The European Union and NATO are threatened by internal feuds in the current economic crisis and must work together to strengthen their military and energy security, the holder of the EU's rotating presidency said Saturday, dpa reported.
"Our unity and strength are seriously challenged by the current financial crisis and recession ... The EU needs to speak with one voice, this regards not only security and defence but other issues like energy," Czech deputy premier Alexandr Vondra told the prestigious Munich Security Conference.
The Czech government took over the EU's rotating presidency on January 1, as a row over natural-gas contracts between Russia and Ukraine cut off supplies to much of Europe.
The EU "was once again forced to grab the referee's whistle in a match that nobody wanted to watch ... But we felt very strongly how much European solidarity needs to be filled with real substance," Vondra said.
The Czech presidency has been overshadowed by criticism from France - holder of the presidency in the second half of 2008 - and by internal rows over Czech and Polish plans to host elements of a US missile-defence system in Europe.
Western European states such as French and Germany saw the bilateral missile-defence deals as a provocation of Russia, although they agreed to bring the system into any future NATO system at a summit in Bucharest in April.
And the administration of US President Barack Obama has pulled back from the project, saying that it would only be deployed if it were proven to be technically effective.
But Vondra insisted that the project should go ahead, saying, "Europeans and Americans need to enjoy the same level of protection ... therefore it is important to develop the missile-defence system."
He also said that Russia should be consulted before the project is begun, without holding a veto over it.
And he called on the EU to strengthen its ties with Ukraine and to boost its energy security by building pipelines to bypass both Ukraine as a gas-transit state and Russia as a supplier.
"It's too late to start building a pipeline when the gas stops flowing, it's too late to start building a shield when the missile is in the air," he said.