NATO HQ 8 Dec . 2005

Opening statement by the Secretary General Meeting of the NATO-Russia Council at the level of Foreign Ministers Ministers, Excellencies, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon, d obriy dyen’, bonjour. And welcome to the NATO-Russia Council in Foreign Ministerial session. 2005 has been a productive year for the NATO-Russia Council. Not only did we make progress in advancing our existing cooperative programmes. We have also reaffirmed the value of this council as a forum for political dialogue, broadening the scope of our consultations on Afghanistan, the Balkans, the Middle East, Central Asia and Darfur. I am counting on Foreign Ministers to continue this trend here today, with a frank, constructive discussion of Afghanistan, Kosovo and other current security issues. We have broken new ground, and worked together to address common threats in ways few of us could have imagined just a few years ago. Today, we will launch an innovative NATO-Russia Council Pilot Project to offer Counter-Narcotics Training to personnel of Afghanistan and Central Asian states. This programme testifies to our shared belief in the importance of enhancing stability in and around Afghanistan. It also reflects the potential of the NATO-Russia Council to make concrete, tangible contributions to the security of the entire Euro-Atlantic area and beyond. We have also made substantial progress in implementing the NATO-Russia Action Plan on Terrorism, which we launched one year ago. In July, for the very first time, NRC national experts – first responders as well as policymakers – gathered in Ljubljana, Slovenia to draw lessons from recent terrorist attacks. Russian naval vessels and personnel are completing pre-deployment training and preparing to support NATO’s Operation Active Endeavour in the Mediterranean Sea early next year. De façon plus générale, l’année 2005 a été marquée par un certain nombre de développements qui ont consolidé les fondements du conseil OTAN-Russie et dégagé des perspectives prometteuses pour l’avenir. En avril, lors de notre dernière réunion, le Ministre des affaires étrangères, M. Lavrov, a signé la Convention sur le statut des forces dans le cadre du Partenariat pour la paix, document qui, une fois ratifié, fournira une base juridique pour un élargissement de la formation conjointe, ainsi que de la coopération pratique. En juin, nos Ministres de la défense ont entériné des Orientations politico-militaires pour le renforcement de l’interopérabilité, grâce à quoi nos forces seront mieux à même de travailler ensemble sur le terrain. La réunion d’aujourd’hui sera l’occasion pour les Ministres des affaires étrangères de faire le point sur la large gamme des travaux entrepris dans ce domaine et dans d’autres, et de fixer les priorités pour l'année à venir. With these brief introductory remarks, I would ask the members of the press to leave the room, so that we can begin our closed session. As you do, I would recommend to you the photo exhibit on NATO-Russia cooperation, which Minister Lavrov and I opened earlier today.