Speech

Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen,

Statesmanship is making the best possible use of the opportunities presented to us by history. President Yeltsin and Minister Primakov on the one hand and Secretary General Solana on the other should be commended for ushering in a new historical phase in the relationship between NATO and Russia.

This brings to mind the visit by one of President Yeltsin's predecessors to Western Europe three hundred years ago. In 1697 Tsar Peter the Great came to the Netherlands because he decided that Russia should become a fully-fledged part of Europe. not everybody in Russia agreed with the Tsar opening up their country to the West so dramatically, but in retrospect it can be said that this courageous step and the resulting exchange of technology and culture has been of enormous consequence for both Western Europe and Russia.

Now, 300 years later, we are on the brink of a new phase in our shared history. After an absence of 80 years Russia is being re-integrated into the Euro-Atlantic community, step by step.

The Founding Act that we have just signed is a milestone in a process that also includes the strengthening of links between Russia and the European Union and the full participation of Russia in the OSCE and the Council of Europe.

The Founding Act is a unique document in several respects. The frequency with which the Permanent Join Council will meet at ministerial level - at least four times a year - is unprecedented for a new structure of this kind. The list of areas for consultation and cooperation is long and impressive and opens up the prospect of substantial cooperation in a wide range of fields. But the most striking aspect of this document is that it reflects not only the process of change in Russia but an equally fundamental change in the North Atlantic Alliance.

During most of its existence, NATO' s primary objective was the defence of the territory of its members against a possible attack from the East. NATO was in essence an exclusive organisation. It sought opportunities for cooperation with countries outside the Alliance, but political circumstances forced it to rely primarily on its internal cohesion and its integrated military structure as protection against the threat from the outside world.

Now NATO no longer has a clearly identifiable enemy. This has provided the Alliance with a historical opportunity to fundamentally alter its relationship with other states in Europe. The exclusiveness of the old NATO is making place for an inclusive Alliance based on the concept of indivisibility of security. the new NATO recognises that the security of its member states also depends on the security of other states in Europe.

Therefore it is essential, for the security of NATO member states, to strengthen the security of all European states. The way to do that is not by excluding countries that are not - or not yet - full members from close cooperation on security but by involving them to the maximum extent possible.

The Netherlands supports the continuation of the work on the revision of the Strategic Concept of the Alliance. The major changes I have alluded to must be reflected in the revised version. The essence of the concept underlying the Founding Act, which in our view should feature as a centrepiece of NATO's new Strategic Concept, is the recognition by NATO and Russia that security is a mutual concern.

The Founding Act provides us with ample opportunities to work together on the basis of this recognition. Let us take up that challenge.