Portorož, Slovenia 28 Sep. 2006

Opening remarks by NATO Secretary General, Mr. Jaap De Hoop Scheffer Defence Ministers Meeting Portorož, Slovenia Ministers, ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon. Let me begin by thanking, on behalf of all the participants, Minister Erjavec, for his generosity in hosting this meeting and for the great care that he and the Slovenian Government have taken to make all of us welcome here in Portoroz. I wish to offer a particular welcome Ministers who are attending a NATO ministerial meeting for the first time. In Afghanistan NATO’s forces are conducting complex and challenging military operations, and they are doing this with great courage and in a successful way. Since we last met, many NATO soldiers have paid the ultimate sacrifice. I want to pay tribute to them now and to send, through Ministers, our condolences to all their families. For the sake of the Afghan people, and indeed for all of us, security must prevail to allow reconstruction and development to proceed. Opposing forces must be dealt with in a conclusive way. Afghanistan must never again become a launching pad for international terrorism. We must – and I am sure we will – finish the job and ensure the success of our operation in Afghanistan. This meeting comes at a critical juncture just two months away from our summit meeting in Riga. We need to address not only success today but also success tomorrow: how to consolidate and extend the modernisation of our forces for future operations. This will be the focus of our meeting on Friday. Over the next two days we have a chance to address the real political issues – of resources, of available forces and, principally, of political will. Demain, nous rencontrerons également notre homologue russe, M. Sergueï Ivanov, dans le cadre du Conseil OTAN-Russie. Nous aurons l’occasion d’avoir un échange de vues sur notre coopération en matière de réforme de la défense et de lutte contre le terrorisme, ainsi que sur les questions d’actualité dans le domaine de la sécurité internationale. Ce bref tour d'horizon de nos réunions étant terminé, j’invite à présent notre hôte à formuler ses observations liminaires. Monsieur le Ministre, vous avez la parole. [WELCOMING REMARKS BY THE SLOVENIAN MINISTER OF DEFENCE] Thank you. Avant que nous entamions notre débat, je souhaiterais évoquer brièvement la simulation d’une OTAN modèle à laquelle des étudiants de chacun de vos pays ont participé cette semaine ici a Portoroz , en présence du Ministre Erjavec et de moi-même. Students representing all 26 NATO Nations have met here over the last few days to simulate our meeting – to discuss the issues we have on our agenda for today and tomorrow. I was impressed by their dedication and the quality of the debate. And I was reminded how the younger generation also take an interest in what this Alliance is doing. They too stressed that NATO must stay the course in Afghanistan. And they noted that instability in that country would only serve to enable drug lords to continue to produce more of the opium that will be sold on our streets and blight their peers’ lives. We must not fail in Afghanistan and that was also the conclusion of the students