Statement
by
Jean Chrétien,
Prime Minister of Canada
at the Meeting of the NATO-Russia Council
Thank you Secretary General. Today we begin a new chapter in
strengthening our ties with Russia.
The new NATO-Russia Council a council of 20 equal partners
offers us a huge opportunity and an enormous challenge.
It is an opportunity to end the last divisions of the Cold
War and to build a truly reunited Europe. But it also challenges
us to find solutions, to compromise and discover new ways of
working in common.
This new Council will be good for NATO and good for Russia.
In the past decade, the process of welcoming a democratic Russia
into the institutions of the West has already borne fruit. It
will be no different for NATO.
In 1995 I invited then President Yeltsin to join the G-7 at
the Halifax Summit. We created what is now called the G-8. At
the time, there were plenty of doubters about the wisdom of
such a step.
In a few weeks, the G-8 will be meeting once again in Canada.
And no one now doubts that it was the right thing to do.
The G-8 has helped coordinate policies to increase global prosperity,
to assist the poorest of the poor, to protect our environment,
to reduce tensions around the world, and to combat terrorism.
Russia has played a full and essential role in that effort.
Now it is time for the countries of NATO to include Russia more
directly in their deliberations.
After all, we share a common goal. Peace and prosperity in the
Euro-Atlantic region.
I believe the people of Russia are no less interested in that
goal than the people in any of our countries.
It was to achieve this goal that NATO was founded in 1949.
Today we have the opportunity to bring that goal closer.
This is why Canada, as one of the founding members of the Alliance...has
been at the forefront in first proposing the idea of a new Council
"at 20."
And pushing hard for its realization.
Monsieur le Secrétaire général, notre
pays ne ménagera aucun effort pour assurer la réussite
du Conseil OTAN-Russie. Mais il revient à chacun de nous
de faire preuve de la volonté politique necessaire pour
faire les concessions qui s'imposent.
C'est la condition essentielle pour que nous puissions entreprendre
conjointement les initiatives et les actions qui créeront
des liens plus solides et qui préviendront les conflits
futurs.
Voilà une réalité dont l'urgence se fait
sentir aujourd'hui plus que jamais.
Les événements tragiques du 11 septembre dernier
ont révélé au grand jour les nouvelles
menaces qui pèsent sur nos pays.
Les Canadiens se sont senti visés par ces attentats.
Notre tâche est d'empêcher les terroristes de mettre
la main sur des armes nucléaires, chimiques ou biologiques.
Nos représentants devraient travailler " a 20 "
et développer des initiatives pour prevenir une telle
éventualité.
Nous pourrions ensuite nous entendre sur ces initiatives a
Prague. Cela est necessaire pour assurer notre défense
mutuelle.
Without Russia we will not succeed.
This is why it has been clear to us that a G-8 and a NATO-Russia
Council "at 20" strengthens our security.
President Putin, Russia has taken enormous strides in recent
years in taking its rightful place among the democratic nations
of the West.
You are to be congratulated, as should we all, in having the
foresight to see the vast potential that our new Council offers.
I look forward at the nearest opportunity to reviewing with
you the fruits of our work.
Our people will expect no less.
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