Afghanistan NATO’s most important task

OSLO: Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Stoere says that Norway supports NATO and other allies in the view that Afghanistan must be seen as NATO’s most important task in the near future.

Stoere said this in a speech at the Oslo Military Society. The Foreign Minister said among other things that the challenge in Afghanistan was not only of a military nature.

As a NATO member country we are challenged in a new way, when we see that the development in Afghanistan is moving in the wrong direction, he said.

And we do not meet this challenge with more troops, he added.

In a joint press release last week, the Foreign Minister and Defence Minister Anne-Grete Stroem-Erichsen stated that Norway would increase project-related assistance to Afghanistan, and seek to ensure that some of the funds are used to achieve rapid, visible results for Afghans.