Farewell speech to the Council

I have made so many speeches from this chair so the last one should be easy - it's not. It's the end of a term of office but also the end of a defining era for me too.
These have been four exciting, stimulating years. They have seen the Alliance tested by external new deadly threats as well as from internal stress. It has survived and become stronger from both. It remains the 'most successful military alliance in history - as the Economist described us in October.

I took this Chair for the first time on Wednesday 20 October 1999. NATO had just had a huge success in saving Kosovo's people from Milosovic's ethnic offensive. The organisation and its people were tired but satisfied. Hundreds of thousands had been spared death and exile, the Balkans were more stable, Macedonia's stability had been protected. It was a moment for exhausted satisfaction.

The fact that among the last of my many journeys in the last few weeks was to Pristina, Sarajevo and Belgrade was to complete a personal Balkan circle. In four years Kosovo has stabilised after what Bernard Kouchner called 40 years of communism, 10 years of apartheid and two years of hideous state-sponsored violence. Bosnia only 8 years after Srebrenica is a functioning multi-ethnic state and Belgrade's greatest short term ambition, four years after being bombed by NATO, is to be in our Partnership for Peace.

In 1995 the pundits said IFOR was 'mission impossible'. In 1999 the same pundits said stopping Milosovic's rape of Kosovo was 'mission impossible'. In 1999 nobody would have contemplated Milosovic in the Hague and Serbia on the brink of PfP as other than 'mission impossible'.

NATO proved them wrong. Mission impossible has become mission successful. It is a success we can, and we must, proclaim. As the Balkans start to become part of Europe's solution rather than being its main problem we have a good story to tell.

We should also reflect on the Balkan success when we look at the challenge of Afghanistan. That mission looks tricky and dangerous today. The same doomsayers of the 90's, ignoring their predicative failures on the Balkans, tell us this is one bite too big for NATO. Yet in Bosnia, Kosovo and Macedonia it was robust military force and determined long term engagement which has produced results - and Afghanistan will be no different.

The former British Labour Prime Minister, Harold Wilson, once famously said "A week is a long time in politics". He told me once in a corridor conversation that it was not original but had come from Confucius. But if a week is long, four years is an eternity - but in these four years this organisation has changed fundamentally. It truly is a new NATO.

From Kosovo to Kabul in four years. In Iraq with Poland. Talking to China and Pakistan. Bringing inspiration and displaying the example of collective security to an envious world community.

Maybe the most striking change in NATO is on display round this very table. Built for 11 Permanent Representatives, there are 26 Ambassadors with us today and in a few months we will be 26 equal, full members of the Council. And this was achieved with none of the noisy, anxious debate of the last round and with no counter-reaction from Moscow.

And round this same table, mould-breaking decisions have been made.

We took on our Bosnia and Kosovo lessons when we tackled the bloodbaths predicted for Southern Serbia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia two years ago.

We went from the permafrost with Russia which I inherited in 1999 to a new NATO-Russia with 20 equal countries doing real business.

We sat here on 12 September 2001 and invoked Article 5 of our founding Treaty which many had to read in detail for the very first time. War by Committee? No way. We did it in 5 ½ hours and loudly told the US we all stood with them, told the world that we were deadly serious, and told the terrorists that they had crossed a line which even the Soviets had not dared to do. Round this table we took that momentous decision and deployed AWACs to the US, warships to block terrorist sea lanes, and soldiers to smash Al Qaida cells in the Balkans.

We rose to Osama Bin Laden's challenge. A new Allied Command Transformation - a permanent change virus installed deep in our system. A new slimmer command structure. A new NATO Response Force to hit hard, go far and stay longer. A new mobile CBRN Battalion. And we have serious new Prague Capabilities Commitment processes in place geared to filling the missing equipment gaps. We have our new, and still developing, relationship with the EU, with Berlin+ as a grand transatlantic bargain for all.

So far, so remarkable, but the story inside NATO has been ground breaking as well.

Our bloated Committee structure has been reduced at a stroke by 30%. Our budget is now based on outputs, not inputs. Our outdated, unfair contracts policy is modernised and Performance Management introduced. More sensible devolved Executive powers for the Secretary General have been put in place with manpower and financial discretion. A new International Staff structure is completed and a new joint ownership Management Board established. We have a new Policy Planning Unit, an outstanding design for a new Headquarters, and the first serious effort to link in the NATO Agencies to our common objectives - and probably to top it all - a new contractor for the NATO cafeteria. Not a bad internal shake-up for an already well performing Headquarters.

So much for the past. It is a formidable checklist of success - and it is the product of your vision and the determination round this table and to a talented and hardworking team from top to tail in NATO who carry out our will.

It is, however, customary for those who retire from the North Atlantic Council to offer some advice to those who will continue to carry the torch. I am no exception. I have a few brief points.

First, look after the people. NATO is worthless without the people to do the bidding of the NAC. They are a wonderful and inspiring team from those who serve here in this House - in the International Staff, the International Military Staff and in the Delegations, through to SHAPE and down to those in uniform in commands and in the field. Here in the HQ the staff is small, very small indeed, but dedicated, flexible, hardworking, not well paid but absolutely crucial. They are people of quality who with care and attention, will work till they drop so never, ever, take them for granted.

Mon deuxième point concerne le budget civil de l'OTAN. Jamais autant d'attention, avec autant de détail et si peu d'effets, aura été consacrée à si peu de choses. Avec un budget de 171 millions d'Euros par an, chaque nation autour de cette table fait une excellente affaire. Il est triste, voire scandaleux, que vos nations demandent et obtiennent autant de l'OTAN et de son personnel, et en même temps se montrent aussi mesquins en refusant des ressources additionnelles à cette petite et efficace organisation. Mon successeur mérite un meilleur traitement. En tant que membre de la Chambre haute du parlement britannique, je ferai de mon mieux pour qu'il l'obtienne.

Third, Enlargement has been a huge success. It has added value politically and militarily to the Alliance. Make sure that the continued Open Door does the same. Don't make less by being more. We remain a magnet and a driver of change but only if we protect what makes us such a powerful magnet.

Fourth, work till you weep to keep the transatlantic link alive and well. With the EU and the US accounting next year for 2/3 of global GDP, the influence of both together is awesome. The US must remain engaged with Europe in its own interest, and Europe needs to keep connected to the thinking and acting of the world's superpower. The drama of last February was not a pretty sight for the world. When NATO is in internal crisis the rest of the world is rightly nervous and concerned. We survived after we had tested cohesion to near breaking point, and yes we healed quicker than others and we did defend Turkey after 11 days of dithering - but it was all an unnecessary indulgence which must never be repeated.

Fifth, remember that NATO's credibility is in its capability. If we become a noise box with no ability to act we will wither and die. As nations ask us to do more, from the Balkans to Kabul and beyond, and as the ambitions of politicians to tackle the worlds hot spots increases, it must connect to useable troops, with the right equipment, with the means of going long distances and surviving there. I have tried my own brand of political electro-convulsive therapy but it would be easier and better if nations recognised what they must do without further high voltage stimulus. Remember the words of General De Gaulle "Of what use is strategic planning if the means of carrying it out are not forthcoming".

Sixth, persist with the Russian relationship. Nothing shows a new generation how far we have gone than NATO/Russia closeness. Nothing will give a stronger signal, to both our people and the terrorists, of the new global spine-stiffening than outputs and decisions from the NATO-Russia Council. It will be tough and exasperating. It will involve walking through glue at times but it represents not just the end of the Cold War but the creation of a new strategic geology. It will be well worth the efforts but you will never be forgiven if you let the moment slip.

Seventh, Afghanistan will be, as I said, tough but it has to be a success. For that to be guaranteed the nations will have to waken up to what they have taken on. Expansion must be credible, and be seen to be credible, before Istanbul. Money, troops and long-term commitment are the only ingredients of success - and the only way Afghanistan's problems will not come West to haunt us. Failure would be a crushing blow, not just for NATO but for each and every NATO country, each and every international organisation, and for the concept of multilateralism in international relations. We had the mettel to deal with Bosnia's murderous warlords. We had better find more iron in our soul to deal with Afghanistan's variety. They are not invincible; we are.

Eighth, make the NATO/EU strategic partnership work and produce results. We have made remarkable progress but much more can and must be done. By the middle of next year we will have 19 members and a host of international issues in common. Working in competition or in duplication would be an expensive, unforgivable betrayal of those in whose name we lead.

For all of my political life I have lived the European dream. At some points in that life to do so was neither comfortable nor safe yet just as I believed in the profound benefits of transatlanticism I believed too that a democratically reunited Europe, free, prosperous and at peace should shoulder more responsibility, and share more of the burdens, for world security and safety.

That is why I pressed for a genuinely robust European defence identity linked to NATO. That's why my belief led to the St. Malo agreement and then on to Berlin+. We should recall with some satisfaction that Berlin+ is the first all-European defence project actually to get off the drawing board onto the ground in an operation.

But if the new Europe is to finally play its part as an equal partner in global influence it must have a vision which rises above the technical and the procedural and the institutional and which connects to the ability to act militarily if it is necessary.

The pioneers of European integration did not limit their vision to the creation of institutions; they knew that the project would only get into the minds and soul of the people if it produced results in real every day terms.

Our job - and it is for all of us - is to rise to the historic occasion and make a reality of the dream.

Ninth, protect and promote the Partnership for Peace, one of our gold-dust assets. Use it to bring Ukraine, the Caucusus countries, the 'Stans' of Central Asia and the Mediterranean Dialogue nations closer and closer to our coalition of common values and interest. The Partnership is one of the best investments ever for a future safer world.

Tenth, do not ignore the challenge of Iraq. With Sadaam now captured, a cancer has been removed from Iraq and the Middle East. We must, of course, not dilute our efforts in Afghanistan but as the world's only multinational force packager we should not stand aside if Iraq needs our special involvement.

Now let me share credit today in what has been done in my term of office. I want to thank first of all you, the Permanent Representatives of NATO and the nearly NATO nations. You and the others who have served under my gavel are the essential players in this theatre and I salute your generosity of spirit and your cooperation with my Chairmanship. I thank the International Military Staff and its outstanding Chairman, Harald Kujat, his predecessor Guido Venteroni, and its Directors who have taken so much and done it so fast on so many occasions. I offer my thanks and congratulations to my three SACEURs Wes Clark, Joe Ralston and now the hugely impressive Jim Jones. NATO is very fortunate in getting such quality in our top commanders.

My thanks to my own International Staff to whose dedication and professionalism I pay the highest tribute. To the interpreters and translators I offer special thanks for simply always being there and being so good. Not every organisation gets, or deserves, this kind of service. We are truly fortunate.

I want to single out for thanks the staff in my Private Office. My two Directors Jon Day and his predecessor Desmond Bowen were exceptional people without whom we would have achieved only a fraction of what I have spoken today. I thank the Deputy Directors, Damon Wilson, Ernst Reichel, Thomas Wagner and Burcu San and before them Kurt Volker, Michel Soula, Dirk Brengelmann, Alastair Merrill, Ekkehard Brose and Katerina Fialkova. I thank Doug Abbott and Mark Laity who came with me from London and I single out for enormous praise my truly magnificent Personal Assistant, Annette Willacy who came from, and returns in triumph to, the International Staff.

Last but not least I thank my Deputy Secretary General Alessandro Minuto-Rizzo whose loyalty, attention to detail and finely tuned diplomatic professionalism has been simply invaluable in the last two and a half years, when he succeeded the fine and decent Sergio Balanzino.

I leave today having completed four years in one of the best and toughest jobs in the world. But there are two pictures I want to leave with you. One is in the letter I received last week from 2 students - a 17 and a 13 year old in New York, Lucy and Laura De Francisci. They said "When we first entered the website we knew of NATO only as a part of history. Since then, we have seen its relevance today and we understand how important the organisation is." The other is the picture of the smiles on childrens faces and their laughter in those of our theatres of action; in the mixed village school of Tearce in Macedonia's Tetovo Valley in "Jovan Ducic" school in Sarajevo and in the village of Novo Selo in Kosovo.

These children I met in the last few weeks don't know us, or recognise us or actually much care about us, but still, they are alive, happy and learning and not dead or refugees only because of us, this great Alliance, its nations and its people. So in their name I say to you today let us be proud, very, very proud because what we do is a truly noble thing.

So after over four very full years, over a million kilometres of travel, hundreds of meetings of this Council, I depart content that I did my best, with some of the best people I will ever know, in the best cause there ever will be. And I hope that maybe, just maybe, the world is a little bit better, and safer, for the doing of it.

Thank you for being the team of a lifetime.