Intervention

Mr. Secretary General, distinguished colleagues, and friends: I am pleased to join you at this very important meeting of the North Atlantic Council. Allow me also to salute once again our new Secretary General. He assumes his responsibilities at a defining moment in the history of NATO and of Europe.

These are times of great change in Europe. But America's interests in Europe have not changed. Neither have the basic principles guiding our engagement - principles that have long commanded bipartisan support.

The first principle is that NATO is and will remain the anchor of America's engagement in Europe and the core of transatlantic security. The United States has enduring political, military, economic and cultural links to Europe that must and will be preserved.

A second core principle of American engagement remains our support for European integration and our partnership with the European Union. The United States has supported European integration from its inception. The EU remains a vital partner in trade, diplomacy, and increasingly in security, where we cooperate to combat proliferation and terrorism.

A capable European defense identity and effective cooperation between NATO and the Western European Union are critical elements of this relationship. Fortifying the European pillar of the Alliance contributes to European stability and to transatlantic burden-sharing. And it improves our collective capacity to act. I welcome the November 14 call by WEU ministers to accelerate work on the Combined Joint Task Force concept. CJTF offers a practical vehicle for making NATO assets and capabilities available to the WEU under certain circumstances.

A moment ago, I noted that America's interests in Europe have not changed. What has changed in the last few years is that the sphere of political and economic freedom in Europe is wider than ever before. This leads me to the third core principle of our engagement: breading down the barriers that divide West from East will serve our collective interest in wider European stability. Our alliance of democracies can help consolidate democracy across an undivided Europe at peace. We can help design a comprehensive and inclusive architecture that enhances security and freedom for all.

Our strategy of integration offers tangible rewards. It will help promote stability in Europe's eastern half, the region where two world wars and the Cold War began. It will strengthen the hand of forces committed to political, military and economic reform. And it will help assure that no part of Europe will revert to a zone of great power competition or a sphere of influence and that no nation is left hanging in isolation.

The challenge we face today is not unlike the one we faced, and met, in Western Europe 50 years ago. After World War II, President Truman and Secretaries of State Marshall and Acheson understood that security and economic cooperation were essential to the defense of democracy. Within five years of D-Day, America and its Allies had launched the Marshall Plan, established NATO and the GATT, and laid the foundations for what became the EU and the OECD. These institutions helped us produce unparalleled peace and prosperity for half a century -- but only for half a continent.

Now five years have passed since the Berlin Wall fell. We must build a security community of all democratic nations in the Euro-Atlantic region -- one that endures where the Congress of Vienna, the Concert of Europe, and Versailles ultimately failed, and one that builds on the strength of our post-war success in Western Europe.

Developing the new European security architecture begins with reinforcing its foundation -- the Alliance that has preserved our liberty and prosperity for half a century. NATO has always been far more than a transitory response to a temporary threat. It has been a guarantor of european democracy and a force for European stability. The core values it champions -- democracy liberty, and the rule of law -- are now ascendant around the world. For all these reasons, NATO's benefits are clear to Europe's new democracies.

Since the NATO Summit last January, we have taken remarkable strides to renew and invigorate the Alliance. We have achieved our historic goal of deepening ties with the new democracies to the east. In less than a year, the Partnership for Peace has evolved from a bare idea to a bold reality.

The United States consider the Partnership an integral and lasting part of the new European security architecture. That is why President Clinton indicated in July that he will ask Congress to designate $100 million in the coming fiscal year to advance the Partnership's goals. I am pleased to say that Congress has already authorized an additional $30 million to strengthen the Partnership's joint exercise program over the next year. I hope that other NATO members will soon announce comparable contributions and that we can coordinate our efforts to maximize the impact. But of course, it will fall mainly to the Partners to ensure that the Partnership realizes its full potential.

The United States is seeking agreement on additional measures for next year. First, we urge putting exercise programs for 1995 and beyond on a 5-year planning cycle, and building toward progressively more complex and diverse training scenarios. Second, NATO must ensure sufficient funding for the Alliance's Partnership-related costs. Finally , we should strive to have a Partnership defense planning process established and operational by early 1995.

The Partnership is a critical tool in its own right. It is also the best path to membership for countries wishing to join the Alliance. As both President Clinton and Vice President Gore have emphasized, NATO must be open to expansion. An exclusionary policy would risk maintaining old lines of division across Europe -- or creating arbitrary new ones. The United States believes that Europe's institutional arrangements should be determined by the objective demands of the present, not by the tragedies of Europe's past.

The United States believes it is time to begin the process -- to begin deliberate consideration of the practical requirements for adding new members to the Alliance. It is imperative that we agree as an Alliance on our aims and our purpose in this historic evolution. The Washington Treaty is not a paper guarantee. New members will assume solemn obligations and responsibilities, just as we will extend our solemn commitments to them. This will require careful consideration and preparation.

We are deciding today that the Alliance begin its internal deliberations on expansion. A process has begun. It is also essential that we begin to present our views to interested Partners during 1995. I expect the next several months to be particularly intense, as we formulate a joint Allied presentation. We have already provided your governments with our initial thinking, and we would propose building on that to develop Allied consensus. I am personally committed to moving forward on this matter.

Our presentation to the Partners should explain the practical implications and obligations of NATO membership. Let us be clear: These initial exchanges are not intended to be the beginning of accession negotiations. Neither will they indicate that any Partner is necessarily a candidate for admission . But they will reflect our determination that the process for expansion be open and inclusive from the start.

The process of expansion should be steady, deliberate, and transparent. Each nation should be considered individually. No country outside of NATO will have a veto over any other . In our view, there are, however, certain fundamental requirements for membership that are reflected in the Washington Treaty. New members must be market democracies committed to responsible security policies and able to make a contribution to the Alliance.

As I noted earlier this morning, we cannot pursue NATO expansion in isolation. The new security architecture for Europe's future must be supported by other strong pillars. No single institution has the mandate or the capability to meet every challenge in Europe.

The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe -- the CSCE -- has proven experience and untapped potential as an organization that can help ease tensions and prevent future conflicts. With its comprehensive membership and unique experience in preventive diplomacy, human rights protection, and dispute resolution, the CSCE can complement NATO's essential role. To make it more effective, however, we need to refine its mission.

At he CSCE Summit in Budapest next week, the United States will work with our allies and partners to enhance the CSCE's capabilities. President Clinton will urge his colleagues to approve his proposal to strengthen the role and structure of the organization. We hope to clarify the CSCE's role in the European security architecture and improve its ability to prevent future Yugoslavias.

Our economic and security institutions are gradually breaking down the outdated frontiers of the Cold War. The security and prosperity of all of Europe is inextricably linked to the stable development of Europe's emerging democracies in the East.

Our goal is the successful transformation of post-communist Europe into a community of sovereign, democratic states. A key component is the development of a democratic, market oriented Russia. No less vital is the emergence of a stable, democratic, non-nuclear Ukrain and the realization of of the promis of greater security embodied embodied in the START-1 and START-2 agreements. In Budapest we will take a significant step forward when President Clinton joins President Yeltsin and Prime Minister Major in receiving Ukraine's accession to the Non-Proliferation Treaty and signs security assurances for Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan. This action will pave the way for START-1 to enter into force.

We welcome democratic Russia in assuming a full role in the common effort of building new structures. We welcome the agreement we will sign tonight on the NATO-Russia Individual Partnership Program. It sends an unmistakable possible signal of our Alliance's desire to include Russia in a co-operative approach to security in Europe.

At the same time, we will continue to pursue avenues for cooperation between NATO and Russia outside the Partnership for Peace. The United States welcomed the first meeting between an Alliance working group and Russia on the question of nuclear weapons dismantlement. We also support intensifying Russia's cooperation with the G-7. And we are sponsoring Russia's membership in the GATT and its successor, the World Trade Organization.

Integration will enhance Russia's security in a wider Europe and expand Russia's access to markets and capital. But it also carries obligations that all Western nations share. GATT membership will make Russia's trade practices consistent with world standards. Expanded ties with NATO and the EU, along with strengthened CSCE principles, will strengthen Russian democracy and promote respect for the sovereignty for its neighbors.

Our support for Russian policies that adhere to these core principles will serve our vital interests and Europe's -- especially the nations that so recently broke free from communist rule. By the same token, expanding Western institutions to Central Europe will benefit Russia.

In taking the steps I have outlined today, we will advance our shared interest in building a democratic, prosperous, integrated Europe at peace. These steps reflect the core principles of our engagement in Europe -- our unwavering commitment to NATO, our continued support for European integration, and our determination to enhance security and stability in the East. The United States understands that our leadership remains indispensable if we are to achieve these goals. And we are determined to provide it.