Bundesregierung

The discussions on the strategic realignment of NATO focus on the future responsibilities of the alliance. "We will be pointing out that NATO is not simply an alliance for defence, but an alliance for security," declared the Chancellor. NATO looks not only at military issues, but is a forum above all for political discussions, she added.
 

The direction the reform will take

 
Angela Merkel underlined that she was delighted that the Russian President, Dmitry Medvedev, would be attending the NATO-Russia Council at the next NATO summit. An important point on the agenda of these talks will be a missile defence system. Russia’ s openness for issues of this sort is a good sign, she said.
 
"The new Strategic Concept will be ambitious, but sufficiently realistic," stressed Anders Fogh Rasmussen. "It will define NATO’s new duties and lay out the new capacities that NATO will need. It will lay down the direction reforms are to take, so that we can do what is expected of us."
 

The challenges of today’s world

 
As long as there are nuclear weapons in the world, NATO too will require a nuclear deterrent, said NATO’s Secretary General. We must also work towards the goal of creating a world free of nuclear weapons though, he continued. Almost every state in the world has undertaken to achieve this goal.
 
Anders Fogh Rasmussen admitted that there have been difficulties with the Afghanistan mission. "This is not an easy mission," he said. Many of the nations involved in the ISAF mission have suffered casualties.
 
"Let me take this opportunity here to express my condolences to the families and loved ones of the German soldiers who have lost their lives." Although there have been successes in the fight against the Taliban and in rebuilding the country, "more needs to be done," said Anders Fogh Rasmussen.
 
The threat of international terrorism and the threat to trade routes posed by piracy are new challenges for the transatlantic alliance. At the NATO summit in Lisbon on 19 and 20 November, the alliance intends to decide on the new direction. Since September 2009 a committee of experts chaired by former US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has been working on proposals. In May this year the group of experts published a report that laid out recommendations. This document will be taken as the basis for the new NATO strategy, on which in-depth consultations are currently ongoing within the alliance.