Rumsfeld, in Germany, Urges NATO Unity

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld, taking a conciliatory tone, said at a security conference Saturday that the U.S.-European alliance could withstand its current differences, and urged unified efforts to defeat terrorism and deter weapons proliferation.

Among those attending were United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and German Defense Minister Peter Struck.

Referring to his earlier critical description of European nations that opposed the Iraq war as “Old Europe,” the Defense secretary said, “That was old Rumsfeld,” drawing laughs from other officials. “Our collective security depends on our cooperation and mutual respect and understanding,” Rumsfeld said.

But Rumsfeld spoke against a German proposal that would create a transatlantic rival to NATO in coordinating and developing security policy among member nations.

Rumsfeld described the 26-country alliance, created in 1949 to counter the military threat from the Soviet Union, as still energetic and vital.

Germany’s Struck proposed more direct coordination between the European Union and the U.S. NATO “is no longer the primary venue where transatlantic partners discuss and coordinate strategies,” said the defense minister, reading a speech on behalf of German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder, who was ill.

But Rumsfeld said: “NATO has a great deal of energy and vitality.... The place to discuss transatlantic issues clearly is NATO.”

NATO chief Scheffer, citing missions in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq, said that “this alliance is very alive.”

Rumsfeld advocated further cooperative efforts to counter the spread of weapons of mass destruction and terrorism, and he sounded a note of confidence in NATO’s future.

“Our Atlantic alliance relationship has navigated through some choppy seas over the years. But we have always been able to resolve the toughest issues,” he said. “That is because there is so much to unite us: common values, shared histories and an abiding faith in democracy.”