Ministerial Meeting of the North Atlantic Council Sintra, Portugal 29 May 1997

Opening Statement by H.E. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Portugal, Mr. Jaime Gama

(25 Kb) It is most gratifying for me to welcome you in Portugal, as I did once before in 1985, for the Spring Ministerial Session of the North Atlantic Council. I hope that Sintra and its surroundings will provide us with an atmosphere both pleasant and conductive. Sintra is indeed a special place, early in the nineteenth century, Lord Byron called it a "Garden of Eden". In a letter written a few years later, he added that it was "the most beautiful spot I ever beheld". (20 Kb) And seen from here, there is a good reason to believe that the twenty-first century will begin with stability and security in the Euro-Atlantic Region. We certainly have the political will, and today we will create new means to achieve that goal. NATO has defined the terms of its strategic relationship with Russia - as the result of an intensive negotiating effort for which we offer to our Secretary General our heartfelt congratulations. We will launch the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, giving a new and ambitious impetus to our goals of enhancing our cooperation and of drawing our partners closer to the Alliance. It will benefit NATO as it will benefit them. We will look at our relationship with the Mediterranean countries, trying to define how best to pursue a dialogue with our friends to the south. We will have the opportunity to discuss informally, in this inspiring setting, the admission of new members in the Alliance. At the same time, we will turn to the international adaptation of the Alliance, enabling it both to evolve and to remain in shape, we want to streamline and to be effective, to preserve our collective defence but to focus more on new types of missions. And we want to preserve the Transatlantic Link while developing the European Security and Defence Identity. (18 Kb) These concepts are not, far from it, logical or practical opposites. But they require our attention and call for our sustained cohesion. Portugal shares with you the firm belief that NATO, reinforced by the EAPC and encouraged by the signature of the "Founding Act with Russia", will be the cornerstone of peace in the Euro-Atlantic Region, a peace that can be projected to our neighbouring regions, and a model to be followed elsewhere in the world. The sixteen nations - soon to be more - will work together with their partners in forging this New Transatlantic Order, this new NATO, this new Alliance. Sintra lies in the westernmost region of this continent, where land meets the ocean. The fact that here we will take such significant decisions for our Alliance is a symbol of our renewed commitment to the Alliance, this joint endeavour that we wish to carry into the future. Thank you very much.