For immediate release
2
October 2006
PRESS COMMUNIQUE - COMMUNIQUE PRESSE
MORE “BOOTS ON THE GROUND” IN SOUTHERN AFGHANISTAN,
URGE NATO PARLIAMENTARIANS
NATO member countries “must redouble their efforts to provide the assets
required to extend security” throughout Afghanistan, urged the members of
the NATO Parliamentary Assembly in a declaration sent today to NATO
Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. NATO legislators stressed that
“more 'boots on the ground' are needed in the southern part of
Afghanistan to provide sufficient stability for sustained
reconstruction”. The five-page declaration, representing the collective
view of the members of NATOÂ’s 26 parliaments involved in the Assembly,
sets out the priorities for the Alliance ahead of the Riga Summit of NATO
Heads of State and Government on 28-29 November.
On top of NATOÂ’s priorities, legislators indicate, is the deteriorating
situation in Afghanistan. “The increasing cost in human lives and
here we would wish to pay homage to the combatants who have fallen for
the freedom of Afghanistan demonstrates that this war is not yet
won. NATO's commitment to Afghanistan constitutes a test of its
ability to face the challenges of the new security order”. For this
reason, “Alliance’s leaders must stress the need for member states to
demonstrate the flexibility and commitment to provide the manpower and
material needed for this mission”.
NATO parliamentarians highlighted the need for NATO forces to “have the
flexibility to perform the range of operations demanded by a particular
mission. All efforts should therefore be made to reduce the use of
national caveats which all too often restrict national contingents from
participating in operations to their full capability”. In addition, the
NATO PA expresses the view that the current system “of having the costs
of operations borne only by the participants in those operations should
cease. The increased use of ‘on-call’ NATO forces such as the NATO
Response Force demands a means of sharing the financial burden of
deploying those forces across the Alliance in an equitable
manner”.
As a general priority, the Assembly declaration stresses that “a central
element of NATO's new role must be the commitment of all the Allies to
use the Alliance framework for political consultation and coordination on
the most important security challenges”, including “the rapidly
deteriorating security situation in the Middle East”. This should
be done “more regularly and in the framework of in-depth discussions by
our political leaders”. NATO legislators also believe that Allies “must
assess on a case-by-case basis where NATOÂ’s collective capabilities and
experience can be utilized, either independently or in close cooperation
with other international organizations”.
In this regard, the Riga Summit should bring “further improvement of
NATO’s relationships” with the European Union and the United Nations. In
particular, with regard to the EU, parliamentarians urged that “a more
systematic process of consultation and coordination is now imperative to
ensure that resources are used effectively and that the plans and
responses of NATO and the EU are better balanced and more harmonized. The
Summit provides a chance to overcome the stalemate in relations between
the two organisations”.
NATO legislators reaffirmed the importance of partnership programmes to
assist “countries in different stages of political, economic and social
transition”. They lament, however, that “funding for NATO’s many
partnerships remains modest” and ask Alliance governments to “augment the
resources committed”. The NATO PA document also indicates that, whilst
“assistance to the Balkans and the south Caucasus must remain a
priority”as well as the special relationships with Russia and Ukrainethe
Alliance should further develop its Mediterranean Dialogue and the
Istanbul Cooperation Initiative, and also create “new forms of
association for contributing non-partner countries”, such as Australia,
Japan, New Zealand, and the Republic of Korea.
In conclusion, the Assembly appreciates its growing cooperation with NATO
and enhanced dialogue with the North Atlantic Council. Legislators
also “welcome the complementarity between the work of the Assembly and
NATO particularly regarding partner nations” and urge “Heads of State and
Government to acknowledge this role in their Riga Declaration and to
reaffirm their support for the NATO Parliamentary Assembly and the shared
goal of promoting democratic values”.