Rasmussen and Kerry bonding in Rome

By Nigel Chamberlain, NATO Watch

 

The Secretary General and the new US Secretary of State John Kerry ‘held talks in the margins of a Transatlantic Dinner’ in Rome this week (between the antipasto and Il primo?).
 
‘Delighted’ to be able to speak to Kerry so soon after his appointment, Rasmussen reported that they had discussed “the progress of our mission in Afghanistan, maintaining NATO's robust partnerships, and a fair burden-sharing in our Alliance”.
 
The dinner was hosted on Wednesday evening by the Italian Foreign Minister, Giulio Terzi. On the guest list were thirty six foreign ministers from NATO and European Union nations, as well as Catherine Ashton, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy. All were reportedly invited to attend a closed meeting the following morning to discuss the situation in Syria.
 
Other sources report that the conflict in Syria, Iran, Afghanistan, Mali, the Sahel and the Middle East were also discussed at the dinner. At a gathering of the Friends of Syria group the following day, Kerry made a commitment to more than double ‘non-lethal’ US support to $60 million to the Syrian National Coalition (SNC). As well as further help in training anti-Assad forces, support might be in the form of vehicles, communications equipment and night vision gear. Last week, the European Union agreed to a British proposal that non-lethal equipment could be sent. Britain and other members are currently discussing precisely what sort of equipment would be allowed under the terms of the European decision.
 
Speaking after being ceremonially sworn into office one week earlier, Kerry vowed that the United States will not retreat from the world stage due to budget constraints or the complexity of global challenges. Just hours before the ceremony, Kerry spoke by phone to, among others, General Secretary Rasmussen.
 
The German, Dutch and Turkish defence ministers paid a joint visit to NATO Patriot batteries in Turkey on Saturday 23 February, immediately after attending the Defence Ministers meeting in Brussels. The systems are deployed in Kahramanmaras, Adana, and Gaziantep. The German defence minister Thomas de Maizière stressed the defensive nature of the deployment:
 
The defensive nature of the mission is not only due to the NATO mandate, but also for technical reasons. The position and range of the Patriots makes it impossible to enforce a no-fly zone or attack Syria.
 
NATO has invested a significant amount of effort to emphasize that these systems were means of defence and deterrence. Asked by Middle Eastern audiences, NATO officials deliver the same message: “This is not an operation. This is not a mission. This is simply a deployment.” They also underline that the raison d’être of this deployment is Turkey’s security in the context of the alliance’s commitment to the defence of its members. 
 
(photo credit: NATO)