NATO Ends Session, Agrees to Focus on New ‘Outside’ Threats

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, citing a “profound transformation” in Western Europe’s security situation, on Friday identified aggression by Iraq and instability in Eastern Europe as threats that must dominate alliance’s future planning.

In another development of significance to NATO, Secretary of Defense Dick Cheney revealed that he has decided to remove permanently from military aircraft a Europe-based nuclear-tipped missile called SRAM-2. He said they pose safety hazards.

Cheney had ordered the missiles removed from “alert status” in June after receiving reports that the weapons could leak radioactive material if they were caught in a fire. In announcing their permanent removal Friday, Cheney acknowledged that the SRAM’s safety problems cannot be corrected easily. He added, however, that the missiles would be available for use in emergencies.

In two days of meetings here, NATO defense ministers focused mostly on newly perceived threats to the alliance. But they also agreed that the organization must keep some forces deployed in traditional roles in Europe in spite of the disappearance of old Cold War confrontations.

“Even in a non-adversarial relationship, prudence requires NATO to counterbalance residual Soviet military capabilities, and risks to alliance security can also rise from instability in East and Central Europe and from elsewhere,” the defense ministers said in a final statement.

The meeting marked the first time that NATO leaders have agreed to address problems that until now have been considered outside the alliance’s charter.

These problems include possible actions to forestall the economic collapse of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. NATO’s position on Iraq, backed by Cheney’s appeals for additional help for Operation Desert Shield, also could lead the way toward an alliance role in the Persian Gulf.

Cheney said that allies offered “generally favorable” responses to his requests for more combat forces and logistical support in the gulf. But many allies have been reticent to act jointly in addressing that crisis or the economic turmoil of Eastern Europe.

Most recently, for instance, Spain opposed a proposal to send a joint NATO naval force to Egypt to underline the alliance’s concern about developments in the Middle East. The opposition has effectively torpedoed the proposal for now, NATO officials said.

Cheney said that Operation Desert Shield is likely to speed the permanant shrinkage of U.S. forces in Europe. Many of the American units sent from Europe to the Middle East will probably return directly to the United States, Cheney told reporters after the meeting.

The defense ministers also agreed that NATO can make “further dramatic reductions” in its nuclear forces in Western Europe. But they insisted that it must continue to base modern nuclear weapons in Europe to keep the peace.