Meeting of EAPC Defence Ministers NATO HQ, Brussels 8 June 2001

Statement by Ioan Mircea Pascu, Minister of Defence of Romania Secretary General, Distinguished Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen, I have to start with a confession: during the four years of absence, given the work I had to do in opposition, the technical jargon has become frightfully complex. Practically, I lost a lot of time trying to make sense of all those initials contained in the Reports I got for the preparation of this short intervention. However, this reflects the complexity of the relationship between Allies and Partners, seven years after the successful launching of the PfP. Now, this complex network of relations between the NATO members and their Partners dominates the entire transatlantic security landscape. Consequently, the level of knowledge between the two categories is very high. So is trust. And that allows for a very rapid dissemination of the reform process in the military and, on that basis, for common action in crisis prevention and management. NATO is at the heart of that network. The perspective of membership is a very powerful engine driving the Partner candidates to intensify their cooperation with the Alliance. However, while remaining an Alliance, (that is providing for 'collective defence'), NATO is more and more involved in a new role, closer to a 'security organization', namely in the field of 'crisis management'. This is illustrated by the frequency of non-article 5 mission NATO has to perform including out of its area of responsibility. Equally, the transatlantic relationship has to accommodate the new roles both the US and Europe want to perform not only collectively, but also individually. Consequently, apart from the continuous improvements, including through institutionalisation, in the enabling mechanisms permitting the members to cooperate with the Partners in the field, - after all, the current challenges face equally both of us, requiring our common action - it would not be entirely out of place to add a strategic dimension to our dialogue. This would allow for a better coordination in preparing for the common way ahead. Concretely, as an aspiring candidate, Romania is supporting both the idea underlined by the PARP Ministerial Guidance 2001 for possible re-validation of the Partnership Goals and is prepared to give its full attention to an increased participation in the development of the OCC. My country has already expressed its approval for the evaluation during the Cooperative Key 2001 exercise and will send the questionnaire on the pool of forces in September, as planned. Thank you for your attention.