Lisbon, Portugal 19 May 2006

Speech by NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer at the Portuguese Parliament, Lisbon Mr President, Members of Parliament, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is always a pleasure for me to be in Portugal , one of NATO’s 12 founding nations, and I am grateful for the opportunity to speak to you this afternoon. First, it allows me to publicly thank Portugal for the valuable support it has consistently given the Alliance since 1949. And second, it will permit me to outline for you the direction in which NATO is moving as we prepare for a meeting of Alliance Heads of State and Government in Riga in six months time. However, before I do that, please allow me to comment on this splendid setting. It is a particular pleasure to find myself speaking once again in a parliamentary chamber. It brings back lots of happy memories of my time in my own parliament, in the Netherlands. This setting is also the perfect reminder for all of us that NATO is not a supra-national organisation, but an organisation that is responsive to decisions taken collectively, and voluntarily, by Allied governments and parliaments. Portugal ’s voice is heard clearly, and her interests and concerns are reflected in the decisions taken around the NATO table. In recent years those decisions have considerably altered many aspects of our Alliance – NATO has transformed – and it continues to transform. And Portugal plays an important part in that process. In the face of threats from terrorism, the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and from failing states, our values can no longer be defended, and our security and stability can no longer be guaranteed, simply by adopting a reactive approach. Instead, we must be proactive – we need to project stability. This different approach can be seen quite clearly when you consider the range - both the geographic range, and the functional range - of NATO’s current operational commitments. Today, NATO is actively engaged on 3 continents – in Europe , in Asia , and in Africa. In Kosovo, our troops continue to keep the peace and ensure a safe and stable environment in which the UN-sponsored talks on the future status of that province can take place. In Afghanistan , the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force is assisting the Government of Afghanistan to provide the necessary security so that democracy can take root and redevelopment can take place. In Iraq , NATO is training Iraqi security forces to allow them to take on more responsibility for their own security. In Africa , African Union peacekeeping troops are being airlifted into the Darfur region of Sudan by Allied aircraft, and we are also providing other assistance, like headquarters training, to that force. Alongside these commitments, NATO maritime forces are conducting an anti-terrorist operation in the Mediterranean. We shall shortly be deploying assistance to Germany as she hosts the World Cup, in the same manner as when we supported you during the Euro-2004 soccer competition. And we provided humanitarian relief to the victims of last year’s Hurricane Katrina in the United States , as well as to victims of last October’s earthquake in Pakistan. Given all these operational commitments and the demands they place on our armed forces, I should like to say how grateful I am for Portugal ’s sustained support. Portuguese men and women are playing important roles in Kosovo, in Afghanistan , in Iraq and in the Mediterranean. They also contributed to the humanitarian relief operations last year, as did the Joint Headquarters in Oeiras, which I visited this morning. These operations and missions clearly show just how much NATO is in demand. I am convinced that these demands will grow further. So to ensure that we remain up to the task, our transformation process must continue – both politically and militarily. The meetings of NATO Heads of State and Government in Prague in 2002, and in Istanbul in 2004, have laid very firm foundations, and they will be built upon at the next NATO Summit in Riga in November. The detailed agenda for the Riga Summit will only fully emerge in the coming months. So let me now lay out for you what I believe are the decisions we should be striving to take in Riga. And I shall do this by grouping decisions into one of three “baskets”. The first of these is a political basket covering enlargement, partnerships and a training initiative. The second basket covers the political aspects of our operations. And this then links to the third basket, which covers the continuing transformation of our military capabilities to ensure operational success. First and foremost, in the political basket, there is the issue of the next round of NATO enlargement. Invitations to join the Alliance are unlikely to be issued at the Riga Summit. Instead, Allies will probably wish to send a signal to our three current membership aspirants, Albania , Croatia and the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia(1) , on the way ahead. We will want to encourage them to continue the efforts necessary to make themselves as well qualified for membership as possible - that is their part of the bargain. Our part is a continued commitment to the open door policy and to further enlargement of this Alliance. Put simply, when the three countries are ready to join the Alliance , we must be ready to take them in. And at Riga , we shall also need to be ready to announce further responses to Ukraine ’s and Georgia ’s declared interest in joining the Alliance. Next, there are NATO’s relations with its partners and other interested countries. We need to decide how we can best preserve those elements of our partnership frameworks that work well, and at the same time make them even more valuable – both for our partners, and for the Alliance. In practice, this means that, in addition to reinforcing cooperation with our current partners, we should look to enhance our relations with countries such as Australia , New Zealand , Japan and South Korea. As Japan ’s Foreign Minister stated when he addressed the North Atlantic Council at the beginning of the month, these countries share our values, they share our security concerns, and they also wish to have a more structured working relationship with us. As we continue to look to enhance our outreach to the broader Middle East region, the idea of a NATO training initiative has received widespread support at recent Ministerial meetings. The initial focus of such an initiative would be the countries from the broader Middle East. But hopefully, other regions could be involved at some stage as well. So much for the “political basket”. Another key area of work as we approach Riga is the operational “basket”, which covers our current operational commitments. Afghanistan remains our number one priority. It is also the military yard-stick against which NATO is judged, and we must ensure that this operation continues to receive the full political and military support of all Allies. We shall undoubtedly be tested, and we need to show robustness in our response. In the coming months we shall need to consider when it would be appropriate for ISAF to take responsibility for the remainder of the country. At Riga , I should like to be able to announce that our final phase of expansion, the so-called Stage 4, has been completed. Also in the coming months, we shall need to consider how best we can contribute to defence and security sector reform, border security and counter-narcotics, as part of our cooperation programme with the Afghan Government. Again, we should be able to announce these decisions at Riga. With regard to Kosovo, NATO’s North Atlantic Council visited the province last week and saw for itself the current situation on the ground. By the time of Riga, the United Nations sponsored talks on Kosovo’s future status could be in a decisive stage and we shall need to decide how our military and political engagement can continue to contribute effectively to the future development of Kosovo. Another possible area for decisions is the crisis in Darfur. One way or the other, whether there is a United Nations follow-on mission in Darfur or whether the AMIS mission continues, I am certain that we will be asked to do more in that region. If that happens, we should be prepared and we have already decided to extend our present support until the end of September. In light of these demanding operations and missions, it is absolutely vital that we have the right capabilities to maximise our chances of success. And this brings me to the third “basket”: our continued military transformation. Projecting stability requires forces that can react quickly; forces that can be deployed over strategic distance, and then sustained over a long period of time. And we need forces that are capable of performing both high intensity combat tasks and post-conflict reconstruction work. We have made good progress in developing such capabilities. The NATO Response Force, which should be fully operational by the time of the Riga Summit, will enable us to react to new challenges even more quickly. Next month, the NRF will hold a major exercise in Cape Verde , with over 7000 personnel involved, to test its effectiveness. And the neighbouring African and lusophone countries have been invited as observers. We are also taking a hard look at our force planning and force generation procedures, to better match our political decisions and military commitments. And we are revising our funding arrangements – to make them fairer and more predictable, so that nations can more easily commit to operations. All these steps will ensure that future missions can be better planned, equipped, and paid for. And, as we push NATO’s military transformation forward, the support of NATO’s Joint Analysis Lessons Learned Centre, in Monsanto, will continue to be invaluable. I am conscious that I have given you quite a list, covering a wide array of political, operational and military issues. In fact, our agenda is even broader. Before and after Riga , we will need to build closer ties with other institutions, notably the EU and the UN. We will also need to deepen even further our relationship with Russia. And, last but certainly not least, we will need to strengthen the political dialogue among Allies on all issues of common concern, such as energy security. In an era where old security concepts no longer apply, it is absolutely essential that we identify new common challenges as early as possible. During the Cold War, we were somewhat afraid of putting potentially controversial issues on our agenda - in today’s world, that attitude is wholly out of date. Mr President, Ladies and Gentlemen, At the beginning of my remarks I pointed to the fundamental changes that NATO has already undergone and the important part that Portugal has played in that process. When I look at Portugal , I see a country that in many ways mirrors NATO’s recent history. With over 200 million Portuguese speakers spread across all 5 continents, Portugal understands the importance of global links, common values, freedom and democracy. Portugal understands the benefits of multilateral action, and cooperation and coordination with other international organisations such as the United Nations and the European Union. Portugal also understands the value of the trans-Atlantic link. And Portugal has already made transformation efforts within her own armed forces to ensure that they can participate effectively in NATO-led operations. It is therefore not surprising that Portugal is viewed within NATO as a strong and dependable Ally. So, by way of conclusion, let me reiterate that NATO has already made tremendous progress along the transformation path since Prague and Istanbul. But more remains to be done as we approach Riga , and I have laid out for you our ambitions. I am confident that, with Portugal ’s continued support, we shall achieve them successfully. Thank you.   1. Turkey recognises the Republic of Macedonia with its constitutional name