Statement

Mister Secretary General,
Ministers,
Ambassadors

I want to express Austria's great satisfaction to participate in this important meeting. We would express our thanks to the involved NATO institutions for the work conducted to further the planning and review process. The PARP and the related Ministerial Guidance are of great importance for us.

This is the right moment to express and to reiterate the value of this process for partner nations. The PARP remains the key element of our armed force's transformation process and is a prerequisite for interoperability, building relevant capabilities and participation in operations. The Operational Capabilities Concept can be considered as the logical prolongation of this process. Austria remains fully engaged, both in the PARP and in the OCC. Let me also highlight the particular value of the OCC in preparing forces for high readiness contributions. Our partnership involvement has been an essential asset in all our international military engagements so far. Our presence in the Western Balkans takes the largest share of Austria's military presence abroad. These contributions would not have been possible without the tools offered by the Partnership.

Stability in the Western Balkans area remains a central point of Austria's security and defence policy. It is therefore particularly satisfying to have the Ministers of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia at this table. It is with great pleasure that we witness their progress in the partnership process. In this context I am also happy to refer to para 16 of the Chairman's Report on the Euro-Atlantic Partnership dealing with NATO/PfP Trust Fund Projects. I am pleased to inform you, that in May of this year the TFP aimed at the destruction of the last remaining stockpiles of Anti Personnel Landmines in Serbia and Montenegro could be successfully concluded.

Allow me in this context to reiterate my country's continuing readiness to remain militarily present in the area. The planned takeover of MNTF South by Austria in the beginning of 2008 as well as the Austrian contribution to the German-led Operational Reserve Forces (ORF) - Battalion highlight the priority of this region for Austria. The continued contribution of partners to the operations in this region is essential to their success. This leads me to stress the need for adequate access of partners to all information related to missions. Our experience in KFOR shows that there remains room for improvement. We take it as a very positive message in this sense, that the PARP ministerial guidance, which we approve today, addresses the release of cryptographic material for Partners for application in operations as a matter of urgency. We hope that these recommendations will also be implemented in due time.

To conclude I would like to stress the great importance of a sound EU-NATO relationship to ensure security in KOSOVO, but also security for military and civilian elements already involved and yet to be involved.

Thank you Mister Secretary General.