NATO HQ 15 Dec. 1999 Audio file (.MP3/1.045 Kb)

Opening Statement by NATO Secretary General, Lord Robertson Ladies and Gentlemen: This will be the last NATO Ministerial meeting before the end of the century and the beginning of the new Millennium. It brings to a close NATO's 50th anniversary year - a year that has been one of the most active and productive in this Alliance' s entire history. In 1999: We have admitted three new members, thereby taking a giant step towards reuniting and reintegrating Europe; At the Washington Summit last April we set out our vision of a transformed Alliance for the 21st Century and adopted a new Strategic Concept and we have successfully mastered the greatest challenge this Alliance has ever faced: our air campaign last Spring in support of the will of the international community to bring an end to massive violations of human rights in Kosovo. Here the unity and solidarity of the Allies as well as the active support of our Partners enabled us to achieve all our objectives. These are historic accomplishments. They illustrate NATO's continuing success in building lasting peace and security for all the countries of the Euro-Atlantic area. But now with a new century just a few days away, we must look to the future. In this regard we will focus today on four key issues: first the continuing development of the European Security and Defence Identity. The decisions taken just a few days ago at the European Union's Helsinki Summit are a major step forward towards a stronger role in NATO: and a stronger Europe means a stronger, more capable Alliance - one which in future will be based on a more balanced transatlantic partnership of equals. Our discussions will focus on how to reflect the Helsinki decisions into account in the ongoing work of the Alliance on ESDI, in such a way as to ensure that work in the EU and NATO remains harmonious, transparent and complementary. As you know, I have put forward my "three I's" which I see as the key to the success of ESDI. It must bring: improvements in European defence capabilities; inclusiveness of all the non-EU NATO Allies in our common efforts and, the indivisibility of the translatlantic link. Our second topic will be the Balkans. On Kosovo, our meeting will be an opportunity to assess the real and considerable progress we have made in since the air campaign ended, and KFOR was deployed. Let those who ciriticize the international community's accomplishments in Kosovo today today remember the situation we inhereited just six months ago. For the overwhelming majority of the people of Kosovo life is now better and there is real hope for the future. We will also look at the challenges we still face, including creating a secure environment for all citizens of Kosovo, establishing the Kosovo Protection Corps, funding for the reconstruction efforts, and KFOR's support to other international organizations. This will help us to prepare for our discussion with Dr. Bernard Kouchner, the head of the UN Mission to Kosovo, when he attends the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council meeting tomorrow morning. We will examine also the progress we have made in solidifying security in Bosnia and how to build on that progress. We will discuss the broader political future of South-East Europe, and how NATO's South East Europe Initiative can promote long-term peace and stability in the Balkans. We will also address some other important issues. For instance developments in Russia, and the state of relations between Russia and NATO and which we very much want to strengthen in the year 2000. And we will continue last week's discussion by Defence Ministers on US thinking regarding a National Missile Defence system, as part of a process of continuing discussions and consultations. This meeting is another demonstration of NATO's vitality. It is a signal of our determination to face the challenges ahead and to be as relevant to the security challenges of the 21st century as we have seen to those of this century.