DEPUTY SECRETARY GENERAL'S 
           PUBLIC OPENING STATEMENT
               NAC MINISTERIAL
           ISTANBUL, 9TH JUNE 1994


The Alliance's Summit took place in early January. Since
then, we have moved forward vigorously and swiftly to
implement the decisions taken by our Heads of State and
Government.

We have given priority to setting the course for
PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE. It has received a strong and
positive response. Twenty countries have so far become
partners in subscribing to the Framework Documents. In
these they have indicated what they are interested in and
willing to contribute to Partnership for Peace. We are
working actively to reach agreement on the first
Individual Partnership Programmes. The Partnership
Coordination Cell in Mons has been inaugurated and its
Director has been appointed. Offices for Partners at NATO
Headquarters have been constructed and are now open. The
permanent presence of officers from Partner countries at
NATO Headquarters and at Mons will decisively enhance our
cooperation. Moreover, the Netherlands and Poland will
host the first joint peacekeeping field exercises this
autumn.

All these development underscore the tremendous changes
that we are undertaking and the new times which lie
ahead. Partnership for Peace is helping to create a
common political and defence culture throughout the whole
Euro-Atlantic region. It is thereby contributing to a
wider European security system. I believe we are well on
track to making this important initiative a reality. And
we intend to keep up the momentum.

The Summit also undertook to adapt the Alliance's
structures and procedures so as to provide the
flexibility that NATO will need to face effectively the
future challenges to stability and security in Europe. In
this regard, we are developing the Combined Joint Task
Force (CJTF) concept which will facilitate contingency
operations, including with participating nations not
belonging to the Alliance. We are also contributing to
the emerging European Security and Defence Identity and
are improving our cooperation with the WEU. These
changes, and other that will eventually be made, will
render the Alliance even more capable of dealing with the
new security situation in Europe and with new threats
that may emerge in the future.

In this regard, the possible proliferation of weapons of
mass destruction and their delivery means constitutes a
major threat to international security. It poses a risk
to our countries' security. We will discuss today our
overall policy framework with regard to proliferation.

The situation in Bosnia-Herzegovina remains of great
concern to us. The Alliance hopes that the warring
parties finally accept that only a peaceful settlement
achieved at the negotiating table can be a solution to
this conflict. We therefore strongly support the
initiatives of the Contact Group to bring about a
lasting, equitable peace agreement. We stand ready to
assist in the implementation of such a peace plan. Our
Alliance has twice over the past four months made a
decisive contribution to stopping the killing and to
reducing the suffering of the people in Sarajevo and
Gorazde.

A key subject on our agenda today will be the
relationship between NATO and Russia. Russia is and will
remain the single most powerful nation in Europe, and
Russia's active participation and constructive engagement
in building a new security architecture in Europe is
vital. We cannot build such a structure without Russia,
much less against her.

For its part, NATO is and will remain the single most
powerful organization of collective defence in Europe.
Fore those who value security and stability in Europe, a
good, cooperative and trustful relationship between our
Alliance and Russia is therefore of great importance.
Such a relationship is of interest as much to the other
countries of Central and Eastern Europe as to Russia and
the members of the Alliance.

The Alliance has to work now on strengthening our
relationship with Russia. Although this relationship
should certainly reflect the fact that Russia is a great
power, it is not  our intention that Russia and NATO
cooperate in a so-called "Yalta 2" or the drawing of new
dividing lines across Europe, which could add to rather
than diminish instability in the lands to our east and
Russia's west. Also, in the same way that Russia will
retain its sovereign ability to make its own decisions,
so will NATO. No country will acquire a droit de regard
over NATO's decision making process.

Within this process of developing a new quality and depth
of relationship with Russia, the first priority is early
Russian signature of Partnership for Peace, which Defence
Minister Grachev signalled when he came to Brussels two
weeks ago. Russian membership of the Partnership will
serve the interests of all of its members and Russia will
certainly be able to make a contribution which fully
reflects its particular weight and status.


In drawing to a close, I want to reiterate that the
Alliance is an essential - I would say the essential -
element in the development of a new European security
order. Through change and adaptation, it has developed
into a state of the art model for building security,
indispensable not only to its members but also - and
increasingly - to its partners. By keeping our Alliance
strong, we are giving the peoples of Europe their
brightest hope for a secure future