Joint press point

with NATO Secretary General, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and the President of Latvia, Valdis Zatlers

JAAP DE HOOP SCHEFFER (Secretary General of NATO): Good afternoon. A pleasure to have met so soon after his appointment and inauguration President Zatlers of Latvia. Latvia being what I think I can call without reservation a staunch ally, being active in Afghanistan, being active in Kosovo and participating in the Iraqi training mission. Not to forget, an important ally in the Baltics, having organized the Riga Summit in November last year, so it was a pleasure to meet the President.

May I congratulate you, Mr. President, on your appointment as President of Latvia.

It goes without saying that we have discussed a wide range of issues relevant to NATO from Afghanistan to Kosovo to the issues of the day, important issues of the day like the CFE Treaty, missile defence, the issues we have regularly on the NATO agenda, and issues which are dominating the international media and the international press. But having said that, it is important that I'm standing next to a new president of a country which joined NATO and which is showing that it is not only a consumer of security, but also a producer, an exporter of security.

And let me finally say that many, many NATO allies could look to Latvia as an example of what defence spending and defence budgets should be like. So it's a good lesson. Mr. President, it is a pleasure to have you. 

VALDIS ZATLERS (President of Latvia): Thank you. We have all the discussions on the issues we are interested in and especially of changes in the CFE Treaty, which is a very sensitive question in Latvia. We have come to the common sense and that's one that I'm happy about.

We also talked about Afghanistan and about the participation of Latvian soldiers in the process in Afghanistan. And we feel very strong allies and we are proud of that and that's the best that I can say about these talks today, which are the first talks with the Secretary General of NATO.

Q: Pascal Malet of the French news agency, Agence France-Presse, AFP. My first question is for the president of Latvia. Don't you have any regret now in view of what happens to the CFE Treaty (inaudible)... to say an effective withdrawal under the guise of suspension, don't you have any regret that, in fact, your country, like other Baltic states, should have ratified with some other NATO states that did not ratify in 1994, for obvious reasons, that you should have followed another path in other words?

ZATLERS: The standpoint was very simple. We couldn't ratify because Russia didn't fulfil the Istanbul Commitments and that was very important for us. And we have also to say that the present... when the treaty was signed the Latvian state didn't exist, so, (laughs), we have to come forward and see what the future will be, but we firmly stand on the positions of NATO.

Q: Constant Brand from the Associated Press. A question for the Secretary General and for the President. Where does NATO, where do the allies go from here with Russia's announcement to withdraw from the CFE Treaty? Will you try to get Moscow back on board?

DE HOOP SCHEFFER: Well, we have, of course, speaking for NATO, we have the forum already quite some time. We celebrated, as you know, ten years NATO-Russia relations, five years NATO-Russia Council. We'll certainly discuss this in a NATO-Russia Council.

You know that the treaty formally doesn't know the word suspension. You can be in the treaty, you can be out of the treaty. Apparently, there's now a period which has started that Russia suspends being active in the treaty, suspends what the treaty is asking of Russia, but that is certainly also an element for discussion. Is this one period of 150 days which is now running, or will there be after this period a second period, a second clock starting ticking, if I may use that expression, before Russia would leave the treaty? Question mark. I simply do not know.

But NATO will certainly find in the NATO-Russia Council an opportunity to discuss the CFE with their Russian partners.

It's regrettable that they have decided to take this step, to take this decision, as I've said before, because this is a cornerstone of European security. And all the nations, including Latvia, I know, because I discussed it with the President, would like to ratify the adapted treaty, but certain conditions should be met and they have not been met.

ZATLERS: Well, of course, the first thing to say is that there's no threat for Latvia and the security at present, but we see this process with regret because this is a level down, a step down in the trust of the two partners, Russia and NATO.

Q: Radio Latvia (inaudible)... Secretary General, how do you see the situation about treaty, Russia's treaty? Also for your mind, is there any threats for Baltic states as we are neighbouring countries with Russia?

DE HOOP SCHEFFER: You mean on the CFE Treaty? No, let me agree with the President that I do not think that this Russian decision in any way changes or alters the position. We are a NATO Alliance of 26 and as President Zatlers was just telling a moment ago, I do not think this changes in any way the security for the Latvian people or for Latvia or for the Baltic countries.

MODERATOR: Thank you very much.

DE HOOP SCHEFFER: Thank you.