Tag: Anders Fogh Rasmussen

NATO: heading towards a North Atlantic Cyber Security Organisation?

The Alliance works to confront a dangerous security challenge.

By Menekse Tokyay for Southeast European Times in Istanbul — 24/06/11

”]As a consequence of cyber attacks in Estonia and in Georgia in 2007 and 2008 respectively, NATO recognised that cyber security had to be placed at the forefront of new security challenges to be dealt with in the years ahead.

That in turn has required the strengthening of the Alliance’s cyber defence capabilities as the threats evolve and become increasingly more sophisticated, potentially undermining critical systems and infrastructure.

“A cyber attack can bring a country down without a single soldier having to cross its borders; and it is no exaggeration to state that cyber attacks have become a new form of permanent, low-level warfare,” says NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

This new security challenge was on the agenda at the June 8th-9th meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels. Ministers agreed on an action plan and on a revised cyber defence policy which will not only ensure a quicker and more effective protection of NATO’s own network, but also provide the Allies and Partners with more assistance in preventing the cyber attacks, coping with them and limiting their impact.

The new strategy requires that all NATO structures be brought under a centralised protection system, and that all of its networks be monitored round the clock as of 2012.

“At this meeting, NATO took the decision to start co-operation with the EU; but the European approach on cyber defence is still limited with the computers’ security by focusing merely on the Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT),” explains Salih Bıçakçı, professor of international relations at Işık University and one of the top experts on cyber defence issues.

Meanwhile, Europe is grappling with the need to hash out a common strategy.

According to Can Buharalı, managing partner of Istanbul Economy Consulting (EDAM), since the EU has no specific common policy area yet for defence issues, it cannot currently implement an effective common defence policy against cyber attacks.

The United States has assumed a role as a potential leader in cyber defence. According to Buharalı, the latest decision by the Obama Administration to respond to cyber attacks with conventional weapons shows that this issue is gaining more traction worldwide.

However, he adds, all these initiatives serve only as declarations of intention, at least for now.

Although a crucial member of NATO, Turkey lags behind in these spheres and is not at an advanced level of organisation as regards cyber defence. “Despite including the cyber security issue into the National Security Politics Document, it is not so clear how to implement this concept,” Bıçakçı tells SETimes.

Establishment of a new Ministry of Technology is considered a promising step, Bıçakçı said, adding however that no state can ensure cyber security by excluding the private sector.

According to Mustava Ünver, department head at the Information Technologies and Communication Authority (BTK), it is important that the “state should take responsibilities on behalf of its citizens and ensure that both public and private sectors resist such attacks”.

With multiple panels and agencies involved, one of the chief problems in Turkey has been the overlapping of competencies.

Organisations playing a role include TÜBİTAK-BOME (Intervention Team for Computer-related Events), which executes the mission of CERT; BTK and TIB (Communication Directorate of Turkey), tasked with protecting the internet; and TÜBİTAK-UEKAE (National Research Institute of Electronics and Cryptology), which serves as NATO’s contact point in Turkey.

“This state-of-play prevents Turkey from being an important actor for the initiatives of NATO. However, as a result of its membership, Turkey will be much more willing to follow NATO’s strategy of strengthening cyber defence,” Bıcakcı tells SETimes.

On the other hand, TÜBİTAK-UEKAE Institute Deputy Director Mert Üneri thinks that at the state level, a kind of consciousness has been already established regarding cyber threats.

In late January, Turkey organised a simulated operation of national cyber security together with the leadership of TÜBİTAK and BTK. The goal was to test the security of 41 strategic national institutions’ systems against intrusions and attacks.

According to Binali Yıldırım, the January operation was completed successfully and there will be more operations in the future. However, he added, it remains essential to develop a system that would be alert constantly.

In all, experts say, the Alliance is heading in the right direction by considering the importance of soft security issues in the changing security environment. But there is still much work to be done.

This content was commissioned for SETimes.com.

via NATO: heading towards a North Atlantic Cyber Security Organisation? (SETimes.com).

June 25, 2011
Rasmussen fails to persuade Turkey to close İzmir base

The chief of NATO failed to persuade Turkey to shut down the alliance’s command base in the Aegean city of İzmir as part of its decision last year to scale down the number of command bases during his brief visit to Ankara on Monday.

A senior Turkish government official told Today’s Zaman under the condition of anonymity that Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s efforts to spur Turkish authorities to agree on the closure of the NATO Allied Air Component Command in İzmir failed utterly. NATO’s secretary-general had talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu on Monday during his four-hour visit to Ankara.

NATO is currently using its command base in İzmir to oversee its aerial mission as part of the operation against Libyan forces loyal to Libyan leader Col. Muammar Gaddafi, and Rasmussen plans the closure of the command base right after the operation finishes.

The senior official said Libya was also on the agenda of talks between Rasmussen and Turkish officials in Ankara, which came just days ahead of an informal meeting of NATO foreign ministers in Berlin on April 14-15.

In October last year at a meeting in Brussels during which Turkey was represented by Davutoğlu and Defense Minister Vecdi Gönül, leaders drafted plans to reform NATO’s command structure and cut the numbers of fixed headquarters to seven from 11, trimming staff numbers to 8,500 from around 13,000. Leaders would defer the politically sensitive decision on which bases to close until June this year. Bases in Portugal, Turkey and Italy are considered most under threat. The binding decision was made at NATO’s Lisbon summit but leaders did not mention which bases are to be closed.

Earlier, US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates insisted that at least one command base should remain in Turkey, Turkish diplomatic sources told reporters, noting that Gates meant NATO’s Allied Air Component Command in İzmir, the main mission of which is to prepare to conduct the full range of air operations throughout NATO’s area of operations.

NATO earlier deactivated a command center in Eskişehir, a Central Anatolia city, while restructuring its command bases, in 2009.

Erdoğan reportedly told Rasmussen that NATO’s İzmir base could only be closed after Turkey becomes a European Union member, claiming that the base is the single component that maintains Turkey’s links with trans-Atlantic space.

NATO has two command bases in Germany and two in Italy. NATO’s other bases are located in Turkey, Britain, Belgium, the Netherlands, Spain, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Macedonia and Albania.

NATO had 65 bases during the chaotic collapse of the Soviet Union but it has since reduced the number to 11. After Turkey was accepted as NATO member in 1952, the alliance established a command base in İzmir.

Turkey is expected to undertake diplomatic overtures to avert any possible consensus in the NATO defense ministers meeting in June, which will likely discuss closure of NATO command bases.

Another senior government official told Today’s Zaman that Turkey could use its authority, including its veto right, to stave off the shutdown of the İzmir command base in NATO’s June meeting.

Sources also said Erdoğan reiterated in talks with Rasmussen that the NATO operation should end quickly so as to pave the way for dialogue between Gaddafi loyalists and rebels.

April 7, 2011
NATO chief to visit Turkey

ANKARA: NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen is to meet with Turkish leaders on Monday for talks expected to focus on NATO operations in conflict-torn Libya, a senior diplomat said on Friday.

He is scheduled to have talks with Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu, foreign ministry spokesman Selcuk Unal said.

“Relations between Turkey and NATO in general and the mission in Libya will be on the agenda,” Unal told AFP.

NATO took full control of Libyan operations on Thursday, replacing a US-led coalition that had been conducted air raids since March 19. Turkey, NATO’s sole predominantly Muslim member and a key regional player, had slammed the strikes, vowing to “never point a gun at the Libyan people.”

Last week, the Turkish parliament approved the dispatch of six military vessels to a NATO patrol mission in Libyan waters as the government moved reluctantly to join the military campaign. afp

via Daily Times – Leading News Resource of Pakistan – NATO chief to visit Turkey.

April 2, 2011
NATO’s Rasmussen visits Turkey

ANKARA, Turkey — NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen arrived in Ankara on Thursday (October 7th) saying that the Alliance should boost its contingent in Afghanistan in order to train the local army. “I have urged the rest of the Allies, I will also urge Turkey. The Afghans should assume higher responsibility for their country. More troops are necessary to train the Afghani army,” Rasmussen said. Ankara has refused to send more troops to Afghanistan — on top of the 1,800 soldiers already there — if they are assigned to military operations.

Another issue topping the agenda is Cyprus. “We are ready to work with him to find a solution that would take into consideration Turkey’s attitude in principle and allay our concerns,” Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said before meeting with Rasmussen. The visit is part of a tour he is making ahead of NATO’s November summit in Lisbon. (Turkish NY, DPA, Hurriyet – 08/10/10)

October 9, 2010
Nato secretary general is a control freak

Brussels diary: MANNEKEN PIS

Rasmussen: polish me a grape

At Nato a wave of nervousness has greeted the arrival of the new secretary general, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, a man so renowned as a control freak that, during his time as Danish premier, the contents of the prime ministerial fruit bowl became a national joke. When interviewing him journalists noticed how, before eating a grape, Rasmussen would carefully select and then polish it several times on his jacket before popping it in his mouth. Rasmussen’s war on germs extends to cutlery, which he often wipes on a napkin before use—even in the smartest of restaurants. And the new Nato secretary general is said to avoid touching lavatory door handles.

Though Nato’s cleaners will be under greater pressure than ever before, anxiety is highest in the organisation’s press service. Rasmussen was the first Danish political leader to employ a spin doctor and is bringing at least one communications aide with him. He has long thought that Nato needs to sharpen its presentation and was getting involved even in the era of his Dutch predecessor Jaap De Hoop Scheffer (whose regime was so low-key that he won the nickname “De Hoop-less”). Denmark funded the Nato internet television channel natochannel.tv, which Rasmussen launched alongside De Hoop Scheffer.

It is a fair bet that natochannel.tv, which dispenses images of troops and weaponry in Afghanistan, will start transmitting more pictures of the alliance’s secretary general in commanding poses. As prime minister during his country’s presidency of the EU in 2002, Rasmussen allowed a Danish documentary-maker behind-the-scenes access to private meetings and events. Several politicians emerged from the resulting film looking less than impressive, the leading casualty being Per Stig Møller, the foreign minister, who was shown being summarily overruled by his prime minister during discussions.

Jacques Chirac, then the French president, was also furious after being surprised when the camera crew were allowed access to restricted areas at a summit. One person did, however, appear to be very much in control in the film, with never a hair out of place: Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

Source: www.prospectmagazine.co.uk, 9th September 2009

September 25, 2009
NATO Chief Says He’d Consider Brzezinski Plea for Russia Accord

By James G. Neuger

Sept. 1 (Bloomberg) — NATO said it would consider a proposal by former U.S. National Security Adviser Zbigniew Brzezinski to tighten security arrangements with a Russian-led defense alliance to ease East-West tensions.

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said he has an “open mind” toward ideas to soothe the strains between the former Cold War adversaries that peaked with Russia’s 2008 invasion of Georgia, a would-be NATO member.

“We have to look closer into the possibilities of improving confidence between Russia and NATO,” Rasmussen said in an interview at North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters in Brussels yesterday. “I am prepared to look upon all ideas that serve confidence-building with an open mind.”

Western governments are courting Russian help in securing supply lines for the 100,000 allied troops in Afghanistan, stemming the spread of nuclear weapons and in combating piracy off the coast of Somalia.

Writing in the current issue of Foreign Affairs magazine, Brzezinski called for a pact with the Russian-led Collective Security Treaty Organization, a seven-nation group cobbled together out of the remnants of the Soviet Union.

Such an agreement would go beyond the periodic high-level NATO-Russia meetings that resumed in June after the 28-nation western alliance ended a diplomatic boycott to protest the Georgia invasion.

Brzezinski, who served under President Jimmy Carter from 1977 to 1981, wrote of a need “to consolidate security in Europe by drawing Russia into a closer political and military association with the Euro-Atlantic community and to engage Russia in a wider web of global security that indirectly facilitates the fading of Russia’s lingering imperial ambitions.”

‘Strategic Partnership’

Rasmussen urged a “strategic partnership” with Russia to ward off common threats such as terrorism.

NATO-Russia ties were strained by Bush administration plans for a missile-defense system in eastern Europe and efforts to offer alliance membership to Ukraine and Georgia, two former Soviet republics.

Relations broke down completely when Russia rolled over Georgia’s army in a five-day war to reestablish its sphere of influence. Russia later granted diplomatic recognition to two territories, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which declared independence and established military outposts in them.

President Barack Obama set out to “reset” relations with the Kremlin, heralding an East-West thaw.

Russian and NATO foreign ministers held their first post- Georgia-war meeting in Greece in June, agreeing to resume military-to-military cooperation.

Rasmussen, 56, a former Danish prime minister who became alliance chief Aug. 1, said he had not yet read Brzezinski’s proposals and stressed that any outreach to Russia would not undermine NATO’s role as the bedrock of trans-Atlantic security.

“The cornerstone of Euro-Atlantic security will still be NATO,” Rasmussen said.

To contact the reporter on this story: James G. Neuger in Brussels atjneuger@bloomberg.net

Source: www.bloomberg.com, August 31, 2009

September 2, 2009