NATO head Anders Fogh Rasmussen hopes EU leaders will commit to new military capabilities and cooperation at this week's summit, with a strong Europe in everyone's interest.
"We need a Europe that is committed to security, we need a Europe that is outward looking and taking on a global perspective," Rasmussen told AFP in an interview.
The 28 European Union leaders meet Thursday and Friday in the first summit dedicated to defence since 2008, trying to balance tight budgets against the ever rising cost of military hardware.
It is expected they will agree to invest in drones and air-to-air refuelling, key assets which the NATO-led Libya campaign of 2011 showed were lacking in Europe's arsenal and forced it to rely on the United States at key points in the conflict.
"We need a stronger Europe -- a stronger Europe also means a stronger NATO," Rasmussen said.
The economic crisis, he conceded, was a major concern but it was also an opportunity to promote cooperation, the 'pooling and sharing' meant to ease the defence burden.
"It will be increasingly difficult for European nations to purchase advanced expensive military equipment in the future on their own," he said.
"If they pool and share resources, if they go for joint efforts ... if we do it together, then we can acquire these military capabilities," secretary general Rasmussen said.
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