Press Release M-EAPC-2 (2000)123 15 Dec. 2000

Chairman's summary of the Meeting of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council in Foreign Ministers Session The Foreign Ministers and Representatives of the member countries of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) met in Brussels today. The Secretary General of NATO informed the EAPC about the main results of the North Atlantic Council meeting on 14 December. Mr. Wolfgang Petritsch, High Representative for Bosnia and Herzegovina, briefed the EAPC on the current situation five years after the signing of the Dayton Peace Agreement. Ministers exchanged views on the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina and commended SFOR's continued efforts in contributing to stability and supporting the full implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords. They were encouraged by the increased support for moderate parties in the recent general elections, while the continuing appeal of hard-line nationalist parties remained a cause for concern. They stressed that greater and more rapid progress needs to be made towards a self-sustaining, multi-ethnic democracy by the newly elected officials of Bosnia and Herzegovina, who should take on greater ownership of the process. They restated their determination to continue to assist Bosnia and Herzegovina along the path to lasting peace. Ministers commended KFOR's efforts to carry out its mandate to ensure a secure environment in Kosovo, in close cooperation with UNMIK. They welcomed the peaceful and proper conduct of the recent local elections as an important step towards the implementation of UN Security Council Resolution 1244. They called upon the new representatives on the Kosovo municipal councils to carry out their duties responsibly, in close co-operation with the international community. They condemned continued acts of violence in Kosovo and in Southern Serbia, whether ethnically or politically motivated and called for an end to extremist actions and a peaceful resolution of outstanding issues. They welcomed the additional robust measures taken by KFOR to increase security along Kosovo's boundary with Southern Serbia. Ministers underlined the importance of the regular consultations that had taken place within the EAPC framework on the evolving situation in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). They expressed their support for the early re-integration of the FRY into the International Community, and welcomed the recent admission of the FRY as an OSCE and UN member. Ministers discussed how to enhance security in the Euro-Atlantic area through using the numerous regional cooperation initiatives that have been undertaken which are supportive of the EAPC's aims. They also examined how the EAPC and PfP might best contribute to the individual initiatives. They discussed the activities of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council during the last year and exchanged views on how political and security related cooperation might be further enhanced throughout the Euro-Atlantic area. They took note of the discussions that have been held on the future development of the EAPC, and the various initiatives that have been undertaken in pursuit of security and stability throughout the entire Euro-Atlantic area, including those to foster practical regional cooperation in South-East Europe, the Caucasus and Central Asia. They exchanged views on various regional cooperation initiatives designed to build long-term stability and security in SEE including NATO's SEEI and its contributions to support the objectives of the Stability Pact for SEE. Work with partners in the framework of EAPC/PfP plays an important role in this effort. They also welcomed continuing work to complement and support international action in the fields of dealing with the Challenge of Small Arms and Light Weapons and promoting Global Humanitarian Mine Action. Ministers welcomed in particular work on the role of EAPC/PfP in Conflict Prevention, and attached high priority to continuing work on effective conflict prevention measures. Ministers welcomed continued progress made since the Washington Summit on the overall development of the enhanced and more operational Partnership; they endorsed a progress report on the implementation of the Operational Capabilities Concept for NATO-led PfP Operations (OCC), with the establishment of new means and mechanisms to improve the ability of Partner forces to contribute to NATO-led operations such as in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Kosovo through closer day-to-day cooperation with headquarters and forces of the Alliance. In the same context Ministers welcomed the intensification of information exchange and consultations at the political and military levels on issues related to Partner participation in the ongoing NATO-led operations in accordance with the Political-Military Framework for NATO-led PfP Operations. They look forward to the results of the next implementation review at their spring 2001 meeting. Ministers endorsed and agreed to make public the updated EAPC Action Plan for 2000-2002, to guide the cooperative work of the Alliance and its Partners for the next year. They noted a report on activities under the EAPC Action Plan in the second half of this year. Ministers will meet again in Budapest in May 2001.