NATO HQ 12 June 2003

Statement by Lord Robertson at the Press Conference following the North Atlantic Council at the level of Defence Ministers Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to NATO Headquarters. NATO is running on all cylinders. Last year, we agreed a radical blueprint to transform the Alliance. This year we are implementing that blueprint, defending peace from the Straits of Gibraltar through the Balkans and southern Turkey to Afghanistan. Defence Ministers met today to review the NATO transformation process, take stock of operations and look ahead to new challenges. The participation for the first time of the seven new Defence Ministers was an important symbol of the new NATO. But the substance of our meetings also confirmed that the transatlantic Alliance has weathered its spring storms, emerging stronger and more united than before. NATO’s decisions to assist Turkey, to take over the International Security Assistance Force in Kabul, and to help Poland in Iraq, could not have been made by a disunited Alliance. They were made by a transformed NATO, willing and able to meet today’s threats from whenever they may come. Today’s meeting produced similarly important decisions and deliverables. First, a leaner, more flexible Alliance command structure, with a new command specifically dedicated to transformation. Second, major progress on the Prague Capabilities Commitment, including signature of letters of intent on the key strategic airlift and sealift initiatives. Third, a comprehensive concept for implementing our cutting edge NATO Response Force, which could have an early capability as soon as this autumn. Fourth, important progress on missile defence, and our terrorism and nuclear, biological and chemical defence packages. But we are still not complacent. There is still much more to do, including to make our forces more usable. But what we have achieved since Prague is substantial and significant. Our discussions on operations and future challenges demonstrated why this transformation is so important. Briefings on Iraq, ISAF, the Balkans, and by Javier Solana on the European Union operation in the Congo, underlined the demands placed on NATO countries’ armed forces. Today’s Ministerial agenda was unrecognisable from even two years ago. That is because the world has changed fundamentally, to become more complex and even more dangerous than before. But NATO has kept pace. It has proved its resilience, strength and determination. It is a decisive factor in our security and in wider stability. A force for the future, already working for peace today. Thank you.