NATO’s Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen declared that, "NATO should become a forum for consultation on worldwide security issues". Not, however, as competition to the United Nations, which would be neither desirable nor possible. "The Alliance should become the hub of a network of security partnerships and a centre for consultation on international security issues,” he said.
 
 

Stepping up training in Afghanistan 

 
Afghanistan has repeatedly left its mark on discussions within the alliance in recent years, declared Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg. We all depend on one another, he said. "We have the right concepts, but the situation cannot be resolved by military means alone.” 
 
Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg underscored the fact that German engagement in Afghanistan will in future be geared more strongly to training the Afghan security forces. The number of Federal Armed Forces instructors deployed to train the Afghan army is to be dramatically increased. "This mission has its price and entails high risks,” said the Defence Minister.