SPEECH BY THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF NATO,
                        MR. WILLY CLAES
                                
         AT THE MEETING WITH UN AND REGIONAL AND OTHER
                         ORGANIZATIONS
                                
             BUDAPEST CSCE SUMMIT, 5 DECEMBER 1994
                          HILTON HOTEL
                                


General Remarks

          I would like to express my appreciation to the CSCE
Chairman in office for organizing this meeting, which
contributes a useful follow-up to the 1st August meeting
in New York, organized by Dr. Boutros-Ghali.

          Events of the last few years have shown that
increased cooperation between international organizations
has become a must if we want to achieve effective conflict
prevention and successful crisis management, including
peacekeeping and peace enforcement.

          The United Nations, through its Security
Council, must retain the primary responsibility for
international peace and security and must be the source of
relevant mandates.

          The increased cooperation between international
organizations should be based on complementarity of
effort; in other words, a rational allocation of tasks and
missions, more than just a straight division of labour.

          In addressing conflicts and crises, each
situation needs to be addressed on a case-by-case basis,
taking into account the capabilities and comparative
advantages of the various organizations.
Let me stress that a cooperative approach towards
maintaining international security and stability is needed
now more than ever. We cannot miss the historic
opportunity to further cooperation among us all.
We have to react to these fast changing times and seize
the opportunities that they bring.

          All international organizations have to adapt to
this new form of cooperation and have to establish
contacts, based on transparency and mutual understanding.
A special effort of generosity and flexibility will be
demanded from us. We are ready to do it.

          NATO has established close cooperation and
coordination with the United Nations, at all possible
levels (political and military contacts between NATO
Headquarters and UN Headquarters, operational coordination
AFSOUTH-UNPROFOR).

          The Alliance is ready to strengthen its
relationships with the other International Organizations
dealing with security issues and particularly with the
CSCE and the WEU.  In that sense, we are looking forward
to the results of this Summit which hopefully, will
reinforce CSCE capabilities on these areas.

Alliance's role in conflict prevention

          The Alliance is making an important contribution
to conflict prevention through its efforts to enhance
stability and security in the wider Euro-Atlantic area. In
fact, projecting stability to the new democracies on
Central and Eastern Europe has become one of the major
goals of the Alliance.

          Since 1990, NATO has reached out to the
countries of Central and Eastern Europe, created the North
Atlantic Cooperation Council (1991) and launched the
Partnership for Peace (1994). These are major initiatives
that we are swiftly implementing.

          The process has contributed to building trust
and cooperation. We, in the Alliance, attach a lot of
importance to these initiatives and we are fully committed
to make them a success.

The Alliance's role in crisis management and peacekeeping

          While retaining its function of providing
collective defence to its Member States, the Alliance has
taken up new missions based on Ministerial and Summit
decisions since 1992 to support peacekeeping operations
and other operations under the responsibility of the CSCE
or under the authority of the UNSC, on a case-by-case
basis and in accordance with Alliance procedures. 

          The Alliance is making a major contribution to
the UN and Contact Group efforts to end the fighting and
settle the conflict in former Yugoslavia, and we are ready
to continue to do so. 

          Let me make clear once more. NATO is acting on
the basis of a UN mandate. NATO has performed the tasks
that the UNSC has requested her to do. We have a
supporting role for the UN, in the crisis
in the former Yugoslavia.

          I draw a clear lesson of our common experience
in former Yugoslavia and that is that, it is necessary to
reach common understanding on definitions, principles and
concepts of peacekeeping and peace enforcement. The
NACC/PfP Ad Hoc Group on Cooperation in Peacekeeping, with
CSCE representation and a standing invitation to
the UN to attend, continues to address these issues, which
constitute essential questions that we have got to answer
if we want to tackle, in an efficient way, the new
challenges we are now facing.  


Conclusion

          The Alliance continues to enhance its role in
conflict prevention through the NACC/PfP process and its
new decisions on future enlargement.

          The Alliance remains ready to support
peacekeeping and other operations, based on a UN or CSCE
mandate, but effectiveness requires efficient interaction
and coordination both at the political, strategic level,
and at the tactical level. We need to continue to study
all these aspects, as a matter of urgency, in order to get
the best results from our Organizations' capabilities.

          Thank you.