"NATO must remain the centerpiece of trans-Atlantic security policy," said Friedbert Pflüger, a Christian Democratic member of Parliament here.
EU foreign and security policy chief Javier Solana assured a joint EU-NATO meeting in Brussels on October that NATO would be kept well-briefed on EU military developments, vowing also that future European defense structures would never compete with or upstage the Alliance.
The fundamental security policy shift requires a longterm political, military, and institutional adaptation from Nato.
She said Nato and Article 5, the alliance's mutual defense doctrine, lay at the heart of national security policy.
Paul Quiles, a French socialist former defence minister, points out that Britain forced a change in the constitution's text so that Europe's common security policy, even as it tries to gather strength, is required to give primacy to Nato.
"Our message to the EU, the Secretary General of Nato, our partners and Western allies is that the Balkans should be in the very heart of European security policy.
My master's thesis, with Wohlsetter, was on French security policy in the 1980s, and I was privileged to be at SHAPE/NATO long enough to see my primary recommendation, that France reintegrate the military command at SHAPE, come to fruition.
The Nato security alliance covers 28 member states, including Eastern European countries such as Poland and the Czech Republic.
Regal patrons react to new security policy.
Enforceable security policies.
