Address

Mr. Secretary General, dear colleagues, ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure for me to join you this morning at the Defence Minister session of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council. This is the first session in my term of office as well.
As a newly appointed Defence Minister of the Republic of Slovenia, I would like to take this opportunity to reassure the Alliance that the policy of the new Slovenian Government towards NATO has not changed. Membership in the Alliance continues to be one of the two priorities of the newly elected Government.

All of the aims and goals that have already been put forward in our Annual National Programme for the implementation of the Membership Action Plan will be carried out and implemented energetically, taking into account the economic realities we face. Since we anticipate a steady economic growth, we are confident that we can fulfil continuing our plans.

Slovenia has clearly shown its commitment and willingness to be an active player and contributor in the Euro-Atlantic security arena. We have supported, contributed and participated in the crisis management operations of the Alliance and intend to do so in the future as well. We are prepared to share the burden of full NATO-membership. Therefore we anticipate that by the time of the next NATO Summit in the year 2002 the Allies will recognise this fact by inviting Slovenia to join their ranks. In this context let me just inform you that Slovenia is currently investigating how to start a dialogue with NATO on the exchange of data on the air situation.

I would also like to inform the Council that Slovenia has participated at the recent Conference of the EU Headline Goal. At this time Slovenia made a commitment towards the catalogue of forces, which would constitute the future European Rapid Reaction Force.

In the light of recent discussions about the role of the EAPC, let me point out the fundamental importance of the EAPC framework and Partnership for Peace in increasingly important efforts towards implementing preventive measures for deterring conflicts, managing crises and dealing effectively with security challenges in the Euro-Atlantic area.

In this regard I would like to stress the work underway in the EAPC and PfP to promote further practical regional co-operation in South-Eastern Europe in order to complement the work of the Alliance and the Stability Pact. Slovenia remains firmly committed to the promotion of security, stability, peace and democracy in the Balkans. This implies that we are an active player and provider in the concerted efforts of the international community to stabilise the region. This is not only the case in the security arena but also across the spectrum of economic investment, humanitarian assistance, educational projects and humanitarian demining. We want to transmit and export our stability across the troubled region.

Slovenia is optimistic about the current developments in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, and encouraged by the introduction of democracy in this country. This represents a quantum leap towards stabilising the region. However as a sign of our continued commitment to peace in the region, given the six-month manpower review of both SFOR and KFOR, we would like to reassure the Alliance that Slovenia's contribution to both operations and the UN run Civilian Police will continue to remain at least at the same level as it is now. Furthermore we are currently in the process of investigating possible ways to enhance our level of commitment in the future.

Finally, Slovenia would like to welcome the progress made in the implementation of an enhanced and more operational Partnership, including the implementation of the Political-Military Framework for NATO-led PfP operations. We believe that the ongoing operations in the Balkans are living proof of the dividend the Partnership for Peace is already paying to the alliance. We expect that the improved Partnership, together with all its sub-initiatives, will - when fully developed - reinforce PfP and Alliance capabilities. This is why we are a strong advocate of further timely development of its methods and mechanisms.

Thank you.