Meeting of the EAPC Madrid 9 July 1997

Statement by Mr. Victor Sheiman, Official Representative of President A. Lukashenko, State Secretary of the Security Council of the Republic of Belarus Mr. Chairman, On behalf of President A. Lukashenko I am glad to extend our greetings to the participants of today's first high-level meeting of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC). I am confident that our cooperation could become a sound and effective mechanism which will make it easier to resolve many problems of European security. Belarus attaches great importance to the necessity of forming a stable security system on the European continent and, in particular, in the region of Central and Eastern Europe. We are convinced that a new security architecture for the 21st Century Europe must be based on the following principles: universality, participation of all interested countries, conformity to their national security interests, indivisibility of peace and security on the continent. In this context Belarus intends to secure its interests by implementing its multivector foreign policy and cooperating closely with individual countries, particularly with the neighbouring ones, as well as with the security structures. Belarus has always believed and continues to believe that the creation of new dividing lines in Europe, including by way of mechanical enlargement of military unions, will not solve the problems of mutual security and could be counter-productive. In this regard we are of the view that from an historical perspective the decision to expand NATO eastward has no solid grounds and is a faulty one. However, perceiving the new situation realistically, we would take all measures that are feasible and acceptable for the European and world community to ensure our security. In the devastating wars of the 21st century alone, Belarus has lost millions of its citizens. It is even for these reasons that we are inherently against any new confrontation. In these circumstances, Belarus is ready for a meaningful contribution to avoid confrontation and new dividing lines between the East and West of Europe, hence our active cooperation with Russia. We are also prepared to strengthen the potential of our beneficial cooperation with NATO and the new security structures such as EAPC. The EAPC's current geostrategic space virtually encompasses the area from Vancouver to Vladivostok. All EAPC members function within the OSCE region. Therefore, the emerging OSCE model of European security must take into account, and rely upon, EAPC and NATO while general rules or principles should be forged by the OSCE as a unique and universal transatlantic organization. Our common aim is to build up a security system which must be really universal, indivisible, devoid of confrontation and spheres of influence, able to eliminate not only global or regional but intra-state armed conflicts as well. Hence, using the EAPC's assistance and cooperating within the OSCE's framework, we need to develop a European security model to be based not on the mutual containment, but on the concept of cooperation and mutual security guarantees. It is important to ensure the coverage by the new model of all available European and transatlantic organizations. Another challenge is to arrange a continuous, productive dialogue between them on security issues and, finally, to tie up all of them into one system. Here, some sort of division of functions is possible. For example, the OSCE may limit itself in some cases to preventive diplomacy and post-conflict building while management of violent crises may be taken care of by EAPC strictly within the OSCE and the UN Security Council mandate. The division of functions could be as follows: in case all peaceful means had been exhausted, the OSCE would make a decision to use some measures to enforce peace; OSCE requests the UN Security Council to approve a mandate for a peace-building operation with the possible use of NATO or Partner forces; NAC and EAPC considers, on a case-by-case basis, the possibility to dispatch troops and conduct a peace-building operation; if such a decision is adopted, a strategic programme and operation plan are developed with the participation of allies and partners; when NATO and EAPC-enforced peace is reached in the conflict zone, OSCE would begin the post-conflict building activities (organisation of elections, etc.). Thus, we regard EAPC as a forum for consultations to discuss military aspects of security and as a mechanism to maintain through the practical, political and military cooperation a certain level of readiness to neutralize the threats to stability and security in the Euro-Atlantic region. Belarus believes that to make EAPC more dynamic and effective, it would be reasonable to come back to the issue of establishing an EAPC Steering Committee, to prepare an agenda for the next session and to provide coordination with some NATO committees as well as with other international security structures, if necessary. The principles and structure of security cannot be imposed from above by some supranational forum, whether NATO or EAPC. It should have a firm foundation at the grassroots, at the regional level, and take into account the historical proximity of interests of certain states and regional specifics of security. Then this model would form an integral part of the existing geopolitical situation and would really take into account the interests of all states and international organizations. Otherwise a danger of undermining the new security system on the pretext of higher national or corporate interests would remain strong. This is why the regional dimension may become one of the important directions of EAPC activity. At the same time Belarus believes that there is no necessity to institutionalize it. All working groups created for the discussion of regional problems shall be open-ended. As it is known, Belarus has no border disputes with its neighbours. The issues of delimitation of the Belorussian borders were successfully solved in the course of bilateral negotiations. At the same time, Belarus, as a land-locked country, is far from being indifferent to the situation in the Baltic region. And we will obviously be an active participant in all ad hoc and working groups which might be formed in the framework of the EAPC for the discussion of problems in this region. In the regional perspective, quite indicative are the steps of Belarus towards integration with Russia. The Treaty and the Charter of the Union of Belarus and Russia is our regional contribution to the Euro-Atlantic security. Such unconventional forms of diplomacy as trilateral or bigger format consultations may contribute to the establishment of good neighbourly relations and increase the level of regional and global security. Belarus is ready to use this tested mechanism in cooperation with its neighbours - Poland, Ukraine, Lithuania and Latvia. In general, Belarus does its best to engage in constructive dialogue with NATO and deepen cooperation in the framework of EAPC which shall become an important instrument in strengthening trust and preventing crises in Europe. We are ready to be more actively involved in the Partnership for Peace Programme and we have already taken a number of concrete steps to this end. I am pleased to inform you that on the eve of today's meeting the Individual Partnership Programme for Belarus was finally approved at NATO Headquarters. Belarus considers that the enlargement of the Alliance should be accompanied by its internal transformation from a military-political to a political-military dimension; and that countries whose interests would be affected to the greatest extent by the enlargement of the Organization, should get involved in a dialogue with NATO on a broader scale. Belarus regards the signing of the Founding Act between Russia and NATO as a first goodwill step towards the creation of a new European security architecture. It welcomes the intentions of leaders of the Alliance and Russia, as expressed therein, which aim to reduce the military threat and strengthen trust in Europe. Belarus is going to work to ensure that its interests are, in a similar way, taken into account in the context of NATO enlargement and counts on the goodwill and constructive cooperation of the Alliance in this matter. We consider that a charter on partnership relations should be concluded between Belarus and NATO. In our opinion Belarus, which is about to border on NATO, has the right to raise the issue of institutional codification of its relationship with the Alliance. Our government has proposed to use the dual track of developing practical cooperation with NATO and holding simultaneous and parallel talks on the elaboration of an agreement on partnership and cooperation between Belarus and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. We stand for a speedy solution on the question of adaptation of the CFE Treaty which is universally believed to be a cornerstone of European security. As a result of such adaptation, a just and minimal balance of armaments and military activity should be established and it shall take into account both the national ceilings as well as the potential of military and political blocs. Strict regulation of deployment of foreign troops, first and foremost on the territory of the new members of the Alliance, should become an important component of the adaptation. I would like to make a special mention of the Belorussian initiative on the creation of a nuclear, weapon-free space in Central and Eastern Europe. We are convinced that the implementation of this idea is in the interests of the European countries, as it would contribute to the process of disarmament, prevent the possibility of renewed nuclear confrontation in Europe, consolidate already existing non-nuclear obligations of the states of the region, improve regional security and stability. The initiative may do away with main concerns caused by the NATO enlargement. We consider that it would be right to move gradually, step by step, in the direction of legal consolidation of a non-nuclear status of the Central and Eastern European region. The leaders of Belarus are of the view that our nation has the right to be heard and its position on European security issues must be taken into account. It is only such an approach that can be a productive one. In conclusion, Mr. Chairman, I would like to emphasize that an establishment of an all-European security system presumes the participation of large, medium-sized and small countries. One of the important steps in this direction was a joint discussion and adoption of the EAPC Basic Document. In our view, an active involvement of Belarus in the EAPC activity and the signing of an agreement regulating its relations with the Alliance would objectively be in the interests of both Belarus and NATO.