NATO chief urges Allies to continue "transformation"

Investing in the right capabilities, maintaining connected forces and deepening and widening cooperation with partners are key to shape a NATO that is able to meet future challenges, NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Monday while launching his annual report.

"In September we will meet in Wales to shape Future NATO: an Alliance that is robust, rebalanced and ready to provide security for the next generation," said the NATO chief.

In the Annual Report, which looked at what NATO achieved last year and set out the challenges for the year ahead, Rasmussen noted that NATO is now more effective and efficient than at any time in its history.

But he said that Allies will need to "maintain the momentum of transformation" at the Wales Summit.

Rasmussen said that NATO has already set out a strong foundation over the past few years, based on the guidance provided by the Strategic Concept, which advocates active engagement and modern defence.

In 2013, NATO's activities ranged from military operations to building relationships with partners and from efforts to acquire and preserve defence capabilities to ongoing reforms.

"We continue to assure the security of our Allies by fulfilling our three core tasks: collective defence, crisis management, and cooperative security," Rasmussen said.

"Our operations in Afghanistan, Kosovo and off the coast of Somalia, and our Patriot deployment in Turkey are clear examples. Our forces are more capable and connected than ever before," he said.

Rasmussen said the Alliance must invest in improving capabilities to deal with risks and challenges like terrorism, piracy, regional instability and missile and cyber attacks.

He said that European Allies must play "their full part" in developing critical capabilities such as joint intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and missile defence.

At the Wales Summit, the Allies should commit to a broad program of realistic exercises, training and education and also need to look outwards, forging closer ties with partners, the NATO chief added.