NATO chief urges unity after British vote to leave the EU

BRUSSELS (AP) - With Europe thrown into turmoil by the British vote to quit the European Union, cooperation between the EU and the U.S.-led NATO alliance is more vital than ever, NATO's chief said Tuesday as he arrived for a meeting with EU leaders.

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO's secretary-general, said "we have to send a clear message that the vote of the U.K. to leave the European Union doesn't mean that we are not able to cooperate, to work together."

Stoltenberg spoke to journalists as he arrived at an EU summit that will be dominated by the consequences of British voters' decision last Thursday to end their country's EU membership.

Like 22 other EU member states, Britain also belongs to NATO and there are widespread fears its exit from the EU could hamper collective security efforts. That includes actions to fight Islamic extremist violence or moves to forge a united front in confronting what NATO nations see as Russian aggression against Ukraine.

Last week, Stoltenberg said the British electorate's decision leaves Europe more fragmented.

"My message today is about cooperation and about unity," the NATO chief said Tuesday as he headed into his meeting with EU heads of state and government. "Unity and cooperation was of course important also before the U.K. vote. It has become even more important now."

NATO and the EU are planning on signing a joint statement at the alliance's summit meeting in Warsaw next week that will pledge unprecedented coordination in the security field. Brussels-based analyst Bruno Lete of the German Marshall Fund think tank said the internal split in the EU caused by Britain's exit spells "bad news" for such efforts.

At the EU summit, the bloc's foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, said she will also present leaders with her blueprint for a new EU global strategy.