From Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO:  I warmly welcome today’s decision by the North Atlantic Council to further authorize NATO Air Policing in the Baltic States with a continuous presence of fighters.

From Stephen Trimble, Flight Global:  NATO officials have cleared a key hurdle in a long-delayed process to buy five Northrop Grumman RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 40 unmanned air syste

From Robert Haddick, Foreign Policy:  In a briefing delivered at NATO headquarters on Jan. 30, Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen declared that "NATO is the most successful alliance in history."

From David Brunnstrom and Justyna Pawlak, Reuters:  Afghanistan could end up fighting Taliban insurgents with a national army and police force two-thirds the size envisaged

From David S. Cloud, the Los Angeles Times:  A U.S.

From Hans Binnendijk, the International Herald Tribune:  European nations have slashed their defense budgets to record low levels without much regard for NATO’s overall defense requirements.

From Elisabeth Bumiller, the New York Times:  The top NATO official said Thursday that NATO forces in Afghanistan would move gradually from a combat to support role by 2014, but that combat would continue during that period and that NATO remaine

From Anders Fogh Rasmussen, NATO:  First, let me stress that we stick to the road map that was outlined at the NATO Summit in Lisbon in November 2010, according to which we will gradually hand over lead responsibility to the Afghans; a process that has been started and hopefully will be completed by the end of 2014.