STRASBOURG, France: European nations pledged yesterday on the eve of NATO’s 60th anniversary summit that they would support America’s new Afghan war strategy with more civilian aid and small troop increases. President Barack Obama said Europe should not expect the US to shoulder the military burden alone.
NATO leaders have been reluctant to commit significant new military forces to the deadlocked conflict despite Obama’s plan to add 21,000 US troops to the force of 38,000 fighting the rising insurgency. The Europeans have focused on increasing humanitarian and development aid.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy pledged after talks with Obama that his nation would send more police trainers and civilian aid.
“We totally endorse and support America’s new strategy in Afghanistan,” Sarkozy told a joint news conference. France will contribute to the new US approach with development assistance and more training for police, Sarkozy added.
NATO’s ability to succeed in Afghanistan will be seen as a crucial test of the alliance’s power and relevance.
At the news conference, Obama described NATO as “the most successful alliance in modern history,” and said Washington wanted to see Europe develop its military capabilities.
But Obama also encouraged a skeptical Europe to support his revamped strategy for rooting out terrorism suspects in Afghanistan and Pakistan, and said Europe should not expect America to send combat troops by itself.
“This is a joint problem,” Obama said. “And it requires a joint effort.”
Sarkozy rolled out all the pomp possible for Obama’s visit, with a red carpet arrival with full military honors from a company of soldiers dressed in camouflage at the majestic 18th-century Rohan Palace.
Obama, who also met with German Chancellor Angela Merkel before the formal start of the conference, offered strong praise for France’s “outstanding leadership” in Afghanistan.
France’s envoy to Afghanistan, Pierre Lellouche, said after the meeting with Sarkozy that Obama did not ask for more military forces for Afghanistan.
Spain said ahead of the summit that it will increase the number of soldiers it has in Afghanistan with a small contingent to help train Afghan Army officers. Spain has 778 troops as part of the 55,000-strong NATO presence.
Belgium said it will add some 65 soldiers to the force of 500 it already has in Afghanistan, and will send two more F-16 jet fighters, bringing the total number it has sent to six. Belgium will also double its financial aid to an annual $14.5 million over the next two years.
Obama called for a world without atomic weapons and urged allies to stand firm against Iran’s nuclear ambitions and a planned missile launch by North Korea.
A crowd mobbed him, and a woman kissed him, as he went into talks with Sarkozy, a day after helping broker a deal to combat the global economic crisis at the Group of 20 summit in London.
“Even with the Cold War now over, the spread of nuclear weapons, or the theft of nuclear material, could lead to the extermination of any city on the planet,” Obama told young French and German youths at a town hall meeting.
“This weekend in Prague I will lay out an agenda to seek the goal of a world without nuclear weapons,” he said, referring to talks with European Union leaders tomorrow.
Taking questions from the crowd on issues ranging from the economic crisis to bringing a dog to the White House, he said a nuclear arms deal would increase Washington’s moral authority in dealings over North Korea and Iran.
Obama earlier told the joint news conference with Sarkozy that Iran must not be allowed to develop nuclear weapons, although he has reached out to Tehran since he took office, and warned nuclear-armed North Korea that the international community would take steps if it went ahead with its planned missile launch.
