He spoke Thursday, October 9, after attending a ceremony in front of Hungary’s historic parliament building in Budapest, honoring Hungarian soldiers who served in Afghanistan. Among the spectators were visibly shaken relatives of two Hungarian soldiers who were recently killed in the country.
The ceremony was held on the sidelines of a two day NATO summit that has been overshadowed by concerns over increased attacks by Taliban militants against NATO forces in Afghanistan and across the border from Pakistan. The violence has also made it difficult for Christian and other aid groups to operate in the area.
NATO’s International Security Assistance Force has about 51,000 troops in Afghanistan, helping the government stabilize the country, but it is a difficult task.
MILITARY WISH LIST
While meeting with NATO defense ministers, De Hoop Scheffer unveiled his military wish list for Afghanistan. "Which means not only as I mentioned, trainers but also helicopters and ground forces. I’ll be frank. I am not satisfied and I am not happy about the way the allies are performing in this regard," he told reporters.
De Hoop Scheffer added that the situation on the battlefield, where injured soldiers have had to wait for medical assistance, requires more NATO troops in the country.
"We owe it to our soldiers, who are wounded on the battlefield that they can be medically evacuated at the minimum time. That underlines my plea I think for the need to have forces nations promised," he said.
US REQUEST
Ahead of the NATO meeting, US Defense Secretary Robert Gates asked his counterparts, particularly from southeastern Europe, to send more troops to Afghanistan. De Hoop Scheffer urged NATO defense ministers to take new steps to crack down on the opium trade in Afghanistan, which helps fund the Taliban-led insurgency.
In addition, the NATO alliance needs trainers and funding to develop the Afghan army, which Kabul wants to increase from about 80,000 to more than 130,000 troops.
Despite these difficulties, De Hoop Scheffer said he is optimistic that delegates will reach consensus Friday on their countries’ involvement in Afghanistan, and on a plan to make NATO a more flexible force. On Friday, October 10, NATO defense ministers were also expected to discuss Georgia and assess the former Soviet republic’s efforts to reform its military to meet NATO membership requirements. (BosNewsLife’s NEWS WATCH is a regular look at key general news developments impacting the Church and/or compassionate professionals. Part of this BosNewsLife News story also airs on its affiliate, the Voice of America (VOA) network. www.voanews.com.
