NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen speaks during a news conference
Brussels:
NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Monday he did not believe this week's referendum on Scottish independence would undermine Britain's contribution to the alliance whatever the result.
"Without interfering with the debate leading up to the referendum, I don't see that any outcome of the Scottish referendum will have an impact on the UK's contribution to NATO," Rasmussen said in response to a question at an event hosted by the Carnegie Europe thinktank.
If Scots vote for independence, the country would have to apply to join NATO, but he could not say how long that process would take.
"If a new independent state wants to become a member of NATO, it will have to apply for membership of NATO, and such an application will be addressed in exactly the same way as all applications are dealt with, and eventually it will require consensus, unanimity, within the alliance to accept a new member of our alliance," Rasmussen said.
"Without interfering with the debate leading up to the referendum, I don't see that any outcome of the Scottish referendum will have an impact on the UK's contribution to NATO," Rasmussen said in response to a question at an event hosted by the Carnegie Europe thinktank.
If Scots vote for independence, the country would have to apply to join NATO, but he could not say how long that process would take.
"If a new independent state wants to become a member of NATO, it will have to apply for membership of NATO, and such an application will be addressed in exactly the same way as all applications are dealt with, and eventually it will require consensus, unanimity, within the alliance to accept a new member of our alliance," Rasmussen said.
© Thomson Reuters 2014
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