Madrid, Spain 3 June 2003

Opening statement by NATO Secretary General, Lord Robertson at the Meeting of the NUC at the level of Foreign Ministers Good morning Ministers, ladies and gentlemen. I am happy to see you here, Minister Zlenko. I understand that congratulations are in order as yesterday was your 65th birthday. This is a good reason to celebrate with us here in the NATO-Ukraine Commission. Allies are very much committed to the NATO-Ukraine relationship. I hope that today this Commission will take note of the progress made in bringing this relationship to a qualitatively new level since we last met in Prague and agreed on the NATO-Ukraine Action Plan. Our Distinctive Partnership continues to make an essential contribution to security and stability in the Euro-Atlantic area. Allies appreciate Ukraine's ongoing commitment to support peacekeeping efforts in the Balkans. Our political and military cooperation has become a permanent feature of the Euro-Atlantic security landscape. Within the Action Plan, NATO and Ukraine agreed to joint principles and objectives in the political, economic, military, security and defence spheres, which are supported by specific measures for Ukrainian, and NATO-Ukraine joint action, contained in the 2003 Annual Target Plan (ATP). Implementation of the benchmarks and actions contained in the Annual Target Plan will help Ukraine pursue its aspirations for Euro-Atlantic integration. With the Action Plan and the ATP, Allies and Ukraine set themselves ambitious goals for closer cooperation. We have heard both in Washington at the informal meeting of defence ministers and at the recent NUC Ambassadorial meeting of the efforts that have been made to meet these goals. We welcome this progress but a lot of work remains to be done. We are all committed to continuing our joint efforts to implement the Action Plan. But most of the work will have to be done by Ukraine itself. Allies will continue to encourage Ukraine to demonstrate its commitment to our common values in all areas of its internal and external activities, and to continue to show the necessary transparency and cooperation. We therefore call upon the Ukrainian leadership, the Verkhovna Rada, and civil society in Ukraine to take the implementation of the Action Plan forward energetically and with the necessary courage and commitment to push ahead with reforms.