Chollet: U.S. Committed to Europe’s Stability

WASHINGTON, UNITED STATES

10.07.2014

Courtesy Story

Defense.gov         

Russian threats to Ukraine are one example of how the security landscape in Europe has changed, and the United States will remain involved and engaged in events on the continent and beyond, Derek Chollet, the assistant secretary of defense for international security affairs said today.

Chollet, who addressed the International Institute of Strategic Studies here, emphasized that the United States will continue to work with European allies as needed.

NATO, of course, remains America’s bedrock security alliance, Chollet said. Last month’s alliance summit in Wales reiterated the importance of setting goals for the future. The Russian threat to Ukraine heightened the necessity of collective defense on the continent.

More than a North Atlantic organization

But NATO has become more than a North Atlantic organization, he said. The alliance still commands the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan and will maintain an advise-and-assist mission in the country beginning in January 2015.

Such out-of-area conflicts, including NATO’s intervention in Libya, and other instability in North Africa suggest new importance to the alliance, he said.

But in Europe itself, Chollet said NATO and the United States are working to shore up Central and Eastern European alliance partners and allies and are also working with non-NATO partners in the Balkans and Ukraine where the U.S. is working to build and sustain capabilities.

The United States will provide troops for “a robust program of rotational deployments, pre-positioned equipment [and] exercise programs to ensure that their capability is as robust as it can be” for Eastern Europe, he said.

The United States is also working with European allies to counter the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, he said.

“The great accomplishment of the Wales Summit was the unity that the alliance showed in the fight against ISIL and the willingness of many NATO allies to step up and contribute in a meaningful way to that fight.”

(Follow Jim Garamone on Twitter: @garamoneDoDNews)

Story by Jim Garamone, DoD News, Defense Media Activity

• Date Taken: 10.07.2014
• Date Posted: 07.03.2025 10:37
• Story ID: 505209
• Location: WASHINGTON, US