13 March 2010 / REUTERS, WARSAW
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen tried on Friday to assuage east Europeans’ concerns that the alliance does not fully safeguard their security in the face of a more assertive Russia.
Poland, the Baltic states and others, were rattled by Russia’s brief 2008 war against Georgia, and have been irked by large-scale Russian army exercises in Belarus and by Moscow’s new military doctrine that sees NATO expansion as a threat. “The best reassurance of all [for eastern Europe] would be to engage Russia in a true strategic partnership,” Rasmussen told Reuters on the sidelines of a conference in Warsaw devoted to NATO’s plans for a new strategic blueprint. “We know we have our disagreements but there are also a number of areas in which Russia and NATO countries are faced with the same threats -- Afghanistan, terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and I think we should develop methods of practical cooperation.” Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski told the conference that ex-communist countries want the new strategic concept to provide the same security guarantees as those taken for granted by older members of the Atlantic alliance. Central and eastern Europe wants strategic reassurance,” said Sikorski, adding that Poland backs the efforts of Rasmussen and US President Barack Obama to reengage with Russia. Washington vowed last year to press the “reset button” with Moscow.
