NATO Summit, Bucharest

The NATO Summit in Bucharest on 2-4 April was the largest such event ever, with Heads of State and Government from more than 60 countries invited to attend, as well as leaders of a number of other international organisations.  The Summit’s programme included meetings of the 26 Allies among themselves; as well as meetings at Summit level of the NATO-Russia Council (with President Putin) and the NATO-Ukraine Commission, and (for the first time) an informal lunch for the Heads of State and Government of the 49 members of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council.

There were two further events reflecting areas of NATO’s work with a particularly high profile at the Summit.  The first was a formal meeting of the Allies with Albania and Croatia being invited at Bucharest to join NATO.  The second was be a meeting on Afghanistan attended by President Karzai, United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon (and his new Special Representative in Afghanistan, Kai Eide), European Commissioner President Barroso and EU High Representative Solana and the representatives of Allies and the 14 other countries currently contributing to NATO’s ISAF operation.

The Summit agreed on a number of significant outcomes:

On Afghanistan, the Summit provided the opportunity for all those present to confirm their long-term commitment to building a secure, prosperous and democratic future for Afghanistan, through a statement setting out their shared vision of the way forward.  The countries contributing to ISAF also agreed their own plans for continuing to deliver security across the country over the next few years, to provide the conditions in which development and reconstruction can go forward, and the threat from narcotics can be tackled.  All these strands of the international effort are intended to support the strengthening of Afghanistan’s own political and administrative capabilities, so that it can increasingly take the instruments of government fully into its own hands.

At Bucharest, Heads of State and Government from the nations contributing
troops to ISAF agreed a public declaration that sets out a clear vision guided by four principles; a firm and shared long-term commitment and support for enhanced Afghan leadership.

Bucharest gave Allies the chance to review their operation in Kosovo, KFOR, and how it is responding appropriately to evolving developments on the ground.  The international actors engaged in Kosovo need to focus on giving each other the support each needs.

On Enlargement, three countries (Albania, Croatia and Macedonia) had been conducting Membership Action Plans (MAP) with NATO for a number of years.  All three hoped that the Alliance would judge at Bucharest that they had brought their democratic and defence reforms to a point where they should formally be invited to join NATO.  The Summit agreed to issue invitations to Albania and croatia.  It noted also the progress made by Macedonia, but regretted that negotiations on the name issue had not yet produced a successful outcome.  It agreed that Macedonia would be invited to join as soon as a solution had been reached.  This outcome to the Summit, although less clear-cut than we had hoped, offers powerful evidence of how NATO’s enlargement tools can bring countries to a point where they can become effective Allies.  It will also offer an important contribution to strengthening stability and security across the Balkan region.  The Summit will also look at how to pursue this objective in respect of the other countries in the region.

Georgia and Ukraine have each asked to start a Membership Action Plan with NATO.  The Summit agreed that both would become members of NATO, and that NATO would begin a period of intensive engagement with each country, before a first assessment of their progress towards MAP in December 2008.  Drawing both countries closer to the Alliance can make an important contribution to stability and security in their region.

Allies agreed a number of initiatives which form part of the ongoing work on Capability Transformation in order to provide the forces and capabilities required for NATO’s operations and to meet the vision of the Comprehensive Political Guidance (agreed at Riga). These include UK-led initiatives to improve the number of deployable mission-capable helicopters and deliver effective multinational logistics in theatre.  Efforts are also underway to strengthen NATO’s cyber defence and information superiority capabilities.