NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen on Monday said lessons learned from the military alliance's intervention in Libya should be addressed at its summit in Chicago next year, DPA reported.
"There is absolutely a positive lesson to be learned, but the whole operation has also made it visible that there are some gaps to be filled and that will be a focal point from now on until Chicago," he told reporters in Brussels.
"We must ask NATO heads of state and government for ... real and tangible support for more multinational approaches," he added. "As Libya showed, we can never tell where the next crisis will come from ... And once it does, it may be too late to start shopping."
NATO has carried out more than 21,500 airstrikes in the North African country since the end of March under a UN mandate to protect civilians from the troops of now-fugitive leader Moamer Gaddafi.
Rasmussen stressed that the end of the mission does not depend on Gaddafi's capture, but rather on the ability of the transitional government to protect Libyan civilians from harm.
"I cannot give a precise date, but I believe it will come soon," he said.
He argued that the alliance's operations in Libya had shown NATO's "flexibility," its "openness" to new partners and its "strength."
It was also the first to see Europe and Canada take the lead - rather than the United States - although Rasmussen was quick to note that the military giant's unique equipment, such as unmanned drones, had proven essential to the effort.
"Let me put it bluntly: those capabilities are vital for all of us. More allies should be willing to obtain them," he said.
He also, however, acknowledged the "difficult economic context" most nations currently face and thus pledged to continue his push for "smart defence" at the Chicago NATO summit in May, including the concept of pooling and sharing resources.
"Few countries can finance those capabilities alone. If we can't spend more, let's spend better," he noted.
Rasmussen said he also intends to continue pushing at the summit for a European missile defence plan that has met with Russian criticism, as well as measures to strengthen NATO's long-term partnership with and support for Afghanistan.
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