INTERVENTION BY
        US SECRETARY OF STATE WARREN CHRISTOPHER
       AT THE MEETING OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL
          NATO HEADQUARTERS, BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
                                    
                                    
                                         1 DECEMBER 1994



     Mr. Secretary General, distinguished colleagues, and
friends:  I am pleased to join you at this very important
meeting of the North Atlantic Council.  Allow me also to
salute once again our new Secretary General.  He assumes
his responsibilities at a defining moment in the history
of NATO and of Europe. 

     These are times of great change in Europe.   But
America's interests in Europe have not changed.  Neither
have the basic principles guiding our engagement  -
principles that have long commanded bipartisan support.

     The first principle is that NATO is and will remain
the anchor of America's engagement in Europe and the core
of transatlantic security.  The United States has
enduring political, military, economic and cultural links
to Europe that must and will be preserved.

     A second core principle of American engagement
remains our support for European integration and our
partnership with the European Union.  The United States
has supported European integration from its inception. 
The EU remains a vital partner in trade, diplomacy, and
increasingly in security, where we cooperate to combat
proliferation and terrorism. 

     A capable European defense identity and effective
cooperation between NATO and the Western European Union
are critical elements of this relationship.  Fortifying
the European pillar of the Alliance contributes to
European stability and to transatlantic burden-sharing. 
And it improves our collective capacity to act.  I welcome
the November 14 call by WEU ministers to accelerate work
on the Combined Joint Task Force concept. 
CJTF offers a practical vehicle for making NATO assets and
capabilities available to the WEU under certain
circumstances.

     A moment ago, I noted that America's interests in
Europe have not changed.  What has changed in the last few
years is that the sphere of political and economic freedom
in Europe is wider than ever before.  This leads me to the
third core principle of our engagement:  breading down the
barriers that divide West from East will serve our
collective interest in wider European stability.  Our
alliance of democracies can help consolidate democracy
across an undivided Europe at peace.  We can help design a
comprehensive and inclusive architecture that enhances
security and freedom for all.

     Our strategy of integration offers tangible rewards. 
It will help promote stability in Europe's eastern half,
the region where two world wars and the Cold War began. 
It will strengthen the hand of forces committed to
political, military and economic reform.  And it will help
assure that no part of Europe will revert to a zone of
great power competition or a sphere of influence and that
no nation is left hanging in isolation.

     The challenge we face today is not unlike the one we
faced, and met, in Western Europe 50 years ago.  After
World War II, President Truman and Secretaries of State
Marshall and Acheson understood that security and economic
cooperation were essential to the defense of democracy. 
Within five years of D-Day, America and its Allies had
launched the Marshall Plan, established NATO and the GATT,
and laid the foundations for what became the EU and the
OECD.  These institutions helped us produce unparalleled
peace and prosperity for half a century -- but only for
half a continent.

     Now five years have passed since the Berlin Wall
fell.  We must build a security community of all
democratic nations in the Euro-Atlantic region -- one that
endures where the Congress of Vienna, the Concert of
Europe, and Versailles ultimately failed, and one
that builds on the strength of our post-war success in
Western Europe.

     Developing the new European security architecture
begins with reinforcing its foundation -- the Alliance
that has preserved our liberty and prosperity for half a
century. 
NATO has always been far more than a transitory response
to a temporary threat.  It has been a guarantor of
european democracy and a force for European stability. 
The core values it champions -- democracy liberty, and the
rule of law -- are now ascendant around the world.  For
all these reasons, NATO's benefits are clear to Europe's
new democracies.

     Since the NATO Summit last January, we have taken
remarkable strides to renew and invigorate the Alliance. 
We have achieved our historic goal of deepening ties with
the new democracies to the east.  In less than a year, the
Partnership for Peace has evolved from a bare idea to a
bold reality.

     The United States consider the Partnership an
integral and lasting part of the new European security
architecture.  That is why President Clinton indicated in
July that he will ask Congress to designate $100 million
in the coming fiscal year to advance the Partnership's
goals.  I am pleased to say that Congress has already
authorized an additional $30 million to strengthen  the
Partnership's joint exercise program over the next year. 
I hope that other NATO members will soon announce
comparable contributions and that we can coordinate our
efforts to maximize the impact.  But of course, it will
fall mainly to the Partners to ensure that the Partnership
realizes its full potential.

     The United States is seeking agreement on additional
measures for next year.  First, we urge putting exercise
programs for 1995 and beyond on a 5-year planning cycle,
and building toward progressively more complex and diverse
training scenarios.  Second, NATO must ensure sufficient
funding for the Alliance's Partnership-related costs. 
Finally , we should strive to have a Partnership defense
planning process established and operational by early
1995.

     The Partnership is a critical tool in its own right. 
It is also the best path to membership for countries
wishing to join the Alliance.  As both President Clinton
and Vice President Gore have emphasized, NATO must be open
to expansion.  An exclusionary policy would risk
maintaining old lines of division across Europe -- or
creating arbitrary new ones.  The United States believes
that Europe's institutional arrangements should be
determined by the objective demands of the present, not by
the tragedies of Europe's past.

     The United States believes it is time to begin the
process -- to begin deliberate consideration of the
practical requirements for adding new members to the
Alliance.  It is imperative that we agree as an Alliance
on our aims and our purpose in this historic
evolution.  The Washington Treaty is not a paper
guarantee.  New members will assume solemn obligations and
responsibilities, just as we will extend our solemn
commitments to them.  This will require careful
consideration and preparation.

     We are deciding today that the Alliance begin its
internal deliberations on expansion.  A process has begun. 
It is also essential that we begin to present our views to
interested Partners during 1995.  I expect the next
several months to be particularly intense, as we formulate
a joint Allied presentation.  We have already provided
your governments with our initial thinking, and we would
propose building on that to develop Allied consensus.  I
am personally committed to moving forward on this matter.

     Our presentation to the Partners should explain the
practical implications and obligations of NATO membership. 
Let us be clear:  These initial exchanges are not intended
to be the beginning of accession negotiations.  Neither
will they indicate that any Partner is necessarily a
candidate for admission .  But they will reflect our
determination that the process for expansion be open and
inclusive from the start.

The process of expansion should be steady, deliberate, and
transparent.  Each nation should be considered
individually.  No country  outside of NATO will have a
veto over any other .  In our view, there are, however,
certain fundamental requirements for membership that are
reflected in the Washington Treaty.  New members must be
market democracies committed to responsible security
policies and able to make a contribution to the Alliance.

     As I noted earlier this morning, we cannot pursue
NATO expansion in isolation. 
The new security architecture for Europe's future must be
supported by other strong pillars.  No single institution
has the mandate or the capability to meet every challenge
in Europe.

     The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe
-- the CSCE -- has proven experience and untapped
potential as an organization that can help ease tensions
and prevent future conflicts.  With its comprehensive
membership and unique experience in preventive diplomacy,
human rights protection, and dispute resolution, the CSCE
can complement NATO's essential role.  To make it more
effective, however, we need to refine its mission.

     At he CSCE Summit in Budapest next week, the United
States will work with our allies and partners to enhance
the CSCE's capabilities.  President Clinton will urge his
colleagues to approve his proposal to strengthen the role
and structure of the organization. 
We hope to clarify the CSCE's role in the European
security architecture and improve its ability to prevent
future Yugoslavias.

     Our economic and security institutions are gradually
breaking down the outdated frontiers of the Cold War.  The
security and prosperity of all of Europe is inextricably
linked to the stable development of Europe's emerging
democracies in the East.

     Our goal is the successful transformation of
post-communist Europe into a community of sovereign,
democratic states.  A key component is the development of
a democratic,  market oriented Russia.  No less vital is
the emergence of a stable, democratic, non-nuclear Ukrain
and the realization of of the promis of greater security
embodied embodied in the START-1 and START-2 agreements. 
In Budapest we will take a significant step forward when
President Clinton joins President Yeltsin and Prime
Minister Major in receiving Ukraine's accession to the
Non-Proliferation Treaty and signs security assurances for
Ukraine, Belarus, and Kazakhstan.  This action will pave
the way for START-1 to enter into force.

We welcome democratic Russia in assuming a full role in
the common effort of building new structures.  We welcome
the agreement we will sign tonight on the NATO-Russia
Individual Partnership Program.  It sends an unmistakable
possible signal of our Alliance's desire to include Russia
in a co-operative approach to security in Europe.

     At the same time, we will continue to pursue avenues
for cooperation between NATO and Russia outside the
Partnership for Peace.  The United States welcomed the
first meeting between an Alliance working group and Russia
on the question of nuclear weapons dismantlement.  We also
support intensifying Russia's cooperation with the G-7.
And we are sponsoring Russia's membership in the GATT and
its successor, the World Trade Organization.

     Integration will enhance Russia's security in a wider
Europe and expand Russia's access to markets and capital. 
But it also carries obligations that all Western nations
share. GATT membership will make Russia's trade practices
consistent with world standards. 
Expanded ties with NATO and the EU, along with
strengthened CSCE principles, will strengthen Russian
democracy and promote respect for the sovereignty for its
neighbors.

     Our support for Russian policies that adhere to these
core principles will serve our vital interests and
Europe's -- especially the nations that so recently broke
free from communist rule.  By the same token, expanding
Western institutions to Central Europe will benefit
Russia.

     In taking the steps I have outlined today, we will
advance our shared interest in building a democratic,
prosperous, integrated Europe at peace.  These steps
reflect the core principles of our engagement in Europe --
our unwavering commitment to NATO, our continued support
for European integration, and our determination to enhance
security and stability in the East.  The United States
understands that our leadership remains indispensable if
we are to achieve these goals.  And we are determined to
provide it.