The controversial U.S. proposals for a missile defence system partly situated in Europe will be a major subject at the NATO Bucharest Summit in April 2008, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Monday.
Romanian President Traian Basescu and Scheffer, who is on a one-day flying visit to Romania, talked about the subjects to be discussed at the summit next spring.
According to the NATO official, a major subject will be the missile defence system, with Scheffer stating that the core principle that should govern talks is that of the indivisibility of NATO member countries' security.
"There were a lot of discussions inside NATO regarding a decision on the missile shield. The decision is still pending, but the U.S. set their own defence system in place, which the new NATO system needs to complement. All NATO members are equal and enjoy the same degree of protection," said the NATO secretary-general.
Basescu added that other subjects on the agenda next year include the security of NATO member states, the issue of Afghanistan, the expansion of the North-Atlantic Alliance as well as future developments in the Western Balkans.
As for the expansion of the alliances concerned, the secretary-general said there is no certitude because the states, which are possible winners of an invitation, need to have a very good performance and NATO has very high requirements for accepting a new member.
"It is obvious that, although NATO is no global police force, it has many global partners. Apart from Euro-Atlantic Council members, there are the partners in Central Asia whom we consider highly important," said Scheffer.
"I expect heads of state and government to discuss at the summit a series of challenges and threats specific to the 21st century, such as the security of information systems or energy security," said Scheffer.
Referring to a NATO membership invitation being possibly extended to Ukraine, he said it very much depends on the Ukrainian people to decide on the county's future evolution.
Source:Xinhua
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