Môže Afganistan rozdeliť NATO?
V prípade neúspechu NATO v Afganistane môže nastať rozpoltenie Aliancie, varuje MiO USA.
The United States has urged European leaders as well as the public to be more supportive of NATO-led mission in Afghanistan, a cornerstone of the US war on terror, or the alliance will be "effectively destroyed" by a failure in the central Asian country.
Speaking at an international security conference in Munich, US secretary of defence Robert Gates said he was "concerned that many people on this continent may not comprehend the magnitude of the direct threat to European security."
He described current European public support for the mission - established by the UN Security Council in December 2001 - as "weak".
"So now I would like to add my voice to those of many allied leaders on the continent and speak directly to the people of Europe. The threat posed by violent Islamic extremism is real, and it is not going to go away," the US cabinet member added.
Mr Gates, for his part, said: "we must not - we cannot - become a two-tiered alliance of those who are willing to fight and those who are not."
"Such a development, with all its implications for collective security, would effectively destroy the alliance," he concluded.
But the UK's ambassador to NATO, Stewart Eldon, told the BBC it was a "mistake" to say Afghanistan would make or break the alliance
Zdroj: euobserver.com
21.02.2008