Secretary Clinton Joins NATO Ministerial Meeting in Brussels

4 December 2009

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton

U.S. Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, is in Brussels attending a meeting of the North Atlantic Council at NATO Headquarters December 4.  Allied Foreign Ministers are discussing the situation in Afghanistan, NATO’s Open Door policy, relations with Russia, Ukraine and Georgia, missile defense, and NATO’s new Strategic Concept, among other topics.  Secretary Clinton will also meet with NATO Secretary General Rasmussen, newly appointed Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme, Foreign Minister Steven Vanackere, and other EU leaders.

NATO Foreign Ministers will focus today on the new approach in Afghanistan as proposed by the Commander of the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, and as enunciated further by President Barack Obama’s announcement of an increased American commitment.  Ministers will also meet with counterparts from other ISAF troop-contributing nations, as well as Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Dadfar Spanta, UNAMA Special Representative Ambassador Kai Eide, and Baroness Catherine Ashton, the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

• More information on the NATO Ministerial Meeting, December 3-4, 2009.
• Full text of Secretary Clinton’s press briefing en route to Brussels.
• Full text of Mark Toner’s press briefing on ISAF.