NATO HQ,
Brussels
13 June 2001
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Press Conference
by NATO
Secretary General, Lord Robertson
Question - Pavel Bouda - Czech TV - Could you tell us how far was
the US President today successful in persuading the other Allies to support
or even to join the US Missile Defence Programme?
Answer - Secretary General - The President is not here to ask for
support for any specific plan or proposal because the United States does
not have a specific plan or proposal. What the President asked for and what
the President got was an open mind by the other Allied countries to look
at the risks and emerging threats that exist against NATO countries today,
to deep and continued consultations about American thinking on the matter
and to listen carefully to the thoughts that are expressed by the other
Allies in the Alliance. The openness of today's discussion I think shows
that people recognize that this is a serious issue which must be addressed,
must be addressed together, and the openness of the American approach has
been commended and welcomed.
Q Slovak Radio - Secretary General, I would like to ask whether
am I correct in understanding that you will launch the discussion, already
the second round of enlargement, I mean that you will already invite some
new members at the Prague Summit?
A Secretary General - Well, if you're asking me "is the zero
option off the table" then I can say to you yes it has. There will
be an enlargement at the Prague Summit next year but of course enlargement
takes place in a larger context and I would remind people of some of the
key points of NATO's longstanding policy on enlargement. NATO enlargement
we believe will contribute to the security and stability of the Euro-Atlantic
area as a whole. Those nations which join NATO must be contributors as
well as consumers of security. Therefore continued defence reforms, democratic
politics and marked economies as well as good relations with neighbours
and interoperability with NATO are all important. No nation that is not
a member of NATO has a veto or droit de regard over this process and no
European nation will be excluded from NATO due to its geography. But,
yes, the Heads of State and Government decided today that the zero option
is off the table.
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Q Jérome Bernard - Agence France Presse - Will you meet
today, this afternoon, with Mr. Solana and Mr. Powell to discuss about
Macedonia and what NATO can do about the situation there?
A Secretary General - Yes. It's always very strange you know when
the Press always complain politicians never answer a straight question
with a straight answer and when you give a straight answer, they don't
seem satisfied. Yes, we will be having a meeting this afternoon to discuss
this but I also think it's also going to be discussed now informally among
the Heads of State and Government. We are deeply concerned about the situation
where a democratic government in south eastern Europe is under attack
by an insurgent force. We welcome the proposals that have been put forward
by President Trajkowsky that have been endorsed by the National Unity
Government and I will be going myself tomorrow with the message that I
get from today's Summit meeting and also with my own views to help that
process along. The key thing now is to get the plan from being a plan
on paper to being a plan and the process in reality and therein lies the
key to solving the problem in that country.
Q Klaus Prömpers - ZDF - Secretary General, did you get sufficient
answers from the Heads of State and Government concerning the DCI proposals
you made in the shortfalls you told them about?
A Secretary General - I reminded the Heads of State and Government
what the nations had agreed two years ago at the Summit meeting. They
took on board the point that I took in the blunt, undiplomatic way that
I as a Scotsman can often put it and I'm expecting them to reflect on
it because it's an important message, if NATO does not have capabilities
then it does not have credibility. All of them paid testament to the credibility
of the Alliance and its continuing importance so I hope the message sank
in.
Q Laurent Zacchini - Le Monde - Lord Robertson, I'm sure you will
remember what Mr. Rumsfeld said last week in this room. In fact, he said
that NATO should keep its right of first refusal, which is a little bit
different from the official European and NATO point of view. So my question
is, how do you read the official American position on this topic?
A Secretary General - Well, the Washington Summit made it clear
that Europe would act where the Alliance as a whole was not engaged. And
that seems to me to be a perfectly reasonable formulation and I think
you were at the conference in Germany when the French Minister of Defence
answered that question in saying that that made it absolutely clear where
we all stood on this matter. NATO remains the cornerstone of European
security. That is a fact. It remains at the core of all of the Alliance
countries' point of view, so I don't think that there is any dispute about
it.
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Q Douglas Hamilton - Reuters - Secretary General, President Jacques
Chirac of France has told the meeting that NATO must rule nothing out
in its determination to avoid a civil war in Macedonia, that's widely
been taken as a suggestion that the Alliance should prepare for a military
intervention, a peacekeeping mission, does that reflect the opinions around
the table from the Allies? Does NATO have the capability, would the United
States join such a mission?
A Secretary General - You do not expect me to talk about operational
matters here. The key thing is that there is now a programme forward in
the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and it has been endorsed by
all the parties in the National Unity Government, Slavs and Albanians
as well. The way forward is a cease-fire by the rebels, a withdrawal from
the rebels, disarmament and de-commissioning and then a political process
that addresses the grievances of the minority population in that country.
That way and that way alone spells decent stability for that country and
for the wider region.
Q Svetlana Milevska - Macedonian daily - Mr. Secretary General,
you said that you were going to Macedonia tomorrow for further consultations
with the government. Could you be more precise about the kind of consultation
and what if the strategy, the plan of the President Trajkowski fails?
A Secretary General - I don't contemplate failure and nobody
in these Headquarters ever does. What I am going to do is to give encouragement
to the political process that has produced this action programme, encourage
all of the parties to stick with it, try to encourage those people who
have taken up guns to lay them down. If they have an interest in the reform
process and the addresses of the grievances of the Albanian population,
then they can best be addressed through the democratic political process
which has now been promised, and which I believe is going to deliver positive
actions. So I am there to help and encourage and I know that Dr. Javier
Solana, once the meetings of the European Council are over this weekend,
will be going to Skopje with exactly the same message; the country needs
our help, we are willing to give our help and our encouragement at this
deeply concerning time. Thank you very much.
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