The Secretary General of NATO said an "intelligent defense" to deal with reducing the defense budget

The Secretary General of NATO Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Friday in Rome an "intelligent defense" to cope with a reduced defense budget.

"The European allies must continue to invest in security, or risk becoming irrelevant and we can not afford that," Rasmussen said at a press conference after his meeting with Prime Italian Minister Mario Mouti before the NATO summit scheduled for May in Chicago.

"The intelligent defense", which puts acccent on multinational cooperation in the acquisition of new capabilities will be a central topic at the summit in Chicago, "said Secretary General of NATO.

"In Chicago, I want Europe to adopt a new mindset for security, which makes cooperation on defense programs as a priority rather than a last resort, that is what we call intelligent defense", he explained.