On the Occasion of the Signing of the Protocols to the North Atlantic Treaty on the Accession of Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary Brussels, 16 Dec. 1997

Address by his Excellency Bronislaw Geremek, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland Mr. Secretary General, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, This ceremony is truly a unique event in the history of my country. For over two hundred years, when foreign leaders put their signatures under documents concerning Poland, disasters were sure to follow. Today, I am to witness Polad's friends sign a documet which is a source of joy, pride and hope for me and my compatriots. In this great moment, I wish to salute all those, in Poland and abroad, who have helped this happen. Ladies and Gentlemen, Winston Chruchill once said that there were few virtues that the Poles did not possess and few mistakes thay had ever avoided. As a Pole I am tempted to agree with the first part of this opinion. As a historian I am compelled to admit that we share the responsibility for our past misfortunes. Poland was born and rose to greatness as a Western country. Then, grave errors in our domestic and foreign policies gradually pushed her into the peripheries of Western politics, economy and intellectual life. By the end of the 18th century, once prosperous and powerful nation had been turned into a mere pawn on the chessboard of great power politics. From then on, for almost two centuries, we had to struggle to survive as a people and to maintain our national identity. History has been an unforgiving teacher to us. But we have learned our lesson well. Eight years ago we undertook to unlive the past, to restore Poland as a free, democratic and truly sovereign nation. We have since spared no effort to return to the roots of our culture and statehood, to join the Euro-Atlantic family of democratic nations. We will not rest until Poland is safely anchored in Western economic, political and military structures. This is the essence of our aspirations to join NATO. I wish to stress that we are not trying to draw a new line between the West and the East. On the contrary, by joining the Alliance, we wish to help reduce these notions to their purely geographic meaning. We wish to partake in the great endeavour to build an undivided Europe, whole and free. We would prefer to live in a Europe with no arms and no alliances. But we do live in a world where military power remains the ultimate guarantor of security. We know that NATO is not a discussion club for idealists. We have chosen to join it because it is an alliance which has managed to put its immense military might in service of fundamental values and principles that we share. NATO can make Europe safe for democracy. No other organisation can replace the Alliance in this role. We know many Central and Eastern European nations share our beliefs and aspirations. Not all of them have yet been invited to join NATO. To those nations I address today our assurances of understanding and support. We believe there is a room in the Alliance for all peaceloving, democratic states, wishing and able to further its goals. On this occasion I also wish to reiterate our unaltered desire to maintain and develop close, good-neighbourly relations with Russia, based on confidence and mutual respect. We want our membership of NATO to serve as a catalyst for Polish-Russian cooperation on political and security issues. We look forward to working with Russia and our Allies in the framework of the Permanent Joint Council. Ladies and Gentlemen, In the course of recent talks on her accession to NATO, Poland has accepted in full all obligations and commitments of the North Atlantic Treaty and all requirements of NATO membership. We have also pledged to allocate appropriate budget resources to ensure that Poland's commitments are fully implemented. A sceptic could say that promises are easy to make and difficult to keep. I would respond by noting that it is not our declarations that have paved the way to this ceremony. It is the success of the political and economic transformation of Poland, the unquestionable achievments of our foreign policy, and our determination in preparing our defence system for integration within NATO. Our actions have spoken louder than our words - and they will in the future. We will make no mistakes while charting the course for our country into the 21st century. Your excellencies, Foreign Ministers of the Allied Countries, Let me, on behalf of my Government and fellow citizens, congratulate you and your Governments on your wisdom and courage to make the decision to enlarge NATO. What you are about to do today is a right thing to do. I look forward to the 1999 Summit of this great Alliance. I am confident that at that time we will meet at nineteen to reconfirm our common wish to make Europe a safer, better home for all nations living here.