MUNICH, Feb. 5 (Xinhuanet) -- French Defense Minister Michele Alliot-Marie urged on Sunday the European Union and North America to establish a new strategic partnership as soon as possible.

    Speaking at the 42nd Munich Conference on Security Policy, which ended Sunday, Alliot-Marie said NATO remains a key-guarantee for common security at the two sides of the Atlantic Ocean, but "let us make sure we do not spread ourselves too much in areas where the competence of other organizations is more obvious."

    She said the NATO could rely on a EU "which is more and more able to assume its responsibilities".

    Describing the EU as the first economic power in the world, the French minister said "it is cut out to be a major power pole in the new international environment", which faces many new challenges such as terrorism, regional crisis and transnational issues.

    "The development of its defense capacities is a must so as to enable it to be an autonomous player and strengthen the European pillar of the Atlantic Alliance," Alliot-Marie noted.

    She added that this durability challenge of the transatlantic link precisely depends on the ability to "define a new partnership between the Europe Union and North America".

    "Each of our pillars has specific trumps: particular links with this or that region, specific capacities in civil-military fields, and experience adapted to specific environment," she said.

    She said in terms of defense, "we must make the specificities of NATO operations and EU operations clearer".

    She elaborated that NATO is better equipped to handle heavy andlong-lasting operations, while the European special force is better adapted to "lightening" operations and civil-military actions.

    Alliot-Marie called for diversity in seeking common goals, because of "the discrepancies in terms of culture, development andhistory which leave marks on countries and people".

    She said, "diversity is richness and must be safeguarded," adding "our vision can therefore not be uniformity, but a search for goals that are in line with our common values." Enditem