Libya, Afghanistan and the missile defense shield were the key issues covered in top NATO and Romanian officials at the Alliance's Parliamentary Assembly on Monday. While Europe had strong military forces, the gap between the US and its allies has widened for the past years and in Libya, European allies and Canada had most troops contributions but based their activities on US command capacities and essential units, said NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen. On the missile defense, Romanian President Traian Basescu said for his part that his country has never asked for or received anti-missile guarantees from anybody and had an obligation to obtain them by themselves through partnerships with allies.

NATO Parliamentary Assembly head Karl Lamers noted Romania's strong support for the missile shield project and welcomed the country's decision to host elements of the shield.

Key statements by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen:

On Libya: NATO ran a successful operation in Libya despite the financial crisis. While Europe has strong military forces, the gap between the US and its allies has grown for the past several years. In Libya, European allies and Canada had the most troops contributions, but based their operations on US command capacities and essential units. It is the responsibility of the national transitional council to deal with the weapons issue in LibyaOn smart defense: the issue for NATO is not increasing defense spending but prioritizing spending - that is, Smart Defense. Ten allies including Romania have bought 3 C-17 transport aircraft - none of the countries could have bought such aircraft by itself. This is an example of Smart Defense.On relations with Russia: The Alliance has to promote an important relation with Russia and the two parties already discuss on Afghanistan, fighting terror and piracy. We hope to