08:01 GMT, October 12, 2009 NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and Minister of Defence Jaak Aaviksoo, who met yesterday in Tallinn, declared that the main objective of NATO is and will continue to be collective defence based on Article V.

At the meeting, Minister Aaviksoo stated that in the current security situation, it’s important for allies to demonstrate the visibility and capabilities of NATO via military planning, exercises and training to react to the challenges facing the Alliance.

At the meeting, Secretary General Rasmussen declared that Article V is the main function of NATO, just as it has been over the past 60 years. “In the context of the new strategic concept it is clear that the protection of the territory of the Alliance will be the main task of NATO,” Secretary General Rasmussen stressed. “The visible presence of NATO across the entire territory of the Alliance is of utmost importance,” he added.

“It is very important that the visibility of air policing has increased and that the allies have reached an agreement to extend the mission until at least 2014,” Minister of Defence Aaviksoo said.

When speaking about the Afghanistan operation, the Secretary General thanked Estonia for its remarkable contribution, which is one of the largest per capita.

The next meeting between Minister Aaviksoo and Secretary General Rasmussen will take place at the end of October, in Bratislava, at the informal meeting of NATO defence ministers.