Press
Release
M-DPC/NPG-
1(2001)87
7 June 2001
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Final
Communiqu
Ministerial
Meeting of the Defence Planning Committee
and the Nuclear Planning Group
- The Defence Planning Committee
and Nuclear Planning Group of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
met in Ministerial Session in Brussels
on 7 June 2001.
- Collective defence planning lies
at the core of the Alliance's work.
It enables the Alliance to ensure
that it has the military capabilities
needed to prepare for and carry
out the full range of its missions,
from collective defence to crisis
response and peace support operations.
This common effort also underpins
the Alliance's political cohesion
and the transatlantic link. Through
our collective defence planning
process we are also pursuing the
achievement of the key capability
improvements that were agreed in
the Defence Capabilities Initiative.
- Ensuring that NATO planning work
is precisely focussed on the results
we need to achieve is an essential
part of our work as Alliance Defence
Ministers. Therefore, today, we
took stock of the work in progress
to implement the Ministerial Guidance
we agreed at our last meeting. We
concentrated, in particular, on
how this guidance is being translated
by the NATO Military Authorities
into detailed planning targets for
our nations, which we will be invited
to approve as NATO Force Goals at
our Spring meeting next year. These
Force Goals will need to increase
the momentum already achieved in
implementing the Defence Capabilities
Initiative. This will require our
nations to make the best use of
resources available for defence,
including through multinational,
joint and common funding projects
and, in many cases, to provide additional
funds. The Force Goals will also
have to play a major role in implementing
the new NATO force structure.
- At our Nuclear Planning Group
meeting, we reaffirmed the continuing
validity of the fundamentally political
purpose and the principles underpinning
the nuclear forces of the Allies
as set out in the Alliance's 1999
Strategic Concept. We emphasize
again that nuclear forces based
in Europe and committed to NATO
continue to provide an essential
political and military link between
the European and North American
members of the Alliance.
- Ten years ago, with the 1991
Strategic Concept, the Alliance embarked on a number
of decisive strategy and policy changes to adapt to
the Post-Cold War security situation. Looking back,
we are satisfied that NATO's new strategy of reduced
reliance on nuclear weapons, reaffirmed in the 1999
Strategic Concept, has been fully translated into NATO
doctrine, and that NATO's drastically reduced nuclear
force posture fully complies with Alliance key principles.
Nuclear forces are a credible and effective element
of the Alliance's strategy of preventing war; they are
maintained at the minimum level sufficient to preserve
peace and stability, under conditions that continue
to meet the highest standards of safety and security.
- Reviewing the status of NATO's
nuclear forces and related developments,
we appreciated information by the
United States Secretary of Defense
on a range of topical issues. We
expressed interest in consulting
with the United States on its deliberations
to adapt deterrence concepts and
forces to meet future security challenges
and noted the prospect of associated
further reductions in strategic
nuclear forces. We received information
from the United States Secretary
of Defense on the nuclear deterrence
and force posture reviews currently
in progress in the United States,
including missile defence, and appreciate
the assurance of continued, substantive
consultations in the Alliance on
these issues.
- NATO has a long-standing commitment
to arms control, disarmament and
non-proliferation, which will continue
to play a major role in the achievement
of Alliance security objectives.
The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty
(NPT) is the cornerstone of the
nuclear non-proliferation regime
and the essential foundation for
the pursuit of nuclear disarmament.
We reaffirm our commitment to work
for further reductions of nuclear
weapons, and our determination to
contribute to the implementation
of the conclusions of the 2000 NPT
Review Conference. We recognize
the achievements of the START process
to date and strongly support the
ongoing process towards achieving
further reductions of strategic
nuclear weapons deployed by the
United States and Russia. As long
as the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty
(CTBT) has not entered into force,
we urge all states to maintain existing
moratoria on nuclear testing.
- On the basis of President Bush's
1991 Nuclear Initiative, NATO took
the decision to reduce the number
of nuclear weapons available for
its sub-strategic forces in Europe
by over 85 percent. These reductions
were completed in 1993. Given the
need to reduce the uncertainties
surrounding non-strategic nuclear
weapons in Russia, we believe that
a reaffirmation of the 1991/1992
Presidential Initiatives might be
a first, but not exhaustive, step
in this direction. Therefore, we
renew our call on Russia to complete
the reductions in its non-strategic
nuclear weapons stockpile targeted
for implementation by the end of
year 2000.
- We value exchanges with the Russian
Federation on a range of nuclear
weapons issues under the NATO-Russia
Permanent Joint Council and look
forward to consultations on the
nuclear confidence and security
building measures proposed by NATO,
which seek increased transparency
with Russia on nuclear weapons matters
on a reciprocal basis. We see these
proposals as a basis for enhanced
understanding, trust and cooperation.
We expressed our expectation that
substantial consultations with Russia
on these issues will benefit our
stated goal of a genuine and reliable
partnership with the Russian Federation.

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