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Speech by Dr. Javier Solana, NATO Secretary General (Jan. 11) |
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Speech by Dr. Javier Solana, NATO Secretary General
to the Executive Club, Belgium
11 January, 1999
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NATO's Agenda towards the Washington Summit
Chairman
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I am very pleased to have the opportunity to speak to you today. The Executive Club of Belgium is known for its keen interest in European and world affairs, as befits a Club located in the capital of Europe and home
to NATO.
This is indeed an exciting period for Europe and for the transatlantic relationship. Barely two weeks ago, European Monetary Union was launched, raising European integration to an entirely new level. Barely four months from now, NATO will celebrate its 50th anniversary at our Washington Summit, thus marking a new stage in the transatlantic relationship as well.
With those two major events introducing the last year of this century, the Executive Club is indeed a very appropriate venue to speak about NATO. For these two defining events remind us of how interconnected security and economics have become. Today, NATO and the EU stand as the world's foremost models of multinational, democratic cooperation. They exert a tremendous attractiveness to the many nations who aspire to join or cooperate with them.
Both organisations have inspired the larger European project of integration, of cooperation and reconciliation which is healing the unnatural divide of the past between East and West. They are thus both leaders of the drawing together of Europe, its rejuvenation and reconstruction. We must keep firmly in our sights this higher political project that both organisations, in their own respective ways, embody. Just as the European Union is more than a common market, but the embodiment of a political ideal, so too NATO is more than a military alliance for the collective defence of its members. It is a symbol of how countries can strive together for peace, security and stability across a whole continent.
Neither NATO nor the European Union exist, therefore, for their own sake. They are instruments that help us solve concrete problems; they are dynamic, not static. Indeed, it is precisely their potential for evolution
that determines their value.
NATO, for sure, has been anything but standing still. Let me take you briefly through some of the main features of our political agenda, starting with NATO enlargement, our Partnership with other European countries,
especially Russia, our new missions of crisis management and peace support, and the effort underway to develop a European defence identity in NATO. Throughout this decade, we have adapted our policies and structures in
response to a new, post-Cold War international security environment. All these changes will be reflected in our new Strategic Concept, which will be unveiled at the forthcoming Washington Summit in April.
What is this Strategic Concept? In reflecting both the significant political, military and security changes that have taken place in Europe over the past decade, and NATO's response to them in the form of outreach,
cooperation and partnership, the Strategic Concept will provide a chart to guide us through the waters ahead. It will forecast the evolution of the Alliance into the next millenium.
At Washington, Allied leaders will welcome into the Alliance as full members the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland. Sixty million people will, through NATO enlargement, be reunited with the European mainstream from
which they have been separated for so long. This act of integration is a concrete way of enlarging the area of Europe in which armed conflict and wars simply do not occur. Moreover, it has prompted timely political and
economic reforms in countries aspiring to join NATO. In complementing Alliance enlargement, the separate enlargement of the EU will also help to create the basis for both economic progress and political stability. Both
enlargements, therefore, are two sides of the same coin.
Our policy is that we expect to invite additional new members to join NATO in future. For this to be done, we must ensure that the Alliance is ready to take in new members; that the aspiring countries are themselves ready
and able to join; and that their accession to NATO will contribute to wider European stability and security, taking into account political and security developments across the whole of Europe.
To help aspiring countries prepare themselves better for possible NATO membership, we have enhanced many aspects of our cooperation programmes. The Summit will be the occasion on which this package of measures will be unveiled.
At Washington, we will also strengthen our Partnerships. The Partnership for Peace Programme was established in 1994 as a programme for developing greater practical cooperation in the military and defence-related fields
among Allies and countries of Central and Eastern Europe. Today, 27 countries have taken up the offer by the Allies in developing a greater ability to work closely together in peacekeeping, humanitarian, and search
and rescue operations. Moreover, this initiative provides the opportunity for Partners to model their own defence planning, budgeting and procurement structures after those of the Allies. In the months to come, we will make
further improvements in both the political and the practical evolution of our partnership endeavours.
One Partner, in particular, is of key importance to Euro-Atlantic security: Russia.
The importance of Russia to European security is as obvious to business people as security specialists. Political and economic turmoil in Russia can have a wider effect. Indeed, in the Russian Government's latest national security assessment, they identified economic difficulties as their number one security challenge.
We all wish to see this large and important country emerge from its current difficulties. Indeed, if we want to help bringing this country into the European mainstream, there is only one chance: that North America and
Europe do this together. The EU and the US account for roughly 60% of the world economy. The close coordination of these two solid economic centres is essential if Russia - and others - is to be helped in a meaningful way.
NATO has long believed in the strategic wisdom of a cooperative relationship with Russia. We believed that such a relationship would in fact go a long way to integrating Russia politically and militarily into our multinational efforts in peacekeeping, crisis management, and emergency disaster relief. It would also give us an opportunity to consult and cooperate with Russia on issues which may pose the greater security challenges of the future - proliferation, environmental damage, nuclear safety, terrorism and so forth.
This recognition led NATO and Russia to set up a Permanent Joint Council. Together we have used this Council to consult and cooperate regularly on a wide range of cooperative activities. The range of this cooperation extends even to economic fields, where we are helping with the retraining retired military personnel. In the Permanent joint Council, concerns and even disagreements can be aired and addressed.
The political impulse behind our spirit of partnership has brough NATO and Ukraine together under a chart of cooperation that establishing what we call a distinctive relationship. And we have set up a Dialogue with six Mediterranean countries, to help build better mutual understanding in a region that is clearly of security interest to the Alliance.
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(author continued in French) |
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Mesdames et Messieurs,
L'OTAN a egalement su s'adapter aux nouveaux defis qui se posaient a elle en acceptant de nouvelles missions. La guerre en Bosnie en est un temoignage evident. La situation y est aujourd'hui totalement differente
d'il y a quelques annees, ou le conflit menacait de s'etendre a l'ensemble des Balkans. La paix est revenue en Bosnie depuis le deploiement, en 1994, de la mission dirigee par l'OTAN. Il y a de nouveau un gouvernement qui fonctionne, l'economie se redresse, les refugies regagnent leurs foyers, et les personnes accusees de crimes de
guerre se retrouvent a leur juste place, c'est-a-dire devant les juges du Tribunal international de La Haye. S'il reste encore beaucoup a faire, nous avons deja parcouru une bonne partie du chemin. Et la contribution de l'OTAN a ete significative.
Vous savez que l'OTAN a pris, a l'automne dernier, une serie de mesures afin de contribuer a juguler la crise au Kosovo. Devant la gravite des problemes que nous affrontons a present dans cette region, nous ne pouvions
pas nous resoudre a assister a la chronique d'une guerre annoncee". C'est pourquoi l'OTAN a approuve une serie d'options militaires visant a contraindre le gouvernement yougoslave a respecter les exigences enoncees
dans les resolutions du Conseil de securite des Nations Unies.
L'Alliance a egalement apporte aux pays voisins du Kosovo, l'Albanie et l'ex-Republique Yougoslave de Macedoine* - membres du programme de Partenariat pour la paix - des conseils et une aide portant sur les moyens de controler leurs frontieres et de faire face a l'afflux de refugies. Mais le probleme du Kosovo est avant tout un probleme politique et la solution doit etre politique. Pour cela, les differentes parties doivent accepter de
s'asseoir ensemble pour negocier un reglement pacifique a la crise.
Le fait que l'Alliance soit prete a une intervention militaire decisive a constitue un soutien essentiel aux efforts diplomatiques qui ont permis de mettre un terme aux aspects immediats de la crise, en octobre dernier. Les avions de l'OTAN survolent aujourd'hui le Kosovo et contribuent a verifier le respect de l'accord. Des verificateurs de l'Organisation pour la securite et la cooperation en Europe sont actuellement sur le terrain au
Kosovo. L'OTAN a mis en place, sur le territoire de l'ex-Republique Yougoslave de Macedoine , une force militaire chargee d'extraire ces verificateurs en cas d'urgence.
La situation au Kosovo est certes encore tendue, et tant les autorites de Belgrade que les elements armes kosovars ne respectent pas le cessez-le-feu, comme avec les prises d'otages de ces derniers jours, mais je peux vous assurer que l'Alliance demeure toujours entierement prete a agir si necessaire.
En Bosnie, comme au Kosovo, l'OTAN n'a pas reussi seule. C'est la cooperation entre les differentes organisations impliquees qui a ete la cle du succes. En effet, aucune organisation ne peut a elle seule faire face
aux imperatifs de la gestion des crises, du soutien de la paix et de la reconstruction de societes dechirees par un conflit. C'est pourquoi, en Bosnie comme au Kosovo, l'OTAN a travaille en collaboration tres etroite avec les autres organisations et agences impliquees comme, par exemple, l'Union Europeenne, l'OSCE, le Haut commissaire des Nations Unies pour les Refugies, la Banque Mondiale et ainsi de suite.
Outre les conflits regionaux, d'autres risques ont une incidence sur la securite regionale et constituent de nouveaux defis. On peut citer, par exemple, la proliferation des armes de destruction massive et de leurs moyens de dispersion. L'Alliance evaluera l'ampleur de ces nouveaux defis, et recensera les mesures a prendre pour les relever de facon plus efficace.
Enfin, l'OTAN s'est engagee dans un processus d'adaptation interne sans precedent pour repondre a ces nouveaux defis. Elle a modifie ses structures pour les rendre plus souples et plus adaptables au nouvel environnement de
securite.
Tout comme l'OTAN, l'Union europeenne s'adapte pour faire face a de nouveaux defis. Aujourd'hui, nous voyons une Union europeenne avec une monnaie commune, une politique etrangere et de securite commune et un engagement d'accueillir de nouveaux membres en plus des quinze Etats membres actuels. Je crois qu'il est tout a fait naturel que l'OTAN reflete aussi cette evolution. C'est pourquoi j'envisage une Alliance avec une personnalite europeenne plus forte ou les Allies nord-americains et europeens auront la possibilite de choisir la meilleure facon d'agir, en fonction des defis auxquels ils sont confrontes.
Grace au developpement d'une identite europeenne de securite et de defense au sein de l'Alliance, l'OTAN pourra apporter son soutien a des operations dirigees par les europeens. Cela permettra d'eviter les doubles emplois, et contribuera a une plus grande maturite de la relation transatlantique, avec un partage plus equitable des roles et des responsabilites. Ainsi, les defis politiques et militaires de la cooperation des industries de defense
pourraient etre abordes dans le cadre d'un dialogue transatlantique. Les elements cle de cette evolution devraient etre en place pour le Sommet de Washington.
Et cela, Mesdames et Messieurs, me ramene a la relation entre la securite et l'economie. Quelle que soit notre perspective, elargissement de l'OTAN et de l'Union europeenne, participation constructive de la Russie, ou reconstruction de la Bosnie, securite et economie constituent les deux faces d'une meme medaille.
Nous devons toujours garder cet element a l'esprit. Notre securite, a l'heure de la mondialisation, resultera directement de notre capacite a fusionner en une strategie coherente les instruments politiques, economiques et militaires. Cette strategie est encore en cours d'elaboration. Mais je suis intimement convaincu qu'avec, entre autres, l'Union monetaire europeenne qui prend forme ou la nouvelle OTAN que je viens de vous decrire, le decor est plante pour une ere nouvelle de paix et de stabilite dans la zone euro-atlantique.
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