Transatlantic Focus:
A U.S. Foreign Policy Newsletter

NATO Sofia Ministerial

Secretary Rice Remarks After NATO Ministerial Meeting. [...] NATO is a central and critically important forum for political discussion among the alliance members and we will, of course, continue those discussions tonight with members of the European Union. NATO is involved in places that I'm quite certain its founders would never have imagined: in support of the African Union mission in Darfur; in training Iraqi security forces; of course, in the extensive operations that we have undertaken in Afghanistan. We are looking at further training initiatives to extend the partnership that we have around the world, including to extend the Mediterranean dialogue that we have with countries of the Middle East. In other words, this is a vibrant and great institution that has easily made a transition and that continues that transformation, and I look forward to continued discussion with my colleagues tonight and then tomorrow morning. [...]  more

Sofia a building block for Riga, says Secretary General Briefing reporters on the meeting of Foreign Ministers in Sofia, 27-28 April, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said the meeting will shape the subjects that will be discussed at the Riga Summit in November. The Secretary General highlighted NATO’s partnerships, enlargement and a new training initiative as some of the key issues that will be discussed. more | Opening remarks

NATO looks to global partnerships Meeting in Sofia, Bulgaria, 27 April, NATO Foreign Ministers started a discussion on strengthening and expanding NATO’s relations with non-member countries. This could see NATO reaching beyond its traditional partnerships and establishing deeper relations with countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan or South Korea. The Alliances is also looking at strengthening its current partnerships with non-member countries in Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. Speaking to reporters, NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer stressed that this was an informal meeting and the start of discussions, which will culminate at the NATO Summit in Riga this November. more

Political Progress in Iraq

Rice Visits Baghdad To Consult New Iraqi Leaders Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice made an unannounced visit to Baghdad April 26 to consult with Iraq’s newly chosen government officials and review operations at the U.S. Embassy to ensure it is in a position to provide the new Iraqi government with the support it needs. Rice told Iraqi reporters that she came to offer congratulations to Prime Minister-Designate Jawad al-Maliki and to pledge the United States’ support for the new government. more

Press Availability with Secretary Rumsfeld and Secretary Rice in Baghdad, Iraq  US Department of Defense, Baghdad Iraq. April 26, 2006. more

IRAN

Rice Remains "Hopeful" Diplomacy Will Work with Iran U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice responded April 25 to the latest statements of defiance from Iran over its nuclear program by saying she remains hopeful diplomacy eventually will succeed. “Whenever the Iranian regime makes statements of this kind it only deepens its own isolation, because of course the international community has spoken through a UN Security Council presidential statement that says that Iran should stop its enrichment activities, to suspend them and return to negotiations,” Rice said in an interview with Greek State Broadcasting. “And I'm still hopeful that Iran recognizes that indeed there will be further steps by the Security Council, particularly if it continues this defiance,” she said. more

State's Burns Sees Growing Consensus for Iran Sanctions There is a growing international consensus that some sort of sanctions might be necessary to confront Iran’s continued defiance of international calls for it to suspend its nuclear program, U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Nicholas Burns said April 18. “I think there is increased discussion - not just in the group with which we met tonight, but in the world as a whole - about the need for a stiff response to Iran's flagrant violations of its international responsibilities, particularly the enrichment decision of last week, and that more and more countries are talking about the need for some type of sanctions against Iran,” he told an Associated Press reporter following meetings with Russian and Chinese diplomats in Moscow April 18. more

Helping Darfur

United States Wants Darfur Peacekeeping Force Finalized U.S. Ambassador John Bolton said that Khartoum's refusal to allow U.N. peacekeeping planners into Darfur is "obviously not something we can live with." The effect of not being able to visit Darfur, Bolton said April 26, is to push off into the future the point at which a transition from the overstretched African Union (AU) mission to a more robust, agile U.N. force can occur. The United States has been in the forefront in trying to get a larger, more mobile, better-equipped U.N. peacekeeping force in Darfur to provide more security for civilians and stop human-rights violations. U.N. planners have been working for months on assessing what a U.N. force would need, its size, and how it would be deployed. But the United Nations has said that without an on-the-spot technical assessment mission, which Sudan opposes, final plans cannot be made. more

U.N. Security Council Issues Sanctions Against Four Sudanese The Security Council has imposed sanctions on four Sudanese found responsible for committing atrocities in Darfur. Resolution 1672, which was adopted by a vote of 12-0, with China, Russia and Qatar abstaining, was part of three separate actions taken by the 15-nation Security Council April 25 to stand behind its policies on Sudan, put pressure on the parties in Darfur to conclude a cease-fire agreement by the end of April and speak out against the growing instability along the Chad-Sudan border. more

Like-Minded States Must Work Together To Thwart Terrorist Agenda The chief of U.S. intelligence says al-Qaida and affiliated organizations are menacing U.S. and allied interests in an unprecedented way and calls for nations to work together to undermine the terrorists’ agenda.

Director of National Intelligence John Negroponte says the main thrust of intelligence efforts is to stop terrorists from carrying out attacks and to thwart attempts “to take over or destabilize entire nations” such as Iraq or Afghanistan. In an April 24 speech to the 28th national leadership conference of the Anti-Defamation League, he said that collective intelligence efforts also are focused on preventing terrorists from acquiring dangerous nuclear and biological weapons as well as ensuring that rogue states like North Korea and Iran do not circumvent international law. more

Transatlantic Focus: A U.S. Foreign Policy Newsletter
is published and distributed by the Public Affairs Section of the United States Mission to NATO - Brussels.