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A. Introduction
- The PfP and NACC can help to ensure that,
in accepting new members, the Alliance will
contribute to enhanced security and stability in an
undivided Europe, fundamental goals of the Alliance,
as discussed in Chapter II. As the enlargement
process proceeds, NACC/PfP will continue to provide
the fundamental framework for developing relations
with partner countries. Dynamic NACC/PfP cooperation
is an integral part of the European security
architecture, deepening interaction and extending
security and stability throughout Europe, and as a
means to strengthen relations with partner countries,
whether possible new members or not. In the context
of enlargement, this will require particular
attention and effort by the Alliance.
- PfP will play an important role both to
help prepare possible new members, through their
participation in PfP activities, for the benefits and
responsibilities of eventual membership and as a
means to strengthen relations with partner countries
which may be unlikely to join the Alliance early or
at all. There will be a need to ensure that
appropriate human and financial resources are
directed to support those activities in accordance
with PfP funding policy.
- NACC will continue, as it has since its
inception in 1991, to play a significant role in
building confidence and drawing NATO Allies and
cooperation partners closer together. In the context
of enlargement, the importance of NACC will be
enhanced, in particular, as a common forum
encompassing NATO Allies and NACC/PfP partners for
dialogue and consultation on political and
security-related issues and for cooperation among its
members to strengthen security.
B. The Continuing Role of the NACC and the PfP in
Strengthening European Security
- The Partnership for Peace is a key element
in NATO's political and military cooperation
programmes with non-member OSCE countries which
deepens interaction, cooperation and stability in
Europe and contributes to the overall goal of
transparency. PfP is only at the beginning of its
development; its full potential has not yet been
achieved; and its continuing importance will not be
affected by enlargement.
- Within the broader PfP framework, a
critical aspect is that partners reaffirmed their
commitment to the principles of the UN and the OSCE
and their readiness to develop cooperative military
relations with NATO to strengthen their ability to
undertake peacekeeping and other missions under the
authority of the UN and/or the responsibility of the
OSCE. The Alliance should ensure that PfP gets all
due attention and credit in this regard.
- For countries that do not become members,
NACC/PfP must constitute: a continuing vehicle for
active cooperation with NATO; concrete evidence of
NATO's continuing support and concern for their
security; and their primary link to the Alliance, as
a key Euro-Atlantic security institution, including
for consultation with NATO in the event an active
partner perceives a direct threat to its territorial
integrity, political independence or security. The
Alliance will maintain the importance, vitality and
credibility of NACC/PfP as enlargement evolves to
retain their value for countries which may be
unlikely to join the Alliance early or at all.
Maintaining the vitality of NACC/PfP may require new
approaches and mechanisms to be devised in parallel
to the Alliance's enlargement process. In this
context, Ministers have instructed the Council to
explore the scope for integrating the existing
cooperative structures and procedures for NACC and
the Partnership for Peace.
- PfP cooperation should be further developed
in order to:
- help partners to further develop democratic
control of their armed forces and transparency in
defence planning and budgeting processes, although
this will largely depend on these countries' own
efforts;
- enhance the network of military and
defence-related cooperation to provide effective
support to partners in adapting their defence
arrangements to the new security environment;
- develop the cooperative features of PfP,
e.g., through enhancing partners' involvement in
developing, planning and implementing PfP activities,
in particular by increasing their
capability/readiness to contribute with others to
peacekeeping, humanitarian, search and rescue and
other activities to be agreed;
- strengthen the confidence-building and
transparent character of defence-related and military
cooperation, both with Allies and among partners;
- complement the development of interoperable
forces by adequate mechanisms to duly involve
partners in planning and carrying out joint
peacekeeping operations.
C. The Role of PfP in Preparing for Membership
- PfP activities and programmes are open to
all partners, who themselves decide which
opportunities to pursue and how intensively to work
with the Alliance through the Partnership. This
varying degree of participation is a key element of
the self-differentiation process. Active
participation in PfP will play an important role in
possible new members' preparation to join the
Alliance, although it will not guarantee Alliance
membership. Active participation in NACC/PfP will
provide the framework for possible new members to
establish patterns of political and military
cooperation with the Alliance to facilitate a
transition to membership. Through PfP planning,
joint exercises and other PfP activities, including
seminars, workshops and day-to-day representation in
Brussels and at Mons, possible new members will
increasingly become acquainted with the functioning
of the Alliance, including with respect to
policy-making, peacekeeping and crisis management.
Possible new members' commitment to the shared
principles and values of the Alliance will be
indicated by their international behaviour and
adherence to relevant OSCE commitments; however,
their participation in PfP will provide a further
important means to demonstrate such commitment as
well as their ability to contribute to common
defence.
- For possible new members, PfP will
contribute to their preparation both politically and
militarily, to familiarise them with Alliance
structures and procedures and to deepen their
understanding of the obligations and rights that
membership will entail.
PfP will help partners undertake necessary defence
management reforms as they establish the processes
and mechanisms necessary to run a democratically
controlled military organisation, in areas such as
transparent national defence planning, resource
allocation and budgeting, appropriate legislation and
parliamentary and public accountability. PfP will
assist possible new members to develop
well-established democratic accountability and
practices and to demonstrate their commitment to
internationally-accepted norms of behaviour. Within
the scope of the Framework Document, PfP also
provides a means to promote and develop
interoperability with Alliance forces by
familiarising possible new members with important
elements for interoperability.
- The PfP Planning and Review Process and PfP
exercises will introduce partners to collective
defence planning and pave the way for more detailed
operational planning. A biennial PfP Planning and
Review Process has been offered to all Partners on an
optional basis and provides a means of
self-differentiation. Participation in the process
will be the most effective way to develop, in the
longer term, Partner forces that are better able to
operate with those of the NATO Allies. Cooperation
between Partners and the Alliance in the process will
be broadened and deepened over time as appropriate.
Results of this process should be incorporated in
Partner defence plans and reflected in PfP IPPs and
the Partnership Work Programme as appropriate. While
new members will not be required to achieve full
interoperability with NATO before joining the
Alliance, they will need to meet certain minimum
standards essential to a functioning and credible
Alliance. These standards will continue to be
developed by NATO and will be based in part on
conclusions reached through the Planning and Review
Process. Partners' own efforts will largely
determine how quickly they progress in preparing for
possible NATO membership, although outside assistance
may facilitate progress.
- The preparation of possible new members
interested in joining NATO can be facilitated by an
appropriate reinforcement and deepening of their
Individual Partnership Programmes. Such a
reinforcement and deepening is a key to
self-differentiation. Among other things, it would
allow partners to distinguish themselves by
demonstrating their capabilities and their commitment
with a view to possible NATO membership and to
contribute to Alliance missions. Concerning the
process of preparing for membership, the premature
development of measures outside PfP for possible new
members should be avoided. A clear distinction
should be maintained between participation in PfP and
an eventual invitation to join the Alliance. There
will come a point, after a country has been invited
to join the Alliance, when specific measures for
preparing the accession of that country will have to
be devised.
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