2009 Strasbourg–Kehl NATO summit

The 2009 Strasbourg–Kehl Summit was the NATO summit of heads of state and heads of government held in Strasbourg, France, and in Kehl and Baden-Baden, Germany, on 3–4 April 2009. The summit marked the 60th anniversary of the establishment of North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). Primarily a celebratory 60th-anniversary event, the agenda included a number of urgent topics commanding the NATO leaders' attention. This is the summit following Albania and Croatia's accession to NATO.

Summit participants

Hosts To symbolize an evolving vision of European cooperation, for the first time a NATO summit was jointly hosted by two member nations: France, led by President Nicolas Sarkozy, and Germany, led by German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

The formal meetings were chaired by NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. "NATO North Atlantic Council Summit meetings of Heads of State and Government; Complementary Information for the media." NATO press release. Retrieved 5 May 2009. Archived 15 August 2009. This was the last summit for de Hoop Scheffer, whose 61st birthday, coincidentally, came just one day before this 60th-anniversary summit.

Although the first of the significant summit events in Germany was held in Baden-Baden, the town was left off the official logo. This led to protests from local politicians; but the result was a comparatively calm beginning to a summit which also provided the opportunity for dramatic protests on the second day.

In attendance Albania – President Bamir Topi "NATO welcomes Albania and Croatia at the Summit," NATO News. 4 April 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2009. Archived 2009-08-15. Belgium – Prime Minister Herman Van RompuyNATO Newsroom: Arrival photos, captions. Retrieved 5 May 2009. Archived 2009-08-15. Bulgaria – President Georgi Parvanov Canada – Prime Minister Stephen Harper "Harper heads to Europe at crucial crossroads for economy and NATO," The Canadian Press. 30 March 2009. Croatia – President Stipe Mesić Czech Republic – Prime Minister Mirek TopolánekRicard, Philippe. «Les Européens s'efforcent de présenter un front uni face au président Obama,» Le Monde (Paris). 31 March 2009. Denmark – Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen "Danish PM to be new head of Nato," Al Jazeera (English). 4 April 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2009. Archived 2009-08-15. Estonia – Prime Minister Andrus Ansip «OTAN: les 28 dirigeants présents au sommet de Strasbourg/Baden Baden,» Associated Press/Yahoo.fr. 2 April 2009. France – President Nicolas Sarkozy Germany – Chancellor Angela Merkel Greece – Prime Minister Kostas Karamanlis Hungary – Prime Minister Ferenc Gyurcsány Iceland – Foreign Minister Össur SkarphéðinssonForeign Minister attending NATO anniversary Summit. Icelandic Ministry for Foreign Affairs. 2 April 2009. Retrieved 11 November 2016. Italy – Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi "Berlusconi defends NATO summit phone gaffe," Agence France-Presse. 4 April 2009. Latvia – Prime Minister Valdis Dombrovskis Lithuania – Prime Minister Andrius Kubilius Luxembourg – Prime Minister Jean-Claude Juncker Netherlands – Prime Minister Jan Peter Balkenende Norway – Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg Poland – President Lech Kaczyński Portugal – Prime Minister José Sócrates Romania Prime Minister Emil Boc Slovakia– President Ivan Gašparovič "Sommet de l’OTAN en Allemagne," Radio Slovakia International. 3 April 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2009. 2009-08-15. Slovenia – Prime Minister Borut Pahor Spain – Prime Minister José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero Turkey – President Abdullah Gül United Kingdom – Prime Minister Gordon Brown United States – President Barack Obama

Summit agenda Details of the agenda were withheld until the last minute.Scheffer, Jaap de Hoop. "The Future of Nato." 23 March 2009.

United States President Barack Obama posed a unique quandary as Europeans asked themselves how best to respond to an ally who is sending all the signals they had desired.Marquand, Robert. "On eve of NATO summit, Obama's style poses inherent challenge for Europe," The Christian Science Monitor (Boston). 2 April 2009.

On Friday, 3 April 2009, the summit's first official event was a working dinner at the Kurhaus, Baden-Baden.

The first event on Saturday, 4 April 2009, focused on Chancellor Merkel's welcome to the NATO leaders as they arrived individually in Kehl, Germany. Then, having gathered on the German side of the Rhine River, the NATO Leaders walked together across the Passerelle pedestrian bridge to Strasbourg, France. The NATO leaders were greeted at the French border by President Sarkozy. Meetings were held at the Palais de la musique et des congrès with an arrival ceremony at the Palais Rohan, Strasbourg.

On the French side of the Rhine, the 28 national leaders posed for the NATO "family portrait", a tradition at NATO summits. Then the main work began with a working lunch and at other meetings in Strasbourg.

In addition, several heads of state, government leaders and other principals were involved in non–summit events which encompassed individual and/or bilateral events on the margins of the formal summit agenda.

Issues After 60 years, NATO found itself on the cusp of a watershed period in the organization's history; «'Der Friedensbeitrag der Nato ist unbestritten,' Jean-Claude Juncker au sujet des anciennes performances et des nouveaux défis de l'OTAN,» Le gouvernement de Grande-Duché du Luxembourg. 4 April 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2009. Archived 15 August 2009. and top items on the agenda included:

Afghanistan war Some have argued that the most critical issue NATO faces in 2009 arises from Afghanistan. Any NATO discussion about Afghanistan involves developing a comprehensive strategy which brings non-NATO regional powers into a discussion about how best to proceed in short- and longer-term time frames. «L'Afghanistan reste au centre des inquiétudes de l'Otan,» L'Express (Paris). 4 April 2009. Although the newly elected Obama continued to enjoy a reservoir of good will, experts anticipated only token gestures of support for any plan which involves increased levels of European troops. In the end, the allies managed to find more reasons for consensus than had been expected, and the increases in the various commitments from the Europeans was a little greater than had been anticipated. «Le sommet de l'OTAN s'achève sur un consensus,» Le Monde (Paris). 4 April 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2009. Archived 15 August 2009.

Relations with Russia

Russia's relationships with the West are a perennial NATO concern. Obama summarized his view of the dialogue with Russia about maintaining stability while protecting the autonomy of all countries in Europe: "I think that it is important for NATO allies to engage Russia and to recognize that they have legitimate interests in some cases, we've got common interests, but we also have some core disagreements."

France's reintegration France's decision to seek reintegration with the NATO military hierarchy caused all the allies to evaluate the potential ramifications. In 1966, then-President Charles de Gaulle caused France to withdraw from the U.S.-led military command. Sarkozy determined that the time was ripe to change course radically, and the French Parliament backed this decision with a vote of confidence.

New strategic concept The tumble of events in the past years has made it necessary to re-examine NATO's core strategic concepts. This re-assessment opens up possibilities for change and for plausible "new" strategies and "new" assumptions as well. At this summit, the allied leaders moved forward in a process which is expected to result in a new strategic doctrine which will be formally adopted at next year's summit in Lisbon, Portugal. The updated vision of NATO contemplates a range of expanded responsibilities, including out-of-area operations in Afghanistan and anti-piracy patrols near the Horn of Africa.

Unresolved questions surrounded all aspects of potential NATO expansion. On 1 April 2009, two days before the summit's first day, Albania and Croatia were accepted as full members of the organization. The President and Prime Minister of each of these newest NATO allies attended the summit. Official flag-raising ceremonies at NATO's headquarters in Brussels, Belgium, were planned for 7 April 2009. "NATO Secretary General welcomes Albania and Croatia as NATO members." NATO newsroom. 2 April 2009. Retrieved 5 May 2009. Archived 14 August 2009.

Pre-summit speculation about the next NATO Secretary-General focused on five candidates: Bulgaria's former Foreign Minister Solomon Passy, Poland's Foreign Minister Radek Sikorski, Norway's Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Støre, Canada's Defense Minister Peter MacKay, and Denmark's Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. "New NATO Chief Thumbnails," Suomen Kuvalehti (Helsinki). 3 April 2009. In the end, Rasmussen was chosen by consensus. «Anders Fogh Rasmussen, prochain secrétaire général de l'Otan,» L'Express (Paris). 4 April 2009.

Protests and security measures In view of announced protests, French and German authorities announced plans to restrict access to and movement within designated security areas, including parts of Strasbourg and Kehl.Soldt, Rüdiger.faz.net: "Polizei erwartet bis zu 25.000 Nato-Gegner," Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ). 28 February 2009. These included the requirement that 700 local residents living in a restricted area of Kehl would not be allowed to leave their homes between Friday night and Saturday morning without requesting a police escort. In response, War Resisters International argued that the measures are contrary to the French constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights.War Resisters International – NATO summit 2009: A democracy free zone – 11 March 2009 Following negotiations, protest organizers accused German authorities of stalling tactics.Arzt, Ingo. Keine Gnade für Demonstranten die tageszeitung. 19 January. 2009

German police estimates anticipated that 25,000 protesters will seek to express themselves during the summit. 15,000 German police were on call for the weekend; and forces were augmented by Bundeswehr support, including interceptor planes, transport helicopters, paramedics, motorcycle escorts, buses and other vehicles. "Policing a Pricey Photo-Op: Germany Beefs up Security for NATO Summit," Der Spiegel International. 9 March 2009. Major demonstrations and protest activities took place on Saturday in France, with 300 protestors arrested. In contrast, Baden-Baden's increased security preparations seemed not to affect an abiding sense of calm in the German resort town.France3: «Baden-Baden fête les 60 ans de l'OTAN.» 3 April 2009.

France temporarily reactivated border controls with neighboring European nations for two weeks in anticipation of the summit. These strict measures were designed to "guarantee security" and minimize terrorism risks during the summit. Special permission was granted to France and Germany to suspend the Schengen Agreement which guarantees free passage for all European Union citizens traveling between EU member states.

2009 Strasbourg–Kehl NATO summit

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