Portorož, Slovenia 28 Sept. 2006

Introductory address by the Minister of Defence of the Republic of Slovenia, Karel Erjavec Informal Session of the Ministers of Defence in Portorož Ladies and gentlemen, I am honoured and pleased to be able to address you here at the time when NATO is facing critical, even decisive steps in the process of adapting to the radically changed modern security challenges. I am glad that the Republic of Slovenia as a young and dependable ally is the host of the so to speak last preparatory meeting before the summit in Riga. We have to do everything in our power to make it successful not only from the point of view of an efficient transformation of the Alliance but from the point of view of public diplomacy, to wit, bringing our activities closer to the public, our partners and friends as well. Consequently, Portorož carries special weight. We need to prepare everything that is required for a quality realisation of the summit in Riga primarily from the point of view of the defence-related transformation and operations of the Alliance. The two elements are inseparable. We are faced with specific and dangerous challenges, which is best demonstrated by our endeavours in Afghanistan where solidarity, resolve and quality leadership. The activities in Afghanistan are at the turning point, which requires the Alliance to act with caution. It is also important to ensure the success of the NATO activities within the operations KFOR in Kosovo and realise our mission in this part of Europe. From the point of view of the participation in the operations and struggle against terrorism and in order to increase mutual understanding and trust it is of critical importance to enhance the co-operation with partners. It is also necessary to build on the existing models and activities such as the »Active Endeavor« operation in the Mediterranean. During the meeting in Portorož those elements of the transformation need to be shed light on which require commitment and support at the highest political level and will be, as such, put on the agenda of the summit in Riga. However, it has by now become clear that most of the energy will have to be directed to the issues of the capabilities, operations, co-operation and complementarity of operation with other organisations such as UN and EU, or for example with the partner states and Russia. Bosnia and Herzegovina is a good example of an efficient co-operation between the NATO and EU. A higher training unification would be worth considering. A rational and practical approach to searching solutions concerning capabilities, which are important to the EU well, is of particular importance to smaller countries. One of such questions is that of strategic air transport. So we welcome the work already done and the progress achieved in this field; it is, however, necessary to find solid and long-term solutions. Among the key topics is achieving full operative capability of the NATO Response Forces and discussing the proposal of the Comprehensive Political Guidelines (CPG). These two units represent the driving force of the transformation of the Alliance. The purpose of the NATO Response Forces is to achieve the ability of rapid, efficient and comprehensive global intervention and response. In the long term, it is also necessary to ensure regular and ultimately completed rotations of the NATO Response Forces taking into consideration the principles of equal load sharing. The Comprehensive Political Guidelines (CPG) represents a strategic orientation of further development of the Alliance as to an efficient struggle against the threats of the modern security environment. It is a fact that the struggle against terrorism and other modern asymmetric threats to NATO do not only represent new challenges but primarily a series of issues of military and political nature. This is the framework in which new initiatives belong and the initiatives I wish to point out are those relating to Special Forces and training in which area a considerable step forward has already been made with the preparation of detailed assessments and options. The implementation of the Comprehensive Political Guidelines (CPG) and the achievement and maintenance of full operative capability of the NATO Response Forces are of critical importance in ensuring the legitimacy and credibility of our alliance .