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Updated: 15-Jan-2003 NATO Speeches

NATO HQ

15 Jan. 2003

Farewell to SACEUR

by NATO Secretary General, Lord Robertson
during the meeting of the North Atlantic Council

Colleagues,

Today we say farewell to the Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General Joseph Ralston -- an exceptional officer and military leader who, throughout his tenure, has made an outstanding contribution to the success of our Alliance.

General Ralston, Joe

When you took up your post three years ago, you brought with you a reputation as an officer with outstanding military skills and excellent political judgement. In your time here, you have confirmed every bit of that reputation -- and you have enhanced it, because your record as NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe is a record of considerable success.

Shortly after the command was passed to you, Joe, President Bush became your Commander-in-Chief. You, more than any other person I know, helped the new Administration to understand, appreciate and to value this unique Alliance of free, similar-thinking, value-sharing nations. Your quiet skill, your calm authority, and your trusted integrity steered us through a critical transition.

You have left your mark in many important areas. You were a major factor in the success of the Alliance’s efforts in the Balkans. Three years ago we faced mounting tensions in Southern Serbia, and one year later the prospect of a real bloodbath and yet another Balkan civil war in the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia . That we were able to come to grips with these problems, to secure peace and stability, and offer these communities the prospect of a better future, was due in no small measure to your leadership and commitment and your wise, cool judgement at the time.

Under your leadership at SHAPE, Joe, the security situation throughout the Balkans region has improved significantly, especially in Bosnia and in Kosovo and the reshaping of our forces there has been an enormous success.

Your contribution to the Alliance’s work in the Balkans has been huge. I will therefore present you with NATO’s Balkans operations medal at the formal change of command ceremony in Mons this Friday. There will be consensus around this table that no-one is more worthy of this honor.

But of course, your contribution to the work of the Alliance has not been limited to the Balkans. It fell to you, for example, to fully integrate into our military structures the three countries we welcomed into NATO at the 1999 Washington Summit, and to prepare military advice for the subsequent substantial round of enlargement agreed at our Prague Summit last year. NATO Allies -- old ones, newer ones, and future ones -- owe much for your support for the enlargement process.

You have also played an important role in building NATO's new relationship with Russia. If military-to-military cooperation between NATO and Russia now presents itself as an area with enormous potential, it is because you have been personally engaged. Your involvement has sent out a very strong signal that NATO sees Russia as a Partner, and that our new cooperative relationship can work in everyone’s interest.

Since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, you have demonstrated critical leadership in helping NATO and Allied militaries transform to meet the needs of the modern security environment. By playing pivotal roles in defining a ground-breaking military concept for the defence against terrorism, to focusing SHAPE on the threats from weapons of mass destruction or cyber attack, your tenure has indeed helped retool the Alliance for the future.

Indeed, our Alliance would not be where it is today without your strong approach to reshaping our military capabilities for the new security environment. You have spoken on this issue many times. By the strength of your arguments, your profound knowledge, and your persuasiveness, you have helped to underline the urgency of this matter, and to prepare the way for the ground-breaking Prague Summit decisions on this issue as well.

You have over your three years provided this Alliance and its political leaders with clear, understandable and convincing advice and that has been appreciated and greatly valued. What you have done is to personally build up an unprecedented confidence in yourself as well as in the post you leave on Friday.

I read at the weekend the words of Field Marshal Viscount Allanbrooke, Britain’s wartime military leader, who spoke of the soldier’s ideal.

The patience of a saint in hardship,
the tenacity of a bulldog in adversity,
the courage of a lion when aroused,
the chivalry of a knight in all his dealings.

Allanbrooke made it clear that this standard applied on military and political battlefields alike, and on both you were a master. And in Allanbrooke’s high standard we see the qualities in you that we have come to so warmly appreciate.

You have left NATO in better fettle than ever. You were the right man, in the right place, at the right time. And although we see you leave with regret, your legacy here will assuredly live on.

Thank you once again, and all the best to you and your family in the next phase of your life.

  1. Turkey recognises the Republic of Macedonia with its constitutional name.

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