the United States and Europe, as well as NATO and the European Union can work more efficiently together."
They also welcomed the Prague summit, which could see the military alliance expand from 19 countries to as many as 28, if candidates Albania, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia are accepted.
They also praised the new NATO-Russia Council, which gives Moscow an equal voice in decisions on such issues as terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, arms control and crisis management, while denying it a veto in NATO's military affairs.
The new partnership holds "the potential for a fundamental amelioration of European security," they said.
"Spain and Great Britain share the same vision: we want to see NATO transformed towards new functions, new capacities, an enlargement of its members, a new relationship with Russia, a mutually beneficial relationship between NATO and the EU," the letter said.
The US Defence Secretary, Mr Donald Rumsfeld, is expected to propose a review of NATO's command structure.
At present NATO has a Supreme Allied Commander based in North America as well as a Supreme Allied Commander in Europe.
The alliance is also expected to draw up a shopping list of military kit to defend against weapons of mass destruction.
Small, highly mobile units are expected to be proposed to undertake risky missions.
However, the main concern for the defence ministers is expected to be the large gap in military spending between the US and its European allies. - AFP, PA)