Nato ministers backed reforms and cutbacks for alliance institutions on Thursday to save tens of millions of dollars a year, but the United States warned its partners against making excessive cuts in national defence.
Nato Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said there was broad agreement at a meeting of defence and foreign ministers on the need for a Nato-wide defence against missile attack, although France expressed scepticism about the plan.
Nato officials said ministers backed a series of priority projects for alliance members to pursue jointly, including one to counter improvised explosive devices that are the biggest killers of Nato troops in Afghanistan. However, the emphasis was on cutbacks at talks in Brussels, as Nato seeks to get rid of waste and duplication, and modernise itself despite stringencies imposed by the financial crisis.
Ministers agreed on the need to reduce the number of Nato headquarters to six from 11 and the number of agencies providing support in areas such as communications to three from 14. "We now have a clear mandate for reform, and a clear idea what reform will look like," Rasmussen told a news conference. US Defence Secretary Robert Gates said he was pleased the allies had been able to agree to fund priority projects, but cautioned against cutting back too far at national level.
"As nations deal with their economic problems, we must guard against the hollowing out of alliance military capability by spending reductions that cut too far into muscle," he said. Reducing the number of Nato agencies would cut their staffing to below 9,000 from 13,000, and streamlining the command structure should save tens of millions of dollars a year, Nato officials said.
Gates said savings should be reinvested to keep Nato "modern, strong, effective and relevant". He expressed concern on Wednesday that cuts brought on by austerity measures in Europe could put more pressure on an increasingly stretched US military. British Foreign Secretary William Hague defended government plans expected to be unveiled next week, saying: "We have inherited a defence budget massively overcommitted so any responsible government has to do something about that."
The steps discussed in Brussels are expected to be endorsed at a summit in Lisbon on November 19 and 20, at which Rasmussen wants allies to agree to invest 200 million euros to link their missile defence capabilities and interceptors that Washington plans to deploy in Europe. Gates said Nato's collective defence commitment meant the 28-country alliance had to possess the capability to defend against ballistic missiles.
France has said it wants to see more details of the plan and questioned whether it was the best investment. French Defence Minister Herve Morin indicated the project would be approved in Lisbon, but compared it to the Maginot Line of fixed gun emplacements and fortifications that failed to prevent Germany's invasion of France during World War Two.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said a missile defence system was needed, but Russia should be involved. Nato has called on former Cold War foe Russia to cooperate but Moscow has remained cautious and has not yet responded to an invitation to join the Lisbon summit. Nato leaders aim to agree a new mission statement for the coming decade at the Lisbon summit. It will confirm Nato's core task of defending its territory and its commitment to collective defence, while giving a mandate for global operations such as the costly mission in Afghanistan.