PRESS COMMUNIQUE M-NAC-2(94)116                   
For immediate release
                                        1st December 1994



     MINISTERIAL MEETING OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL
           HELD AT NATO HEADQUARTERS, BRUSSELS,
                      ON 1 DECEMBER 1994


                   FINAL COMMUNIQUE



     1.   We have met today in Brussels for the first time
under our new Chairman and the Alliance's new Secretary
General, Mr. Willy Claes.  We paid tribute to the
outstanding achievements of the late Secretary General,
Dr. Manfred W”rner, who served the Alliance with great
distinction, leadership and vision.

     2.   We have noted the progress achieved in
implementing the January 1994 NATO Summit decisions with
regard to Partnership for Peace, our full support for the
development of the European Defence and Security Identity
and for the Western European Union, the development of the
Combined Joint Task Forces concept, our approach to the
problem of the proliferation of weapons of mass
destruction and their delivery systems, and the
Mediterranean region.  However, much remains to be done.

     3.   We discussed today the essential role NATO
continues to play in reinforcing stability and security in
Europe.  NATO has always been a political community of
nations committed to promoting shared values and defending
common interests.  These and NATO's defensive capabilities
are the firm foundation which make it possible for the
Alliance to contribute to stability and cooperation in the
whole of Europe.  A strong trans-Atlantic partnership and
a continued substantial presence of United States forces
in Europe, as reconfirmed by the January Summit, are
fundamental not only to guarantee the Alliance's core
functions but also to enable our Alliance to contribute
effectively to European security.  We are committed to
continuing the process of adaptation of the Alliance,
which began in 1990 and was carried forward at the Summit
in the context of a broad approach to building political,
military and economic stability for all European
countries.  We will continue to consult closely and in an
open manner with all our Partners about the evolution of
the security architecture of Europe.

     4.   Allies have already taken important steps to
expand cooperation through the North Atlantic Cooperation
Council and through the decisions of the January 1994
Summit, including the creation of the Partnership for
Peace.  Partnership for Peace is developing into
an important feature of European security, linking NATO
and its Partners and providing the basis for joint action
with the Alliance in dealing with common security
problems.  Active participation in the Partnership for
Peace will also play an important role in the evolutionary
process of the expansion of NATO.

          We are pleased with the rapid progress to date
in the implementation of Partnership for Peace. 
Twenty-three countries so far have joined the Partnership. 
Ten Individual Partnership Programmes have been agreed and
several more are close to completion.  The Partnership
Coordination Cell at Mons is fully operational and
practical planning work has begun, especially with regard
to the preparation for Partnership exercises in 1995. 
Together with Allies, eleven Partner countries already
have appointed Liaison Officers at the Cell.  Partner
countries' representatives have taken up their dedicated
office facilities in the new Manfred W”rner Wing at NATO
Headquarters.  We strongly encourage full Partner
participation both at NATO Headquarters and in the
Partnership Coordination Cell.

          The three Partnership for Peace exercises held
this Autumn with broad participation by both Allied and
Partner nations launched a practical military cooperation
that will improve our common capabilities.  We will
tomorrow present to our Partners a substantial exercise
programme for next year.  We welcome and encourage the
large and growing number of exercises nationally sponsored
in the spirit of Partnership for Peace.  We also welcome
and endorse a defence planning and review process within
the Partnership, based on a biennial planning cycle, which
will advance interoperability and increase transparency
among Allies and Partners, and invite Partners to
participate in a first round of this process beginning in
January 1995.

          We have also tasked the Council in Permanent
Session, the NATO Military Authorities and the Partnership
Coordination Cell to expedite the implementation of the
Individual Partnership Programmes.  We reaffirm our
commitment to provide the necessary resources.  In this
regard, we have requested the Council in Permanent Session
to examine how best to allocate, on an annual basis,
existing resources within the NATO budgets to support the
Partnership and to report back to us at our Spring
meeting.  We have also noted the effort of Allies to
provide substantial bilateral assistance in support of
Partnership objectives and agreed to exchange information
on our respective national efforts with a view to ensuring
the maximum effectiveness in their use.  However, all this
can only supplement, not replace, the efforts of Partners
to undertake the short-term and long-term planning
necessary to fund their own participation in Partnership
for Peace.


     5.   Our Heads of State and Government reaffirmed
that the Alliance, as provided for in Article 10 of the
Washington Treaty, remains open to membership of other
European states in a position to further the principles of
the Treaty and to contribute to the security of
the North Atlantic area.  We expect and would welcome NATO
enlargement that would reach to democratic states to our
East, as part of an evolutionary process, taking into
account political and security developments in the whole
of Europe.  Enlargement, when it comes, would be part of a
broad European security architecture based on true
cooperation throughout the whole of Europe.  It would
threaten no one and would enhance stability and security
for all of Europe.  The enlargement of NATO will
complement the enlargement of the European Union, a
parallel process which also, for its part, contributes
significantly to extending security and stability to the
new democracies in the East.

     6.   Accordingly, we have decided to initiate a
process of examination inside the Alliance to determine
how NATO will enlarge, the principles to guide this
process and the implications of membership.  To that end,
we have directed the Council in Permanent Session,
with the advice of the Military Authorities, to begin an
extensive study.  This will include an examination of how
the Partnership for Peace can contribute concretely to
this process.  We will present the results of our
deliberations to interested Partners prior to our next
meeting in Brussels.  We will discuss the progress made at
our Spring meeting in The Netherlands.

     7.   We agreed that it is premature to discuss the
timeframe for enlargement or which particular countries
would be invited to join the Alliance.  We further agreed
that enlargement should strengthen the effectiveness of
the Alliance, contribute to the stability and security of
the entire Euro-Atlantic area, and support our objective
of maintaining an undivided Europe.  It should be carried
out in a way that preserves the Alliance's ability to
perform its core functions of common defence as well as to
undertake peacekeeping and other new missions and that
upholds the principles and objectives of the Washington
Treaty.  In this context, we recall the Preamble to the
Washington Treaty:

     "The Parties to this Treaty reaffirm their faith in
the purposes and principles of the  Charter of the United
Nations and their desire to live in peace with all peoples
and all governments.  They are determined to safeguard the
freedom, common heritage and civilisation of their
peoples, founded on the principles of democracy,
individual liberty and the rule of law.  They seek to
promote stability and well-being in the North     
Atlantic area.  They are resolved to unite their efforts
for collective defence and for the preservation of peace
and security."

All new members of NATO will be full members of the
Alliance, enjoying the rights and assuming all obligations
of membership.  We agreed that, when it occurs,
enlargement will be decided on a case-by-case basis and
that some nations may attain membership before
others.

     8.   We affirm our commitment to reinforce
cooperative structures of security which can extend to
countries throughout the whole of Europe, noting that the
enlargement of NATO should also be seen in this context. 
Against this background, we wish to develop further our
dialogue and consolidate our relations with each of our
Partners.  Having just overcome the division of Europe, we
have no desire to see the emergence of new lines of
partition.  We are working towards an intensification of
relations between NATO and its Partners on the basis
of transparency and on an equal footing.  NATO's right to
take its own decisions, on its own responsibility, by
consensus among its members will in no way be affected.

     9.  A cooperative European security architecture
requires  the active participation of Russia.  We reaffirm
our strong support for the political and economic reforms
in Russia, and we welcome the considerable contributions
that Russia can make towards stability and security
in Europe on a wide range of issues.  We also reaffirm our
commitment to developing a far-reaching relationship,
corresponding with Russia's size, importance and
capabilities, both inside and outside the Partnership for
Peace, based on mutual friendship, respect and benefit,
and we are encouraged by the progress and plans that have
been made in the various elements of that relationship. 
We welcome also an initial programme of consultations and
cooperation between the Alliance and Russia, on the basis
of the Summary of Conclusions of 22 June 1994 agreed at
the meeting of Russian Foreign Minister A. Kozyrev with
the Council, in areas where Russia has a unique or
particularly important contribution to make.  In this
context and with the aim of increasing European and global
security, we propose using the opportunity of our regular
Ministerial meetings to meet with Russian Ministers
whenever useful.  In the same spirit, we also propose that
our experts discuss key issues like true partners.  We
welcome the completion of the withdrawal of Russian troops
from Germany and the Baltic States, which represents a
significant contribution to security as well as
benefitting general stability in Europe.  We also welcome
the agreement between the Russian Federation and
Moldova which provides for the withdrawal of the Russian
14th Army from the territory of Moldova.

     10.  We attach considerable importance to developing
our relationship with Ukraine. 
An independent, democratic and stable Ukraine is of great
importance for European security and stability.  We are
pleased that Ukraine was involved in the two Partnership
for Peace field exercises in Poland and in The
Netherlands.  We look forward to the completion of its
Individual Partnership Programme.  We want to develop our
cooperation with Ukraine still further.  We welcome the
Ukrainian Parliament's vote in favour of Ukraine's
accession to the NPT, which is a fundamental step to
enable this country to accede to the NPT as a non-
nuclear weapon state.

     11.  We meet only four days before the Budapest CSCE
Summit, a crucial opportunity to progress further towards
our vision of a Europe whole and free.  We will work
individually and collectively to ensure that the CSCE
fulfils effectively the vital role it should have in the
construction of an inclusive security architecture.  The
Helsinki Accords and other CSCE documents remain the basic
definition of our common goals and standards, and the
CSCE defines both the values and goals of a broad
community of security and cooperation. 
NATO respects and upholds the principles of the CSCE.  The
CSCE has developed useful methods for conflict prevention
and preventive diplomacy which provide the important first
line of efforts to attack the root causes of conflict. 
Much progress has been made in this direction since the
1992 Helsinki Summit, but the challenges have expanded
since then.


     12.   As a regional arrangement under Chapter VIII of
the UN Charter, the CSCE should play a key role for
conflict prevention and crisis management and resolution
in its area.  In accordance with Article 52 of the UN
Charter, CSCE Participating States should make every
effort to achieve the peaceful settlement of local
disputes through the CSCE before referring them to the UN
Security Council.  We support the objectives of the
forthcoming CSCE Summit to:

-    reinforce our commitment to the CSCE as the
comprehensive forum for consultation and cooperation in
Europe;

-    strengthen further the CSCE's capabilities, including
in decision-making, and effectiveness;

-    adopt substantial agreements reached in the Forum for
Security Cooperation:  the Code of Conduct on Security
Matters, the agreement on global exchange of military     
information and the increased focus on non-proliferation
issues, together with a further enhancement of the Vienna
Document on confidence-building measures, which will    
represent a solid step forward in the field of arms
control and cooperative security;

-    develop further the CSCE's capabilities in early
warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and
peacekeeping;

-    reaffirm and strengthen the CSCE's fundamental role
in the protection of human rights and the promotion of
democratic institutions;

-    foster good neighbourly relations through the
conclusion of bilateral and regional      agreements
between and among Participating States; and

-    enhance transparent and effective arms control and
confidence-building measures throughout the CSCE area and
at regional levels.

We fully support the activities of the CSCE to achieve a
peaceful solution to the conflict in and around
Nagorno-Karabakh.  This will be an opportunity to
demonstrate the political determination of all the
Participating States to put the CSCE principles into
practice.

     13.  We welcome the success of the process initiated
in Paris for the conclusion of a Pact for Stability in
Europe.  The launching of two "regional tables" has
demonstrated the progress that rapprochement among
European states can bring.  This initiative makes a
substantial contribution to stability in our continent. 
We recommend continuation of this close co-operation for
conclusion of the Pact for Stability in Europe, as an
active contribution to good neighbourly relations in
Central and Eastern Europe.

     14.  We welcome the endorsement by the WEU Council of
Ministers in Noordwijk of preliminary conclusions on the
formulation of the common European Defence Policy taking
also into account the results of the NATO Brussels Summit. 
We welcome the WEU's decision to initiate reflection on
the new European security conditions, including the
proposal put forward by France that this should lead to a
white paper on European security.  We attach great
importance to the process of cooperation that NATO and the
WEU are engaged in, aimed at the effective implementation
of the Summit results, especially with regard to the
Combined Joint Task Forces (CJTF) concept and the
possibility of making assets and capabilities of the
Alliance available to the WEU.  We take note that a report
on criteria and procedures for effective use of CJTF has
been prepared by the WEU and presented to a joint
Council meeting of NATO and the WEU on 29 June 1994.

     15.  We have taken note of the work undertaken on the
development of the CJTF concept, which is an essential
part of the Alliance's continuing effort to adapt and
adjust its structures and procedures, in order to conduct
more efficiently and flexibly the Alliance's missions,
including peacekeeping, to provide separable but not
separate military capabilities that could be employed by
NATO or the WEU and to facilitate operations with
participating nations outside the Alliance.  Much remains
to be done to adapt Alliance structures and procedures
and, in this context, to develop the CJTF concept, and to
move the whole process forward as quickly as necessary. 
Work is in hand to develop this concept in detail, in
coordination with the WEU and with the advice of the NATO
Military Authorities, as a means to implement the
Alliance's readiness to make its collective assets
available, on the basis of consultations in the North
Atlantic Council, for WEU operations.  We have tasked
the Council in Permanent Session to continue its work and
to examine ways that would enable further development of
the CJTF concept, including, as soon as appropriate,
through pilot trials and look forward to a progress report
at our next meeting.

     16.  Work on the Summit initiative on the
proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their
delivery means has been taken forward through the creation
of the Joint Committee on Proliferation and two expert
groups, the Senior Politico-Military Group on
Proliferation and the Senior Defence Group on
Proliferation.  We took note of the report of the Joint
Committee on Proliferation on the work undertaken by these
Groups, which is based on the basic principles of the
Alliance Policy Framework that we adopted and made public
at our Istanbul Ministerial.  We welcome the progress made
in intensifying and expanding NATO's political and defence
efforts against proliferation, which remains one of the
greatest concerns for the Alliance.  We have instructed
that the Groups should move forward in implementing their
agreed work programmes in order to examine, without
replacing or duplicating efforts underway in other fora,
the means available to prevent and respond where
necessary to proliferation, and to facilitate NATO defence
activities in the field of proliferation.  We look forward
to another progress report at our meeting in May.  We
welcome the consultations with all Cooperation Partners in
the framework of the NACC and look forward to ad hoc
consultations with Russia on proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction and their means of delivery.

     17.  We remain fully committed to the indefinite and
unconditional extension of the Treaty on the
Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) at next year's
Extension and Review Conference.  We urge the other States
Parties to the Treaty to do likewise.  We will
continue to support other ongoing efforts to strengthen
the international non-proliferation system.  In this
context, we urge other states yet to accede to the Treaty
to do so well before the upcoming NPT Conference.  We will
also work to enhance the verification regime for the
NPT.  In this context, we consider the recent "agreed
framework" between the United States and the Democratic
People's Republic of Korea as a step towards bringing the
Democratic People's Republic of Korea into full compliance
with its NPT commitments and as a
contribution towards the maintenance of peace and
stability in the region.

     18.  We continue to attach particular importance to
full compliance with and fulfilment of all obligations
resulting from existing disarmament and arms control
agreements. 
In this context, we welcome the successful completion of
the second reduction phase of the CFE Treaty.  This
Treaty, which remains the cornerstone for European
security and stability, must be fully and firmly
implemented and its integrity must be preserved.  The
process of elimination of former Soviet weapons of mass
destruction must rapidly be advanced further. 
We welcome the contribution made by some Allies to that
effect.  We attach great importance to the negotiation of
a universal and verifiable Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty. 
It is also important to achieve a universal ban on the
production of fissile material for weapons purposes.  We
continue to consider as essential tasks the early entry
into force of the Chemical Weapons Convention and the
elaboration of measures to strengthen the Biological
Weapons Convention.  Noting the importance of the Open
Skies Treaty in promoting openness and transparency of
military forces and activities, we reiterate our hope that
all signatories who have not yet ratified the Treaty will
do so and that all instruments of ratification
necessary for the entry into force of the Treaty will be
deposited at the earliest possible time.

     19.  We reaffirm the importance we attach to
developments around the Mediterranean.  At our meeting in
Athens we encouraged all efforts for dialogue and
cooperation which aim at strengthening stability in this
region.  In this context, we welcome the recent positive
steps in the Middle East peace process, which will help
remove the obstacles to a more constructive relationship
between the countries of the region as a whole. 
The NATO Summit in January reiterated the conviction that
security in Europe is greatly affected by security in the
Mediterranean.  As agreed at our meeting in Istanbul, we
have examined proposed measures to promote dialogue and
are ready to establish contacts, on a case-by-case basis,
between the Alliance and Mediterranean non-member
countries with a view to contributing to the strengthening
of regional stability.  To this end, we direct the
Council in Permanent Session to continue to review the
situation, to develop the details of the proposed dialogue
and to initiate appropriate preliminary contacts.

     20.  We deplore the continuing conflict in Bosnia,
which has brought about large-scale suffering, most
recently in and around the Safe Area of Bihac.  We
reiterate our strong support for the continued efforts of
the international community, including those of the
Contact Group, in attempting to bring peace to the region. 
We continue to believe that the conflict must be settled
at the negotiating table.  We call on the Bosnian Serbs
and all those forces which support them to end their
offensive in Bihac and on all parties to agree to and
honour a cease-fire and allow humanitarian aid to flow to
that beleaguered population and throughout
Bosnia-Herzegovina.  The Bosnian Serbs should immediately
and without conditions release all UN personnel currently
being denied freedom of movement.  We
reaffirm our commitment to provide close air support for
UNPROFOR and to use NATO air power, in accordance with
existing arrangements with the United Nations.  We will
continue, together with the WEU, the maritime embargo
enforcement operations in the Adriatic.  We
are determined to maintain Alliance unity and cohesion as
we work together with the international community to find
a just and peaceful solution in Bosnia and elsewhere in
the former Yugoslavia.

     21.  The situation in Southern Caucasus continues to
be of special concern.  We welcome the ceasefire that has
been established, but lasting peaceful and just solutions
to ongoing conflicts in the region, particularly in and
around Nagorno-Karabakh, can only be reached under the
aegis of the UN and through CSCE mechanisms.  We hope that
the CSCE will be in a position to contribute effectively
to the peace process on Nagorno-Karabakh, including
through the establishment of a CSCE multinational
peacekeeping operation based on the principles of Chapter
III of the Helsinki Document 1992.

     22.  We reiterate the Alliance's condemnation of
international terrorism as stated at the NATO Summit in
January.

     23.  We reaffirm our commitment to the Alliance's
common-funded programmes. 
We consider these programmes vital elements in
underpinning our military structures, providing essential
operating capability and strengthening Alliance cohesion. 
We have directed the Council in Permanent Session, taking
account of the Fundamental Review of the Military Budget
and the Civil Budget Priorities Review, to engage in a
wide-ranging examination of Alliance budgetary management,
structures and procedures to ensure that the appropriate
resources are directed towards the programmes which will
have the highest priority and to report initially at the
Spring session.

     24.  The Spring 1995 meeting of the North Atlantic
Council in Ministerial Session will be held in Noordwijk,
The Netherlands, in May.