Number 2 of the Pentagon in Brussels
Meeting at the European Defense Agency. (Credit: US Department of Defense, US Air Force Master Sgt. Jerry Morrison)
The number 2 of the Pentagon, William J. Lynn, was in Brussels on Tuesday for a comprehensive visit to NATO with Anders Fogh Rasmussen, to the European Commission with Cathy Ashton and the European Defense Agency with Claude-France Arnould, his new director. A meeting dedicated to cybersecurity and Iran, among others. But also to budgetary and capacity issues.
A necessary sharing of the burden, a specialization of "small nations"
« All NATO nations face budgetary pressures he explained. " Decreasing tax revenues are forcing them to find new ways to work together to develop new capabilities. This must inevitably lead us to seek a better sharing of the burden.. This was also the meaning of his visit to the European Defense Agency. " I particularly think that the smaller nations must evolve so as not to seek to have a capability covering the entire possible spectrum, but to try to identify the sectors where they have a comparative advantage and can bring more NB: A remark almost similar to that made by the Hungarian Minister of Defense, Csaba Hende, in our columns.
Another message from the American envoy: cybersecurity. " It is important that we share threats and solutions he explained in substance, referring to the concrete steps taken by the United States to defend their cyberspace, in particular in the work carried out between the Pentagon and private industrialists. "The Department of Defense has learned a lot about protecting US military networks," he said.
It can be noted that this visit to the European Defense Agency is not insignificant at a time when several ministers want it to increase in power, particularly on capacity and budgetary issues.
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