Sofia, Bulgaria 27 April 2006

Opening remarks by NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer Ministers, Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen, A very good afternoon to you all, and a warm welcome to this informal meeting of the North Atlantic Council at the level of Foreign Ministers. First, on behalf of all of us around the table, let me extend a sincere word of thanks to Minister Kalfin – and through him to the Bulgarian authorities -- for their splendid hospitality and hard work in ensuring the success of our meeting here in Sofia. I think that we are all aware that, as I speak, Bulgaria is coping with disastrous flooding and therefore I would like to use this occasion to express on behalf of all of us our sympathy and wish our colleague Ivailo and the Bulgarian Government all the best in this difficult task. Let me warmly welcome our colleagues who are attending their first NATO meeting, Minister Bakoyanni (GR) and Minister MacKay(CAN). I wish to emphasise that this is an informal meeting – which means that there is no strict agenda and no decisions are anticipated. But we will have a lot to discuss, both today and tomorrow, as this meeting is a stepping stone towards the meeting of our Heads of State and Government in Riga in November. The future of NATO’s partnerships and the wider process of Euro-Atlantic integration will be key issues in Riga. Partnerships are a fundamental part of NATO’s transformation. While we want to preserve what works well, we should consider how to make NATO’s partnerships more valuable to our partners and to ourselves. We should also consider how we can build stronger ties with other interested countries, several of which are already contributing to our operations and missions. We will discuss the relations with the countries having Membership Action Plans, Albania, Croatia and the Former Yugoslav Republic Of Macedonia(1) and review the results of the Intensified Dialogue with Ukraine, as well as Georgia’s aspirations to come closer to NATO. This evening, Foreign Minister Kalfin will host a Transatlantic Dinner for NATO and EU Foreign Ministers. I have no doubt that we will have a constructive exchange of views on some of the issues facing the transatlantic community of nations. Tomorrow morning, NATO Foreign Ministers will focus more specifically on the political aspects of the Alliance’s operations and missions. Afghanistan, of course, will warrant our particular attention. Soon we will have more than 15,000 troops engaged there under very challenging conditions – a testimony to our commitment to this country. We are grateful for the excellent work that our servicemen and women are doing under often difficult circumstances and we are determined to see our mission through. If the international community is to achieve its objectives, however, others must deliver on their commitments too, starting with the Afghan Government but also other international actors like the European Union and the United Nations. Only a sustained and concerted effort will yield success. Nous examinerons également l’évolution du rôle de l’OTAN au Kosovo à la lumière des pourparlers sur le statut futur de la province. Enfin, les Ministres envisageront la poursuite du soutien apporté à la mission de l’Union africaine au Darfour, et la façon dont nous pourrions soutenir les Nations Unies dans le cadre de leur projet de mission de suivi. Demain, les Ministres des pays de l’OTAN rencontreront également le Ministre ukrainien des affaires étrangères, M. Borys Tarasyuk. Ce sera surtout l’occasion d’examiner les développements politiques intervenus en Ukraine après les récentes élections législatives, y compris leur incidence possible sur la politique étrangère de l’Ukraine et les aspirations de ce pays à devenir membre de l’OTAN. Nous parlerons sans doute aussi de notre coopération opérationnelle en cours. Notre réunion avec le Ministre russe des affaires étrangères, M. Sergey Lavrov, sera l'occasion de passer en revue la coopération OTAN-Russie et d’examiner les priorités dans la poursuite du développement de nos relations. Les Ministres souhaiteront peut-être aussi saisir cette occasion pour échanger des vues sur les principales questions qui font l’actualité internationale. Dans ce contexte, permettez-moi d’observer que les pays de l’Alliance se félicitent de la récente signature de l'accord sur le retrait des bases conclu entre la Russie et la Géorgie. Mesdames et Messieurs les Ministres, Excellences. à Riga, en novembre prochain, les chefs d'État et de gouvernement de nos pays souligneront le rôle essentiel de l’OTAN dans la réponse à apporter aux défis de sécurité critiques de notre époque. Nos réunions ici à Sofia nous offrent de bonnes occasions de donner de nouvelles orientations pour l’agenda de Riga et pour les missions et opérations menées actuellement par l’OTAN. Turkey recognises the Republic of Macedonia with its constitutional name.