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Updated: 28-May-2002 NATO Speeches

Rome,
Italy
28 May 2002

Address

by Václav Havel,
President of the Czech Republic,
at the Inaugural Session of
the NATO-Russia Council

Ladies and gentlemen,

I consider it most auspicious and significant that our meeting today marks the beginning of a qualitatively new era of cooperation between NATO and the Russian Federation. May this cooperation be not merely a formal relationship or a matter of politeness. but a genuine, practical collaboration focusing precisely on those specific tasks for which it is useful to seek solutions jointly and mutually.

I believe that if the present planetary civilization is to succeed in averting the various major threats looming over it as a result of its amazing, but somewhat one-sided development, all the major entities of today's worid must work closely together äs equal
partners.

Therefore, just as NATO, or the part of the worid encompassed within NATO, is now deepening its relations with the Russian Federation, the Alliance should soon begin to deepen its relations with the other large entities of the contemporary worid as well. For example, it would be quite unfortunate if the partnership we have established today created the impression that the more affluent northern hemisphere is uniting at the expense of the southern hemisphere. One way or another, the entire planet should move toward unity. All inhabitants of the Earth desire to live in peace. freedom and prosperity. Differences between cultures or spheres of civilization should be interpreted as an impulse to promote better knowledge of one another, more profound understanding and greater mutual respect, and not as a reason for enmity or even as a pretext for confrontation.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The next regular, long-planned NATO meeting, being prepared by the Czech Republic with great care, will be held in Prague this coming November. My country's capital city will be visited, I hope, not only by all of you, but also by many other participants representing our numerous partner states. It is my firm belief that this forthcoming summit will not only confirm the new role of the Alliance in the new millennium, but will also bear witness to the practical effectiveness of our newly-initiated relationship with Russia, and also to NATO's commitment to gradually building and intensifying its relations with all the other parts of the present-day world.

NATO was originally founded as a response to my country's subjugation by Stalin. May its Summit Meeting in Prague manifest to the whole world, once and for all, that the time of subjugation is over and an era of worldwide cooperation has begun!

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