NATO’s Expensive Expansion
The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation
has many secrets, of which one of the most closely guarded is the final
cost of its luxurious new headquarters complex in Brussels. As reported
last year by Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper, the price had climbed
to a billion Euros «against a background of NATO pledges to reduce its
command structure, agencies and national HQs by 30 per cent in response
to savage defence cuts in most of its 28 member states». According to NATO the final bill was supposed to be 750 million Euros for completion in 2015, but as had to be eventually admitted by NATO, «the project now has a clear way forward to completion in 2016» – with a 30 per cent increase in the price.
has many secrets, of which one of the most closely guarded is the final
cost of its luxurious new headquarters complex in Brussels. As reported
last year by Britain’s Daily Telegraph newspaper, the price had climbed
to a billion Euros «against a background of NATO pledges to reduce its
command structure, agencies and national HQs by 30 per cent in response
to savage defence cuts in most of its 28 member states». According to NATO the final bill was supposed to be 750 million Euros for completion in 2015, but as had to be eventually admitted by NATO, «the project now has a clear way forward to completion in 2016» – with a 30 per cent increase in the price.
But that officially-stated price was not what it seemed, because, as revealed
by Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine, «member states had already been
sceptical when the consortium won the contract for €460 million
[emphasis added] in 2010... [Nato Chief] Anders Fogh Rasmussen is aware
of the problem but hasn’t seen fit yet to inform the public about it...
At a meeting of NATO’s Deputies Committee on December 19 [2013],
Rasmussen's staff asked that the issue be dealt with ‘confidentially’».
by Germany’s Der Spiegel magazine, «member states had already been
sceptical when the consortium won the contract for €460 million
[emphasis added] in 2010... [Nato Chief] Anders Fogh Rasmussen is aware
of the problem but hasn’t seen fit yet to inform the public about it...
At a meeting of NATO’s Deputies Committee on December 19 [2013],
Rasmussen's staff asked that the issue be dealt with ‘confidentially’».
