Meeting of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council Brussels 8 December 1998

Statement by H.E. Mr. Giorgi Burduli First Deputy Foreign Minister of Georgia Dear Secretary General, Dear Colleagues, The Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council created more than a year ago has provided an important political framework for all the outreach and cooperation activities among allies and partners to complement the expanded opportunities granted by an enhanced PfP. Enhanced political and security related cooperation, consultations and practical actions are underway. We support the EAPC efforts to hold regular consultations focused on various security matters regarding the situation in former Yugoslavia. We are concerned by the developments in Kosovo and fully support the steps taken by NATO aimed at achieving political settlement of the conflict and promoting regional stability. In this regard I would like to stress that Georgia sees the Alliance as the instrument of an integrated, comprehensive and long-term stability for all the Euro-Atlantic area. At the same time, we consider that other existing conflicts in the EAPC area should be focused with the similar emphasis. There should not be first and second class conflicts in the Euro-Atlantic space. Hence we attach special importance to the result-oriented and more focused consultations on the Southern Caucasus. The conflicts in South Ossetia and especially Abkhazia are, as yet, unsettled. Their settlement is unrealistic without mobilization of concerted efforts from the European security institutions and especially EAPC. In this regard, we hope that the concrete steps stipulated in Oslo OSCE Ministerial Decision on Georgia will give an impetus to the process of the conflicts resolution. My country is dedicated to the trends stipulated in the EAPC Basic Document. This year has been very active for Georgia in terms of engagement in the activities within EAPC, and relations with NATO. In September we had the honour to host the Secretary General Dr. Solana. I take this opportunity to thank him once again for his constant attention towards our region and my country, in particular, for useful, encouraging discussions in Tbilisi on a number of issues, and for his instilled optimistic spirit. I would like to express my satisfaction with the implementation of the EAPC Action Plan for 1998-2000, agreed by EAPC ministers last December, in which some of our proposals have been incorporated. In October 1998, EAPC Seminar on "Practical Approaches to Regional Security Cooperation in the Caucasus" was held in Georgia. Various aspects of cooperation in the field of security were considered during this successful activity. Also in October Georgia hosted NATO Land Group 9 Meeting on Battlefield Engineering and PfP workshop on Landmine Detection and Clearance and Military Bridge Classification. The seminars, as well as other high-level and regular visits strengthened ties that have been established between Georgia and NATO and fill us with hope that the spirit of partnership and confidence will guide us to the 21st century. It's my pleasure to remark the considerable progress already achieved in the EAPC format. First of all, let me mention the process of developing the political-military framework for NATO-led PfP operations. We believe that by defining explicitly the modalities of cooperation we are bringing this partnership to a qualitatively new, more advanced level. To this end, we also appreciate the valuable work being undertaken for setting a framework for cooperation in peacekeeping operations. Apart from working out the political-military framework, the development of practical mechanisms - the establishment of functional links between NATO/EAPC and European security organizations - is crucial. Naturally, this should be based on the experience accumulated in Bosnia-Herzegovina. We also think that consultations should be deepened on the topic "The Role of NATO in the Crisis Management and Conflict Prevention/Settlement in the Euro-Atlantic Space". We fully support the concept of PfP training centers recently approved by NAC and aimed at reducing many gaps that exist between the allied and partner nations. Georgia appreciates the importance of the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Co-ordination Center and the work it has done during the short period of its existence. We observe with satisfaction the deepening of the partnership by creation of the PfP staff element at the NATO headquarters. The extension of the NATO internship program to the partners can be viewed as an additional step towards a greater level of transparency in the Alliance's work. Being eager to overcome operating differences and to achieve full inter-operability with the Alliance, we have started participation in the Planning and Review Process. In this regard, we are determined to deepen our cooperation with relevant NATO authorities. Cooperative partnership activities in the EAPC, aimed at ensuring full integration and effectiveness of all cooperation activities between the Alliance and Partners and raising the level of the political and military cooperation among the members, have yielded positive outputs. Nevertheless, at present more emphasis should be given to result-oriented political and security related efforts, practical cooperation, increased consultation and cooperation on regional issues and activities, and to increasing the transparency and confidence of security issues. Thank you.