Reykjavik, Iceland 15 May 2002

Tailored Remarks by US Secretary of State, Colin L. Powell at the Meeting of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council Mr. Secretary General, distinguished colleagues. You all have my written intervention. Rather than repeat what's there, let me highlight a few key points for our discussion. We are in this together. Many Partners are on the front lines, facing threats such as terrorism and regional instability. To help them is to help ourselves. No one is doing anyone any favors here. It is enlightened self-interest to work together. Our task today is to begin adapting our Partnership Council and the Partnership for Peace to ensure they continue to play a vital role in spreading security. Together, in the coming months, we must develop a dynamic package for the consideration of our Heads of State and Government. I hope that by Prague, we will have an array of new programs tailored to strengthen the security of all of us. With this goal in mind, I would like to highlight a few points and I encourage your response. First, let me emphasize that Allies really need to hear more from Partners. We need to identify the security priorities you have, in particular those in Central Asia, the Caucasus' and in South Eastern Europe. Second, I encourage all of you to use PfP's Planning and Review Process to help guide your restructuring and tailor your participation in PfP to the real security challenges you face. Use this process to get our best military advice. Albania is a great example of success. We have a PfP cell that was set up to assist with the implementation of Albania's Individual Partnership Program. We should consider setting up such cells in those states in Central Asia and the Caucasus that are interested in having them and prepared to contribute actively to their success. We should look at our active schedule of exercises, to see if we can include more regional exercises to foster further cooperation as well as greater interoperability. In doing so, we also must remain sensitive to the demands of ongoing operations -- especially the war against terrorism -- and the additional resources necessary for an enlarged exercise program. In addition, we should consider expanding the scope of Partnership activities to meet more of the security concerns that we all share, such as border security. This is not a one-size-fits-all organization, and not everyone participates in exactly the same way. But everyone must participate actively to build a stronger partnership.