Speech by the Secretary General
Ministers, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is an honour and a pleasure to address you today.
Almost exactly eight years ago, President Havel addressed the North
Atlantic Council in Brussels. His speech contained much insight on
the continuing relevance of NATO, and the challenges of political and
economic transformation in Central and Eastern Europe. Partway
through it, he noted that it was for the time being unlikely that the
Czech Republic would become a regular member of NATO. He then said,
and I quote: "However, we believe that an alliance of countries
united by the same ideals of freedom and democracy should not be
forever closed to neighbouring countries that are pursuing the same
goals."
Today, eight years after these words were spoken, we are turning into
reality what then seemed only like a distant vision: Czech membership
in NATO.
The decision of NATO's Heads of State and Government at our historic
Madrid last July Summit was a decision for engagement, and against
indifference. It was a decision for a new era of cooperation, and
against old dividing lines. It is a decision that bodes well for the
future of Europe, and indeed for the entire Euro-Atlantic area.
The decision to invite the Czech Republic was based on the Allies'
conviction that your country, together with Hungary and Poland, are
the best prepared at this time to add to our common security. It was
you, the peoples of Central and Eastern Europe, whose courage helped
to end Europe's unnatural division. It was your irrepressible desire
for freedom which gave us the opportunity to build a new Europe - a
Europe whose borders are defined by values rather than by spheres of
interest.
The goal of NATO membership became even closer in a historic meeting
last December, when NATO Foreign Ministers, in the presence of their
Czech, Hungarian and Polish counterparts, signed the Accession
Protocols that will pave the way for your country to become a full
member of the Alliance at our 50th Anniversary Summit in 1999. In
the same month, the European Council at Luxembourg invited the Czech
Republic to begin accession negotiations with the European Union.
Membership in NATO and EU means far more than signing treaties or
joining bureaucracies. Rather, it means participating in the most
ambitious project Europe and North America have ever undertaken: to
create the conditions for lasting stability and prosperity in the
entire Euro-Atlantic area.
This stability cannot rest on economic integration alone. The
postwar experience in Western Europe shows that political and
economic progress and security integration are closely linked. Once
their security is taken care of, countries can devote themselves with
more confidence to their longer-term evolution. And a responsible
military, firmly embedded in our democratic societies and under civil
control, is part and parcel of this evolution. So, too, are military
structures that are transparent, defensive, and multinational. All
of these goals are easier to achieve in cooperation with like-minded
Allies.
I'm well aware of the tragic history of your country this century.
Sixty years ago, you were a pawn on the bloody chessboard of Europe.
30 years ago your country was victimised by the very alliance that
professed to protect it. These were traumatic events, which have led
some Czech citizens to the conclusion that their country should never
again be part of an alliance. I am aware of these notions - but I
cannot accept them. Let me make it very clear: NATO is not a
military bloc. It is a security community of like-minded
democracies. NATO is a voluntary association of free states. It
exists, purely and simply, because its member states want it to
exist.
This is a crucial difference which must never be forgotten. It
explains why no NATO member ever wanted to leave this Alliance. As
the Polish President told me some time ago, his country wants to join
NATO for the same reasons no current member wants to leave it. I
call on you, the representatives of the Czech people, to do your
utmost to help us dispel these misunderstandings. A new Europe must
not be based on old stereotypes.
The NATO that is opening its doors to new members is a unique
democratic community. It is also a community committed to dynamic
change. NATO has changed perhaps more than any other international
organisation. Over the course of this decade we have overhauled our
policies, our strategies, our structures.
You will be joining a NATO that is committed to the security and
stability of the wider Europe. It is an Alliance that has developed
close relationships with virtually every country in the Euro-Atlantic
area. Over the course of this decade, NATO has reached out to draw
dozens of countries into a common framework of cooperative security.
We have established new patterns and networks of interaction - led by
the immensely successful Partnership for Peace and the new political
body, the Euro-Atlantic Cooperation Council.
Both the Partnership for Peace and the Euro- Atlantic Partnership
Council are destined to gain further momentum in the months and years
ahead. We count on the Czech Republic to continue its active role in
these partnership endeavours. The transition from Partner to Ally
does not change our common commitment to the deepening of broader, as
well as regional, security cooperation through these structures.
In Bosnia, the new NATO of partnership and cooperation has become
most visible. Under NATO's lead, 36 nations have united in a
historically unique coalition for peace. In Bosnia, Czech, Hungarian
and Polish soldiers serve alongside their NATO Partners, as do
soldiers from many other Partner countries, including Russia.
Together, the international community is moving this war-torn country
towards a sustainable peace. In the efforts of so many countries and
international organisations to re-build Bosnia we can see an
undivided Europe at work.
NATO is firmly committed to a strong relationship with Russia. It
has been my conviction that the chance to anchor a new, democratic
Russia in a new Europe is a historic opportunity which we must seize.
NATO rejected the notion that we had to make a choice between
enlargement and good relations with Russia.
The signing of the NATO-Russia Founding Act last May showed how right
we were. This document, and the rapidly evolving cooperation which
it has inspired, demonstrate that NATO's enlargement and a solid
relationship with Russia are not mutually exclusive. On the
contrary. A new NATO and a new Russia are destined to cooperate.
It is this new NATO the Czech Republic will be joining. For the
first time in her recent history, the Czech Republic will be part of
a democratic Alliance - and by her own free choice. Your country
will be able to organise her security collectively, together with
like-minded Allies.
Working together eases the burden that each individual alliance
member would otherwise have to carry. But in order to cooperate you
must first of all become a full-fledged team member. Much has
already been achieved towards this aim. Our cooperation within the
Partnership for Peace and in Bosnia has demonstrated how well we can
work together. Since the Madrid Summit we have also used the NATO
Defence Planning Process to help the Czech Republic familiarise
herself with NATO procedures and with the responsibilities of NATO
membership.
While these steps have been important in establishing an
unprecedented level of commonality, they have also underscored what
still needs to be done. The adjustments the Czech Republic must make
will be wide-ranging. You must continue to modernise your armed
forces, improve the quality of military life, and develop a
professional non-commissioned officer corps. You will have to make
improvements in a number of key areas. And you will have to maintain
a defence budget adequate to achieve this. I am not talking of huge
amounts of high-tech equipment. But it does require the political
commitment, as well as the readiness, to implement tough reforms.
Clearly, future new members, like NATO's present members, will have
the time and the freedom to meet the requirements in a way that they
can absorb. It is equally clear that NATO will provide a solid,
reliable framework for this long-term restructuring - and that means
a more cost-effective reform than could ever be contemplated outside
NATO.
NATO will offer its assistance, but most of the work remains up to
you. NATO is a voluntary framework, not a straitjacket. No detailed
Alliance planning process can spare a member country - and its
parliament - from having to make crucial decisions. I am confident
that your determination to implement these challenging reforms will
make the Czech Republic a net provider of security by 1999.
The willingness to be a contributor to our common security, not just
a consumer, will not fail to have an impact on Allied parliaments, as
they contemplate ratification in the months ahead. So will the level
of public support for the accession process in general. Now is the
time for parliamentarians to show real leadership. Membership in
NATO is an investment in the long-term future of your country. It is
too precious a goal to gamble with or risk letting slip away.
As we await the outcome of the ratification process in Allied
Parliaments, we will involve the Czech Republic to the greatest
extent possible in Alliance activities. Your representatives receive
regular briefings on NATO policies, and they participate in all
Alliance fora. Czech, Hungarian and Polish representatives in
Brussels are already sitting at the conference table for the weekly
meetings in Brussels of the North Atlantic Council and its
subordinate committees. Your military take part in activities at the
NATO military headquarters in Mons.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
A democratic security community, based on common values rather than
fear - such was the guiding vision that inspired the drafters of the
Washington Treaty in 1949. They did not define NATO's purpose solely
as protecting its members in military terms. The ambition from the
start was both simpler and broader: in the words of the Treaty, "to
promote stability and well-being in the North Atlantic area."
Today, the Atlantic Alliance can finally return to its original
vocation: to safeguard and further our democratic values and to
support the widening integrative process of the new Europe. With the
Czech Republic at our side, we can grasp this beckoning moment of
history. I welcome you to our common European home. Thank You.
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