Monthly press conference

by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen held the first in a series of monthly press conferences with members of the media at the Alliance’s Headquarters in Brussels. He said he wanted three issues to be raised. Afghanistan in particular, the Strategic Assessment and the elections. Three points about elections.

First: the security aspects of the elections went well, 95% of the 6500 polling stations opened as planned. Only 2% were attacked. That is a real success, which goes first to the Afghan Security Forces.

Second: it is too early to make final judgments on fraud or turnout, considering that the final, certified results will only be confirmed in two weeks or so. There is a process, and structures in place, to investigate and make judgments on accusations of fraud. Let them do their work. And all parties must behave responsibly, during this fluid period.

Third: we need to keep this election in perspective. Whatever happens – and I hope the final results will be credible – we must remember that we don’t have 60,000 troops in Afghanistan simply for elections. We are there to prevent Afghanistan from again becoming a safe haven for international terrorism. Credible elections are part of that, but we shouldn’t forget that we’ve successfully kept Afghanistan from becoming safe haven for terrorism and we will continue to do so.

Like conclusion, we can see that elections are trying to be secure and honest. It is really important that the final results are completely fair and beneficial for everyone in Afghanistan.