Dutch Foreign Minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer new NATO Secretary-General

"We are very pleased with the choice of Dutch Foreign Minister de Hoop Scheffer as new Secretary-General of NATO, and are looking forward to co-operating closely with him," said Foreign Minister Jan Petersen.

"Several people were mentioned as possible successors to Lord Robertson. This is only natural in the case of such an important international post. However, this time it proved fairly easy to agree on a candidate," the Foreign Minister added.

"The choice of Mr de Hoop Scheffer is in keeping with the tradition of giving the job of secretary-general to a European country, while the USA has always had the top military post (in NATO). This is a logical division of labour.

"I am confident that the new Secretary-General will proceed steadfastly with the restructuring of NATO. This is necessary in order to deal with the new security threats (international terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction) and the challenges we are facing in the Balkans and in Afghanistan," said Mr Petersen.