NATO HQ 6 Dec. 2000

Speaking Points of Mr. Michael Smith, Defence Ministers of Ireland at the Meeting of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council It is natural that a new optimism has been generated by democratic developments during this year, first in Croatia and most recently with the election of President Kostunica. We need to remember, however, that very little has changed on the ground and that the situation in Kosovo and South Serbia remains very difficult. The results of the recent elections in Bosnia and Herzegovina are a reminder that a state of instability still exists there. Both SFOR and KFOR have proved themselves to be highly effective operations and Ireland is proud to take part in them. They have, one after the other, proved to be key elements of the international community's efforts to build stability in two particularly dangerous flashpoint areas of the Western Balkans. The experience of SFOR and KFOR is testimony to the importance of interoperability between contributing countries and of developing, in a structured way, effective capabilities for peace support operations. For that reason we welcome the work in train within the EAPC to strengthen PfP cooperation for future such operations. We would expect that, in this process, the lessons learned by SFOR and KFOR will be translated into effective structures; Having committed itself to Partnership for Peace a year ago, Ireland is now playing its part fully in this process. We have submitted our first Individual Partnership Programme and are ready to take part in the current PARP cycle. Through our active participation in PfP, we hope to further enhance the capability of our defence forces to contribute to multinational humanitarian and peace support operations. In particular, this will help us play our part, as EU members, in regard to the Petersberg tasks. In this context, the emerging cooperative framework between EU and NATO, which is proceeding along agreed principles, has an important role to play and will help to facilitate the implementation of the EU's Headline Goal. Ireland considers the EAPC and the PfP to be key elements in promoting peace and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area. We are happy to work towards realising the potential of these structures so that we can, with greater confidence, meet the challenges which lie ahead.