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NATO HQ
10 Dec. 2004
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Video Background Briefing
by the NATO Spokesman
Hello and welcome to the special holiday edition in our regular series of updates
on NATO what's happening on our agenda.
This has been a very busy period, a very busy month for NATO as is usual
for the end of the year. We've had a series of high level meetings, important
meetings,
that not only illustrated what's on NATO's agenda but also gave direction
on where the Alliance will go as an organization and also with our partners
into
the future.
On the evening of the eighth of December was the first ever meeting of the
Mediterranean Dialogue countries, that is the seven countries with which
NATO has a relationship on the southern side of Mediterranean and NATO
members at
the political level, largely represented at the level of foreign ministers.
This was a meeting that was first of all a celebration. A celebration of
ten years of Mediterranean Dialogue, it has been ten years since the
Dialogue was
put in place and we have had this decade to get to know each other, to
begin a discussion and to begin low-level practical cooperation. This
meeting however,
this dinner, was also a working dinner.
And the reason was that the representation at the political level for
the first time indicated that the seven Mediterranean Dialogue countries
and
NATO nations
wanted to take the next step. The next step in terms of deeper dialogue
and more practical cooperation, to take the dialogue more towards a
partnership in the same spirit perhaps as NATO has had with its eastern
European
partners in the Partnership for Peace.
The dialogue at the dinner, the discussion at the dinner, was very
open between ministers. It was a very positive spirit with much discussion
of where the
practical cooperation should take place, of the need to build trust,
of the need to build mutual confidence and the very clear assertion
that
NATO's
relations with the Mediterranean Dialogue countries should take place
on the basis of
regional and national specificities, each country is different, has
a different list of requirements, a different list of wishes and
as a second
principle,
that this should be a two-way street, nothing will be imposed on
any one.
But NATO has a menu of areas where it has an expertise and an expertise
that might be put on offer, put at the availability of NATO's Mediterranean
Dialogue
partners if they so wish and if they do wish, NATO stands ready
to, as I say, deepen the dialogue and deepen the practical partnership.
NATO's Deputy Secretary General will very soon go not only to the region
of the Mediterranean Dialogue but also as part of the parallel process
into the Gulf to open up NATO's discussion with that region as well. The
Secretary General himself will, in the coming months, visit all the Mediterranean
Dialogue partner countries and he hopes, and we hope, that the next dinner
at the political level will be held in one of the countries of the Mediterranean
Dialogue to show how much the importance they attach - and we do believe
they attach - to this process as much as we do, to taking it to the next
level.
So this was a successful dinner, not just a celebration but also
a working meeting and one in which we... on which we will build.
On the morning of the ninth of December began NATO's regular
meeting of Foreign Ministers. And it was a meeting that had quite
a lot
of substance. The first
item on the agenda for ministerial discussion was Afghanistan.
This remains a top priority for the Alliance and it is an area
where there has been a significant amount of success. The President
of
Afghanistan, President Karzai, was inaugurated in the beginning
of December and
the Secretary General
of NATO along with many other high level dignitaries attended
that ceremony.
This was a very powerful symbol. The transition in Afghanistan
over the past few years has been absolutely dramatic; it is one
of the
great success
stories
of the international community in the early 21st century. The
progress that has been made has absolutely been startling and
NATO is very
pleased and
proud of the role that this organization has played in contributing
to that and of
course always in support of the Afghan government as part of
an international community effort to do more.
We have, as those of you who watch these videos regularly know, been
providing peacekeeping forces for the capital and provincial reconstruction
teams in the north of the country. Now NATO Allies are moving to expand
that presence into the west.
We believe early next year, the Alliance will be in a position
to announce an expansion into the west, very early next year;
and of
course Allies
confirmed again yesterday at the ministerial meeting that they
intend to provide more
support, more military support, for the elections that will
take place next year; the National Assembly elections at the
local
and municipal
and national
level which are of course a second very important step in Afghanistan's
democratic development.
But NATO's rose in Afghanistan will not end at the National
Assembly elections; this is a long term investment for what
is obviously
a long term project,
a long term endeavour for the international community. So there
was a deep political
discussion amongst ministers about the future of the long term
role for the international community in Afghanistan after the
National Assembly elections
or what we call the Bonn Process, the political roadmap that
has led us to here, to this point, will technically have expired.
So we need a roadmap beyond that and NATO will play a part
in developing that political agenda.
The international community also needs to look at what is very
much a dagger at the throat of Afghanistan's future and that
is narcotics.
The
international
community must do everything possible to support the Karzai
government, the Afghan government in combating this scourge.
This is of course
an Afghan government lead but the Afghan government will depend
on the international
community to
support its efforts.
There has been a conference now held in Kabul just after President
Karzai's inauguration to discuss the narcotics challenge and
how to address it
and NATO will play its part of course but as part of a broad
international effort because
the strategy must be comprehensive if it is to be successful
and it must follow the lead always of the Afghan government.
The next issue on the agenda for ministers at the ministerial
meeting was Ukraine, a political discussion of Ukraine. Now
this is a fast
moving situation
and
by the time you see this video the situation may well have
changed from what it is when I have recorded it for you. In
essence NATO
ministers agreed that
there has been now substantial political progress in helping
to pave the way for a free, fair and democratic election on
the 26th
of December.
After discussing the importance of this, the importance of
having an election that reflects the will of the Ukrainian
people without
outside
interference,
without violence and a process that respects the political
integrity, the territorial integrity of Ukraine ministers also
discussed
the importance of support this
round of elections on the 26th of December by providing as
much as possible in the way of observers.
And ministers of course heard the calls of their colleagues
and are providing and will provide a significant number of
observers
to this
effort to
ensure that the Ukrainian people and the international community
can see the extent
to which these elections are indeed free and fair and put in
place a government that is legitimate and seen to be legitimate
in the
eyes of
its people
because that is what is most important.
And NATO is determined that it will of course continue its
relations with Ukraine, these are very important relations.
We intend not
only to continue
them but
to deepen them.
A ministerial... an ambassadorial level meeting has been held
immediately after the Foreign Ministers meeting to speak directly
to the Ukrainian
Ambassador to NATO to express NATO's continuing commitment
to this relationship and
that
relationship will continue into the future.
Ukraine was also on the agenda for discussion between NATO nations and Russia
in the NATO-Russia Council just after the morning North Atlantic Council
meeting at the Foreign Ministers level here at NATO Headquarters.
Foreign Minister Lavrov sat around the table with his 26
NATO counterparts and they discussed Ukraine. They agreed
together
on a statement
which set out, amongst other things, the position of the
NATO-Russia Council,
of
the 27 members
on Ukraine, on the importance of free and fair elections,
on the importance of having the Ukrainian people having their
voice heard
in a free and
fair election on the importance of avoiding violence and
of
the paramount importance
of course of always maintaining the territorial integrity
of Ukraine.
This was a significant political step that Russia and NATO
countries came together to express the same principles,
the same approach
to what has
been sometimes
a divisive issue. So we were very pleased that that took
place and that that took place here in the NATO-Russia
Council.
NATO nations and Russia also agreed on two other areas
of concrete cooperation. One is they signed, we signed,
an exchange
of
letters which now govern
Russian support for Operation Active Endeavour. There are
Russian ships now in the
Mediterranean that have been conducting familiarization
exercises with NATO ships that are patrolling the Mediterranean,
defending
against
terrorism and now because of this exchange of letters,
these ships can support
the Operation
fully and so we're very pleased about this.
There was also the signature, or the agreement on a NATO-Russia
Council action plan on combating terrorism which will help
our countries
work together to
combat this threat which of course faces us all in very
practical ways.
Finally we hope and expect that early next year NATO nations and Russia
can sign a SOFA - a Status of Forces Agreement. What this does is govern
an indeed allow for much better participation and cooperation on the military
side by allowing for transit of forces and equipment, by allowing for
joint exercises, making it much easier for us to train together, to work
together, to get to know each other.
This is an agreement that NATO has with almost all of its
partners, we're very glad that we're moving towards having
it with Russia
as well because
it will
simply help us to work better together.
Over lunch, NATO Ministers met once again to have an informal
discussion on two key issues. One is Iraq. NATO Foreign
Ministers took the
decision at their
meeting that they were in a position to significantly expand
the NATO Training Mission that has been in Iraq, in Baghdad,
since
August.
Where there have been some 60 personnel there, the number
will grow quite significantly as NATO expands its support
to the
Iraqi government
in
training senior Iraqi
personnel, principally military personnel.
At the same time Ministers look forward to the next stage
of expansion which will be to enhance our support for the
Iraqi
Training, Equipment
and Doctrine
Centre on the outskirts of Baghdad and that will take place
in the coming months.
It is important to note that despite the divisions that
have been quite obvious over Iraq in the run-up to the
war and
indeed during
the war,
NATO is a place
where all NATO nations, from Europe and North America,
are coming together over this issue. They have all given
their
political
support for the
training mission, they are all through NATO common funding
and through the Headquarters
providing financing for this mission and of course NATO
nations even if they are not participating in training
inside Iraq
are contributing
to
it outside
of Iraq as well; including in NATO schools but also on
a bilateral level and I cannot forget that many NATO nations
and the Alliance
itself are
playing an important role in coordinating the provision
of
equipment to the Iraqi
security
forces.
So this is truly a transatlantic effort, it is a transatlantic
effort where divisions have been seen and seen quite clearly
but we're pleased
that
in NATO the Alliance is doing its job to bridge the two
sides of the Atlantic, to bring
them closer together, even on what has been a very difficult
and divisive issue.
Ambassadors... excuse, Foreign Ministers then turned their
attention over lunch to the Balkans.
As those of you who have followed the website and followed
these briefings know, early in December NATO brought to
an end its
successful SFOR
mission, stood up a new headquarters in Sarajevo that had
responsibilities for
supporting defence reform in Bosnia and Herzegovina, in
supporting the apprehension
of those indicted for war crimes and carrying out other
roles.
The Alliance will also of course support the new EUFOR,
the European Force, called Althea, which will take over
some
of the primary
security duties
that NATO had had until the handover.
The Secretary General attended that ceremony with Javier
Solana, the EU's High Representative. It was a good ceremony;
of course
the officials
of
the government
were there as well because this has all been done very
much in consultation with them.
And at the Foreign Ministers meeting here at the NATO Headquarters,
ministers welcomed this transition and look forward of
course to continuing their
support to Bosnia and Herzegovina to help them meet their
requirements first and
foremost from a NATO perspective, to join the Partnership
for Peace and a key roadblock
preventing them from making progress is cooperation with
the International Tribunal. Ministers reiterated the importance
they attach to cooperation
by Bosnia and Herzegovina and indeed also by Serbia and
Montenegro, to cooperation with the International Tribunal,
this is absolutely
essential
and ministers
continue to insist on it.
Over Kosovo, ministers had a profound political discussion
over the coming year. The coming year is one that is of
great political
importance.
The
international community has set standards for Kosovo, democratic
and political standards
that Kosovo must meet as we look to the middle... in particular
the middle of 2005 when the international community will
take a judgement
on how
Kosovo is doing in meeting those standards before substantial
progress on status
talks which will determine the final political status of
Kosovo can move forward
in a concrete way.
This is obviously of great political importance, it also
brings with it of course, a certain political fluidity
and Allies
are very aware
that
KFOR,
the NATO mission in Kosovo, remains absolutely essential
to maintaining a peaceful
environment in Kosovo and that is why they have agreed
that NATO must maintain its current operational capabilities
in
Kosovo,
in KFOR, and
the Alliance
will remain very vigilant and very determined to prevent
any outbreaks of violence
and to continue to provide a platform for the political
process to go forward because this is absolutely essential.
That in a sense brought an end to the discussions amongst
NATO Foreign Ministers but they did turn their attention
immediately
thereafter
to the Euro-Atlantic
Partnership Council brings together 46 countries, the NATO
Nations and all of our partners across Europe through the
Caucasus and
into Central
Asia;
to discuss key political issues on our agenda.
One of the key political issues on our agenda was of course
and it remains, supporting efforts towards building peace
and security
in
two critical
regions: that is the Caucasus and Central Asia. There are
national issues and regional
issues that are of great complexity but also of great importance
to us all and the EAPC countries discussed how they might
together help
support
moves
to resolve outstanding border disputes, address the threat
of terrorism, address the threat of the proliferation of
weapons of mass destruction
and other weapons
in these regions in particular.
The Secretary General has appointed a Special Representative
for the Caucasus and Central Asia, Mr. Robert Simmons,
who is also
a Deputy
Assistant Secretary
General here at NATO and Allies and the Secretary General
are moving closer to appointing two individuals, one for
the Caucasus,
one
for Central Asia,
that will act as liaison officers and they will be permanently
based in the regions helping the Alliance to understand
what is there,
being a voice
for
the Alliance in those regions, helping to ensure continued
political engagement by NATO in these regions.
That in essence was the broad sweep of the discussions
that have taken place here in NATO during ministerial and
political
level
meetings. They were very
good, they took place in a very positive atmosphere. They
demonstrated a real transatlantic consensus to move forward
together, not
to look in the
rear-view
mirror, not to get distracted over the prior divisions
over Iraq but
to move forward.
The spirit was positive, Ministers also bade farewell to
a very well respected and well liked colleague and that
is of
course
Colin Powell
who made his
final visit here to NATO as Secretary of State. Minister
spoke very warmly and very
honestly of their respect and personal feelings towards
Secretary Powell and spoke about how they'll miss him but
of course
the Alliance also
looks forward
to working with his successor Dr. Rice who will soon be
attending NATO ministerial level meetings here, of course.
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