Between Moscow and Washington, the Atlantic Alliance Attempts Compromise

The summit finished with a green light to the emergence of a European defense. Ukraine and Georgia will wait.

Several hours of negotiations were necessary, Thursday to compose the conclusions of the NATO summit. All eyes now are turned towards Vladimir Putin.

The expansion is planned, but not backed up:

NATO will have 29 members for its 60th birthday in 2009. The Twenty-six in fact decided to accept two of the three candidates: Croatia and Albania, while also guaranteeing access to the ex-Yugoslavian republic of Macedonia, as soon as it sorts out the problem of its name, on which Greece reiterated his veto. Nevertheless, the furious Macedonian delegation slammed the door.

The response by the Alliance to Georgia and Ukraine, that solicited an “action plan regarding membership “ considered a casus belli by Russia, is on the other hand a lot more of a diplomatic one. Germany, which was opposed, with France and Italy, with a promise in the name of “the balance of forces”, obtained a pullout from the compromise. NATO undertook in the Romanian capital “to accommodate them later on”, and proposes “a period of intensive collaboration at a higher level”. With a first report due in December 2008, but without a subsequent timetable, Kiev and Tbilissi scream victory. Moscow talks about “big strategic error”. NATO preserves it so to speak as room to maneuver.

The emergence of a European defense was on the agenda:

Nicolas Sarkozy and Angela Merkel played the symbols. To Bucharest, the French president and the German chancellor held a common press conference, to notably announce that Strasburg and Kehl, on the two sides of the Rhine, will hold the 2009 summit. France can then, as it has again implied to Romania, join the integrated command of NATO. Nicolas Sarkozy also asserted as George Bush greeted, in a “historic declaration”, the emergence of a European defense.

One of the significant questions of this new United States – Europe pact is space defense. George Bush wanted the support of NATO for his antimissile shield project, for which he signed in Bucharest an agreement with the Czech Republic, where ultra-sophisticated radar will be installed.

He obtained it. But the “NATOization” of this program means that the allies will have more to say. The key of this crucial file will depend on what George Bush will propose to Vladimir Putin, whom he will see this weekend in the seaside resort of Sotchi, on the Black sea. The Russian president has denounced, since the beginning, a “direct threat” against his country.

An “ambitious and substantial” relation was proposed in Serbia, where elections will take place on May 11. In Kosovo, the KFOR received very firm instructions “to guarantee a sure and protected environment”.

Afghanistan will remain a headache:

The UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon, and the president of the European Commission, José Manual Barroso, made the request of Bucharest to tighten the reins on Afghanistan. The priority of NATO, which succeeded in obtaining reinforcements from 12 countries (in particular 700 French soldiers deployed in the East), is in fact to better divide up the roles in the field. In a four page document, the Alliance offered to the international force assistance (ISAF) more means and more flexibility in engagement of troops. In order to better fight the Taliban. On the other hand, the majority of the civil tasks would be transferred towards the UN, which underlined the enormous impact of drug trafficking, which makes up a quarter of the economy.

The key man, and also the most vulnerable, nevertheless remains president Hamid Karzaï. He asserted they will soon be able to entrust the Afghan army with security of Kabul without really being convincing.