Opening statement

Mesdames et Messieurs les Ministres,
Excellences,
Mesdames et Messieurs,

Soyez les bienvenus à cette réunion du Conseil de l’Atlantique Nord en session des ministres des Affaires étrangères.

J’aimerais souhaiter la bienvenue en particulier à Samuel Žbogar (Slovénie), qui assiste pour la première fois à une réunion des ministres des Affaires étrangères de l’OTAN. Et permettez-moi également de présenter MM. Basha et Jandroković, respectivement ministres des Affaires étrangères de l’Albanie et de la Croatie, qui représenteront aujourd’hui et demain pour la première fois les deux pays invités de l’Alliance à une réunion avec les ministres des Affaires étrangères des pays alliés.

Nous nous réunissons aujourd’hui dans un climat d’incertitude. La crise financière, les violentes attaques terroristes commises la semaine dernière à Mumbai – qui ont coûté la vie à de nombreux Indiens mais aussi à plusieurs de nos compatriotes -, et la piraterie au large des côtes somaliennes, qui menace nos principales voies maritimes, sont autant d’éléments qui nous rappellent que la sécurité sous toutes ses formes reste, pour nos pays, un bien précieux.

À l’approche de son soixantième anniversaire, qu’elle célébrera au printemps prochain, l’Alliance demeure la principale enceinte pour les consultations en matière de sécurité entre l’Europe et l’Amérique du Nord et le cadre transatlantique d’une défense collective forte de nos populations et de notre territoire.

En même temps, l’OTAN doit continuer de s’adapter à l’environnement de sécurité instable du XXIe siècle.

Et aujourd’hui, nous nous apprêtons à franchir une nouvelle étape importante de ce processus.

Tout d’abord, nous examinerons comment donner suite à nos relations avec la Géorgie et l’Ukraine. Ces deux pays ont fait part de leur intention de rejoindre l’Alliance et, au sommet de Bucarest, en avril dernier, les chefs d’État et de gouvernement des pays alliés ont décidé qu’ils deviendraient membres de l’OTAN.

Membership in NATO, however, entails not only privileges, but also serious obligations. In particular, aspirants must demonstrate a strong commitment to political and military reform. That is why, today, Foreign Ministers will make a first assessment of progress which Georgia and Ukraine have made.

Tomorrow we will meet with both countries to discuss with them the result of our discussions today.

The NATO-Georgia Commission will meet for the first time in Foreign Ministers format, and this will also provide us with an opportunity to exchange views with Foreign Minister Tkeshelashvili about the evolving security situation in the region, and other issues of mutual interest.

As in the past, the NATO-Ukraine Commission will also meet at Foreign Ministers’ level.

We will exchange views with Foreign Minister Ogryzko on developments in Ukraine and the progress made in the framework of the existing NATO-Ukraine cooperation.

A second major item for discussion among NATO Ministers will be our relations with Russia. After the Caucasus conflict, we decided that there could be no business as usual with Russia, and that we had to seriously review our relationship. Today, we will continue this review and will discuss the parameters for our engagement with Russia. 

Our aim has never changed: to build a Europe whole, free and at peace – a Europe in which Russia should play her full part as a responsible major player.

Third we will discuss the way ahead on operations. In today’s world our security can only be ensured through a policy of active engagement. Accordingly, NATO is involved in demanding operations and missions on several continents. In our meetings, we will look at the situation in Afghanistan and review our progress in implementing our Comprehensive Strategic Political-Military Plan.

We will also look at developments in Kosovo and their implications for NATO's longer-term engagement in the Western Balkans. And we will discuss the growing challenge of piracy, and NATO’s contribution to the international effort to fight this scourge.

Last but certainly not least, we just concluded our Working Lunch with the Foreign Ministers of our Mediterranean Dialogue partners. This Dialogue between NATO nations and partners from Northern Africa and the Middle East has become a true success story.

Our security is closely interrelated with the security of our neighbours on the Southern shores of the Mediterranean, and today’s meeting once again underlined this interdependence.

Colleagues

Excellencies

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Our agenda for today and tomorrow is ambitious, to put it mildly. But it is an agenda that reflects the reality of transatlantic cooperation within NATO:

North America and Europe form a unique community of nations – a community that has proven time and again that it can act and should act as an agent of positive change. It is a message that we must reinforce as we look forward to our 60th Anniversary Summit in Strasbourg and Kehl in April of next year. A strong and cohesive Alliance remains indispensable to safeguard our security in an uncertain world.

Thank you for your attention. This concludes the Opening Session.