The European Union and NATO have many points in common, yet neither can fully play the role of the other, and so both are necessary. Progress made in one organisation is to the advantage of the other. In this article NATO’s Secretary General argues that since their agendas increasingly overlap, a strong ESDP and closer relations between them are essential. In his view, the time has come to move on from ‘détente’ to working in common. Why don’t we, for instance, embark on a ‘NATO-EU Combined Capabilities Initiative’, or a ‘Combined NATO-EU Strategic Airlift Project’?
NATO-EU Relations on the Threshold of a New Era?
For many security commentators and observers, the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) stand at the threshold of new phase in their relationship. France, which will shortly take over the Presidency of the EU and which announced, in a statement by President Sarkozy, that it was contemplating resuming its full place in NATO, has played a major role in the advent of this new climate. NATO and the EU are becoming more comfortable with each other and now seem to view their relationship in a more pragmatic manner.
What we Have in Common
Let us begin with an observation which, though simple, always bears repeating: twenty-one countries are members of the two organizations and five members of the EU enjoy a formal partnership with NATO. Since our two organizations have also opened a membership perspective for a number of states in the Western Balkans, this overlap is likely to increase in the future.
As well as sharing members, the two organizations share the same values. We both have a strong commitment to a peaceful, open, international order that is based on democracy and the rule of law, and where our people can enjoy all the fundamental rights, including the right to live in a safe and stable security environment.
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