The Americans provide still more advanced military assets and equipment; the Europeans are lagging behind. And eventually it will be difficult to co-operate even if you had the political will to co-operate because of the technological gap.

Some countries such as Iran and Syria are using the commotion to distract attention from their own problems with the international community. The Palestinians, who have been deeply divided since their election, have found a common enemy in Denmark that unites them. Extremists and fundamentalists are exploiting the conflict to promote their radical agenda and win new members.

I know very well that Berlin attaches great importance to NATO and solidarity, in terms of sharing the burden. For this reason, I feel confident that the German government will take the right decision, one that serves both German and NATO interests.

The good thing is that all the symbolic elements are gone, and that which really matters - the core - is left.

The Americans provide still more advanced military assets and equipment; the Europeans are lagging behind. And eventually it will be difficult to co-operate even if you had the political will to co-operate because of the technological gap.

I welcome the signing by the presidential candidates Dr. Abdullah Abdullah and Dr. Ashraf Ghani of an agreement on the formation of a government of national unity in Afghanistan.

We're strongly in favor of the U.N. plan for a solution to the Cyprus conflict. Hopefully a solution can be found before the end of this summit, but we cannot and will not let it block our decisions on enlargement.