From DPA:  NATO staff under the command of both the current NATO chief, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, and his predecessor Jaap de Hoop Scheffer supplied information to authorities in the US, according to the cables released by the whistleblower website WikiLeaks.   …

Norway’s daily Aftenposten published several of the cables on its website. One, dated 10 September 2009, referred to a letter sent by Rasmussen to the secretary general of the Russian-dominated Collective Security Treaty Organization (CSTO).

The letter was leaked to the US mission ‘by a member of the NATO International Staff (strictly protect)),’ the cable read. The letter was a cordial response to an earlier message from CSTO Secretary General Nikolai Bordyuzha welcoming Rasmussen to his new job. …

The US cable concluded that it was ‘unusual for a Secretary General to act on such a politically sensitive topic without clearer guidance from and transparency with Allies.’

‘Rasmussen appears to feel empowered to act with a greater degree of independence than did his predecessor,’ the diplomatic communique noted.

 

From Aftenposten, excerpts from leaked cable:  NATO Secretary General ready to reach out to CSTO?

The SecGen sent CSTO Secretary General Nikolay Borduyzha an August 24 letter thanking him for an earlier message in which Borduyzha offered Rasmussen congratulations on his appointment as NATO SecGen. We understand that Rasmussen had his letter delivered to Borduyzha through Russian Ambassador to NATO Rogozin. Rasmussens brief message (a copy of which was provided by a member of the NATO International Staff (strictly protect)) thanked the CSTO chief for his "kind letter" of August 1, noted that he had taken over NATO at a time when the "organization is faced with a wide range of challenges," and concluded that "NATO is well placed and well equipped to meet these challenges." We have not seen Borduyzhas initial letter to Rasmussen. …

Rasmussen intends to address the topic of improving NATO relations with Russia, one of his stated priorities as SecGen, in an upcoming speech that a member of the NATO International Staff told us would probably "go further than many Allies, including the United States, will be comfortable with." We do not have details on the speech, which is one of several thematic addresses the SecGen intends to give laying out his vision for NATO.  (photo: Reuters)

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