NATO Speech: Media Statement SecGen - Warsaw, Poland

Welcome to you all. Good to see so many familiar faces in Warsaw. Like at the outset to thank the Polish authorities and people of Warsaw for hosting and tolerating this important meeting. Doing an excellent job.

This meeting is the main stepping stone from Reykjavik to Prague.

The meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Reykjavik set the political agenda for the Summit. Now it is the turn of Defence Ministers to take stock of progress and provide mid-course guidance.

Because this is an informal meeting of Alliance Defence Ministers, there is no fixed agenda, and no formal decisions. But our free-flowing discussions inevitably exert great influence on decisions taken back in Brussels and in capitals.

I do not need to underline the importance of the Prague Summit. It is an enlargement Summit. An adaptation Summit. A transformation Summit.

NATO played the key role in defeating Cold War threats and the instability that followed it. We are now transforming our Alliance so it can play an equally pivotal part in defeating the threats of the new century, in particular terrorism and weapons of mass destruction.

Ministers' discussions ranged widely over the Alliance's transformation agenda.

To start with, they confirmed their unequivocal solidarity in the international campaign against terrorism. We are winning but there is still much, much more to do. And NATO Allies have renewed their commitment for the long haul.

Capabilities were, rightly, at the forefront of everyone's minds. We all know that NATO's future depends on its ability to act, not just talk. NATO's credibility depends on its capability.

Modernisation is a challenge for all armed forces. They have to be ready for the threats of the future, not the enemies of the past. We have some momentum. But it needs to be sustained through and beyond Prague.

There was tough talk around the table. That is what meetings of this kind are all about. However, we now have an even sharper focus on ambitious but attainable targets, and there was a clear determination to deliver.

The result, NATO's Prague Capabilities Commitment, will provide firm individual national pledges to meet agreed shortcomings over a clear timetable. The priority areas were identified in the spring: chemical, biological and nuclear defence; command, communications and information superiority; better interoperability; and rapid deployment and sustainability.

We are now translating these principles into programmes and commitments. For many people, the output will not appear as exciting as Cold War order books of tanks, fighter aircraft and submarines. But precision guided munitions, radar jamming pods, ground surveillance, large transport aircraft and air tankers are the new military capabilities you need most to win today's wars and secure today's peace.

Of course, capabilities means not just new equipment but new ways of organising and controlling NATO's forces.

So, for example, the United States has tabled ideas for a NATO Response Force. There was a warm welcome for this proposal, which will now be considered in detail in Brussels.

We have to sharpen our ability to field forces quickly and effectively. A NATO Response Force would do that, complimenting but not duplicating or replacing other national and multinational capabilities for rapid military action.

We are also pressing ahead quickly with a major streamlining of NATO's command structure. Flexibility and usability are the keynotes. Hard decisions will again be needed at Prague. But we are making real progress.

Perhaps even more important is our package of measures against terrorism, and what will we have is a major reorientation of Alliance priorities and roles.

The NATO Prague Summit will be a major milestone for NATO, a defining moment for this 53 year old Alliance. But the Alliance and its members also have immediate challenges on the ground in the Balkans and Afghanistan. Ministers reviewed all of these issues, and expressed their satisfaction and gratitude for the contribution of all of our armed forces to these demanding and vital tasks.

You will ask me whether Ministers discussed Iraq. The answer is simple. Of course they did and we received a detailed briefing from Secretary Rumsfeld and the Deputy Director of the CIA. I expect a further discussion over dinner this evening. NATO is the main forum for transatlantic security consultation and it is entirely appropriate for Ministers to discuss this important issue.

You will also ask me what was said. The answer is equally simple. These discussions are private. I cannot tell you.

Finally, you will ask me about the British dossier on Iraqi weapons of mass destruction, published today. While we are still digesting the comprehensive document, which British Defence Secretary Hoon circulated, it is clear that it lays out the now familiar story in strong and convincing terms. The judgements about Saddam's continuing drive to acquire chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, and missiles to deliver them, should not surprise anyone. But the fact that they are based on firm evidence from a range of secret intelligence sources will, I hope, give pause for thought to many people. It emphasises just how worrying this whole issue of weapons of mass destruction proliferates to those who may well want to use them.