46th Munich security conference closes on Sunday

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MUNICH, February 7 (Itar-Tass) - The participants in the 46th Munich
Conference on Security Policy, which is closing on Sunday, will discuss
the future of NATO, its strategy and missions, primarily the one in
Afghanistan. The speakers will include NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh
Rasmussen, the defence ministers of Germany and Canada, and Konstantin
Kosachev, the chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee for
International Affairs.
On Saturday, the discussion focused on the future of European and
global security, nuclear disarmament and prospects of arms control.
Speeches delivered by Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and First
Deputy Prime Minister Sergei Ivanov aroused great interest.
Iran's nuclear problem dominated the discussions, which were sometimes
heated and emotional.
A new Russian initiative on concluding a legally binding European
Security Treaty also caused debates.
German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle has called for meaningful
discussion of European security initiatives proposed by Russian President
Dmitry Medvedev.
"Strategic partnership with Russia is an inseparable part not only of
European security, it's also important for the solution of global
problems," Mr. Westerwelle told the 46th Munich Conference on Security
Policy on Saturday.
"We want this partnership and we want to develop it in areas where we
have common interests. This is also true of meaningful discussion on
president Medvedev's proposals on European security," the German foreign
minister went on to say.
He also supported the development of trans-Atlantic friendship and
partnership.
"The American and European positions have seldom been closer than they
are today," Guido Westerwelle said. He noted common interest in fighting
terrorism and in the solution of regional conflicts.
"All our societies have suffered from the financial and economic
crisis," the German diplomat said, adding that everybody was facing common
challenges and that created favorable conditions for renewed
trans-Atlantic partnership.
The European Union is open for discussion of Russian proposals on the
conclusion of a new European Security Treaty and believes that the OSCE
should be the platform for this discussion, according to Catherine Ashton,
EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos told the 46th Munich
Conference on Security Policy on Saturday that Spain welcomed the Russian
president's call to improve the European security.
The Spanish foreign minister stressed the need to establish better
partnership with Russia and called for patience in developing more
cooperative and constructive relations between Western countries and
Russia, which is getting stronger in order to make it a strong partner in
fighting common global threats.
In this context, Moratinos welcomed President Medvedev's calls to
improve pan-European security and the active discussion, which Russia is
conducting at the OSCE within the framework of the Corfu process.
The Spanish foreign minister said that relations between NATO and
Russia and between the European Union and Russia were particularly
important for stability and common security and joint counteraction to
common terrorist threats, proliferation of nuclear weapons and failed
states.
On Saturday evening, the former EU foreign and security policy chief,
Javier Solana, was awarded the medal of Ewald von Kleist, one of the
living founders of the Munich conference, to commend Solana's contribution
to strengthening peace among nations and settling conflicts.
By tradition, anarchists, anti-globalists and the left-wing forces are
staging anti-NATO rallies. About 2,000 people have recently gathered for
one of such protest actions, according to police. On the whole, the
protest passed quyite peacefully. Police deainte only seven demonstrators.

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