Speech

Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to appear before your Assembly again. And itis a great pleasure, also, to be back in Ljubljana, barely one yearafter Slovenia joined the ranks of our Alliance and the European Union,and at a time when it holds the Chairmanship-in-Office of the OSCE.

Slovenia’s spectacular transformation over the past fifteen yearscannot be seen in isolation from NATO’s own success – both in bringingpeace and stability to the wider Balkan region, and transforming from aCold War alliance into a modern, 21 st century security organisation.

NATO remains committed to helping all the countries of South-EastEurope to follow in Slovenia’s footsteps. We are working closely withAlbania, Croatia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (ª)in the context of our Membership Action Plan. We are holding out theprospect of enhanced cooperation with Bosnia and Herzegovina and Serbiaand Montenegro – provided they meet certain conditions, notably fullcooperation with the International Criminal Tribunal for the formerYugoslavia in The Hague. And during this critical period for the futureof Kosovo we maintain a robust troop presence there, while we continueto engage in the Contact Group and to support the StandardsImplementation Process. This is as necessary as ever at a moment wherethe international community begins to address what lies at the heart ofthe Kosovo question : the fulfilment of standards, and then possiblyKosovo’s status.

But while our commitment to the Balkansendures, NATO has also had to turn its attention to a number of seriouschallenges beyond this region, and even beyond this continent. Today,we are no longer a “eurocentric” alliance – we can no longer afford tobe. Instead of a geographical approach to security, we now take afunctional approach – dealing with problems wherever and whenever theyemerge, from our anti-terrorist naval operation in the Mediterranean toour training mission in Iraq. That requires a major overhaul of ourmilitary capabilities. And it requires a new level of cooperation withother nations and institutions.

Let me give you a quickupdate on each of these major areas of NATO transformation, turning toour missions in Afghanistan and Iraq first.

InAfghanistan, the expansion of the NATO-led International SecurityAssistance Force into the country’s four western provinces is underway.Planning and force generation for ISAF expansion into the remainingparts of Afghanistan is now beginning, and this will require newcommitments from nations. We want to give tangible support to theSeptember parliamentary elections, which will mark the formal ending ofthe Bonn political process. The Afghan Government must carry forwardthe post-Bonn political strategy, but we will want to lend our support.And we must maintain our support for the Disarmament, Demobilisationand Reintegration process, as well as for the nationalcounter-narcotics programme. Narcotics production, in a country likeAfghanistan, is a complex issue, not least because many Afghans dependon it for their livelihood. But we want to do what we can to helpcontrol this problem, especially with the help of our ProvincialReconstruction Teams.

When President Karzai visited NATOHeadquarters just a few weeks ago, he made a strong plea for theAlliance to stay with his country after the September elections. I alsofirmly believe that we must stay the course in Afghanistan, toreinforce the considerable progress that we have helped to achieve overthe last few years, and to help out in areas that are critical toAfghanistan’s security and that of our own countries. I am pleased thatthere is broad agreement in the Alliance on this matter.

In Iraq, as well, democracy is slowly taking root, and NATO must dowhat it can to help the new government assert its authority byproviding for greater security. The NATO Training Mission in Iraq isnow operational, and I am pleased that all Allies are contributing inat least one of four ways: through in-country training; trainingoutside Iraq; financial contributions; or donations of equipment. Ourkey operational challenge over the next weeks and months is to expandtraining beyond the Green Zone in Baghdad, and specifically to help toestablish the planned Iraqi Training, Education and Doctrine Centre inAr Rustamiya. That, as well, will require a strong effort on our part.

Another emerging theatre of activity is Darfur. The Alliance isprepared to respond positively to the request by the African Union forlogistical support to its mission in Darfur. Mr. Konaré, the Chairmanof the Commission of the African Union, met with the North AtlanticCouncil two weeks ago. I was in Addis Ababa just last week to discusshow NATO can add value to the assistance offered to the African Unionby the United Nations, the European Union, as well as by a number ofindividual nations.

The growing operational requirementsthat are being made of our Alliance underline the urgency of ourmilitary transformation process – which is the second feature of NATOthat I wish to briefly highlight. We have made good progress in anumber of areas. We have streamlined our military command structure andstood up the NATO Response Force. Allies are also working hard to maketheir forces meet the usability targets that we agreed upon last year.And we have developed procedures to make it easier for nations tocommit capabilities to NATO operations.

Good progress –but, quite frankly, still not good enough. Collectively, in theAlliance, we have very great numbers of combat forces. What we do nothave are sufficient support forces and capabilities to permit thosecombat forces to do their job in areas where there is little hostnation support. Levels of defence expenditure, in many cases, are stillnot sufficient to support the investment in these necessarycapabilities. Nor are they sufficient for many nations to properlyaddress the modernisation requirements of their armed forces. And theproblem is exacerbated by the costs of current operations that arebeing borne by defence budgets. Let there be no mistake: until we havethe required capabilities, we will simply not be as effective as weneed to be in the face of real emergencies. And I hope you will keepmaking your voices heard when your national defence budgets arediscussed.

A third feature of NATO today is ourdetermination to deepen and broaden our partnerships with other nationsand organisations. Cooperation with them was essential to our successin bringing peace and stability to the Balkans over the past ten years.Just think of the important contributions non-NATO nations made and arestill making to our operations in Bosnia and Herzegovina as well as inKosovo. It is even more important now if we want to meet the trulyglobal new threats to our security.

The Alliance hasmade good progress these last few years in enhancing cooperation withall its EAPC Partners, and especially those in the Caucasus and CentralAsia. We have made the new security challenges a major focus of ourcooperation. We are helping interested countries to introduce defencereforms and enhance their interoperability with NATO. And just lastweek we held the first EAPC Security Forum in Sweden, a new initiativeto engage NATO and Partner officials and civil society representativesin a free-flowing discussion of the many common challenges before us.

But NATO, and this should also be true for the Euro-AtlanticPartnership embedded in Partnership for Peace, is based on commonvalues. This is why we are deeply disturbed and cannot remain silent inthe face of recent events in Uzbekistan. The North Atlantic Council hasstrongly condemned the reported use of excessive and disproportionateforces and supported the UN’s call for an independent internationalinquiry. I will continue to insist that this inquiry takes place, asdoes the UN.

We continue, at the same time, to intensifyour relations with our special partners, Russia and Ukraine. In Vilniuslast month, the Foreign Ministers of NATO and Russia signed a Status ofForces Agreement that will boost our military cooperation. On thatoccasion, we also had a frank discussion of several issues of commoninterest, including sensitive topics such as Georgia. And I amconfident that same constructive spirit will prevail when I visitMoscow next month.

NATO’s relationship with Ukraine hasentered a new phase. The new Ukrainian Government has left no doubtabout its aspirations for Ukraine to join NATO. We agreed in Vilnius tostart an intensified dialogue with Ukraine on these aspirations, whilecontinuing to assist the country with the very challenging defence andother reforms that it still has to implement.

But we arealso looking beyond the horizons of the Euro-Atlantic area. We havemade good progress in enhancing NATO’s Mediterranean Dialogue – inengaging our partners in Northern Africa and the Middle East both ingreater dialogue and real, practical security cooperation. We are alsobuilding closer relations with countries in the Broader Middle East,and have concluded agreements with Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar in recentmonths. And we are responding to the greater interest that countriessuch as Australia, Japan and New Zealand have shown in closer contactswith NATO.

Finally, the Alliance is keen to develop morestructured relationships with other international organisations –especially the UN, the OSCE, and the European Union. Our success in theBalkans has shown the potential of our cooperation with the EU inparticular. The situation in Darfur, where both NATO and the EU havebeen asked to assist, underlines that we should be able to coordinatestrategically, not just cooperate tactically on an ad-hoc basis.

What we need, above all, is a genuine strategic partnership betweenNATO and the European Union. The European Union is a genuine securityactor, there is no question about it. This is about making the Union astronger partner, not a counterweight. I believe that is the only waythe EU can and should go. And I am convinced our American friendsunderstand and appreciate this. Among Europeans, I have been pleased tosee greater realism about the challenges that are involved in playing asustained, meaningful security role, and greater awareness of what NATOalready offers.

I hope – and expect -- that this greaterrealism on both sides of the Atlantic will contribute to a closerNATO-EU relationship. We need a strong partnership that recognises theunique contribution which NATO and the EU each make to the stabilityand security of this continent. And that will allow them to cooperatemuch more effectively in all areas of common interest – not just crisismanagement in the Balkans. I believe that such a strategic partnershipis within reach, and I will continue to do my utmost to make it areality.

You, Ladies and Gentlemen, are Members ofParliament who are both interested and experienced in security anddefence matters. That means that you have an important contribution tomake in all the different areas of NATO activity that I have justoutlined. You understand better than most other people why the Alliancemust tackle modern security challenges at their source, even wellbeyond our traditional area of operations. You also understand why thisjob requires different military means than those that we employed inthe past, and a new level of cooperation between nations andinstitutions. And I hope that I can continue to count on your supportin these various areas – to maintain the Alliance’s effectiveness, aswell as its credibility.

In order to keep the Alliancestrong and credible, it must be used – and seen to be used -- not onlyas an instrument for action, but also as a forum for debate. These havealways been the two key functions of NATO, and this Assembly has alwaysbeen a center of fre-flowing political exchange of ideas. In today’schallenging security environment, it is critical that we not onlypreserve these two functions, but actually reinforce them. And in thisrespect, as well, I count on your support.

We face newand complex challenges to our security – terrorism, proliferation,“failed states”. NATO’s work here in Europe is far from being done, butother parts of the world also demand our attention – Central Asia,Northern Africa, the broader Middle East. We must adapt ourcapabilities, structures and procedures to the changing circumstances.New security players, such as the European Union, are finding theirrole, and we need to work effectively with them.

It isvital that those challenges are discussed in NATO. That the Alliesshare views and shape consensus -- and that they are ready, ifnecessary, to take action together. All our capitals will maintainbilateral relationships. It is normal, and indeed desirable, that theEuropean Union’s dialogue with Washington and Ottawa intensifies. Butthe transatlantic Allies need a structured forum, to continuouslydiscuss the key security issues that they face together. And NATO isthat forum.

Of course, we do not want to turn NATO intoa debating society. More intense discussion in the NATO Council must beaccompanied, and indeed nurtured, by enhanced debate with ourparliaments and with our publics, to whom we are ultimatelyaccountable. Extending debate in that way is critical in building thestrong strategic consensus that we need to tackle the great challengesof our age – and shaping NATO’s vital contribution to this endeavour.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Over the years, it has become customary for NATO’s Secretary General toaddress the NATO Parliamentary Asssembly when it meets in plenarysession. I want to assure you that I do not look at this as anobligation. On the contrary. I have been a member of parliament myselfnot that long ago, and I understand and appreciate your role indefining, resourcing, and explaining NATO policy. As the Alliancecontinues to adapt to a new and complex security environment – anenvironment plenty of challenges that demand thorough debate and solidconsensus -- that role is more important than ever.

Thank you.

(ª) Turkey recognises the Republic of Macedonia with its constitutional name.