NATO chief highlights transparency of EU defense policy

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Thursday, January 22, 2004

NATO chief highlights transparency of EU defense policy

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NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said Wednesday the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union (EU) should complement each other in the defense aspect, highlighting the "transparency" upheld by EU security chief Javier Solana.

"We are not organizations fighting against each other, we are complementary," said Scheffer at a briefing after the meeting between the North Atlantic Council, the NATO decision-making body,and the Political and Security Committee under the EU Council.

This is the first high-level meeting on security between the two blocs since Scheffer took charge of NATO early this month.

"Transparency and complementarity do work," said the NATO chief,noting that the partnership between NATO and the EU should be "constructive" and "transparent."

Solana said the security strategy document approved by the EU summit last December planed to create a defense cell independent of NATO and asked Solana to make proposal on the issue.

"We should do it in transparency with NATO," said Solana, stressing the importance of "transparency" and "cooperation" with NATO.

NATO has long opposed to EU's drive of developing independent defense policy.

The EU security strategy document urges to increase the capability of its own defense. In the meantime, it calls for maintaining its strategic partnership with NATO, saying the trans-Atlantic relations are "irreplaceable."

The North Atlantic Council and the Political and Security Committee of the EU meet once a month.

Source: Xinhua

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