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RIMINI - The Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation, Mr. Willy Claes said on Sunday that the goal of NATO is "to sustain the unprecedented period of security, peace and prosperity enjoyed by Western Europe for the past forty years and more". Addressing the Pio Manzu "Big Millennium" conference, he added, however, that "today this is not enough...We need to extend these same blessings to the new democracies to our east. Building the wider security community is a primary goal of the Euro-Atlantic democracies. Achieving it will be the security milestone of this fin du siecle."
Mr. Claes told his audience that "perhaps the most visible example of NATO's contribution to a wider Euro- Atlantic security architecture is the Partnership for Peace". He pointed out that twenty-three countries had already joined the Partnership and that individual partnership programmes would "allow each country to draw closer to the Alliance at a pace and in areas of its own choosing". He also said that "it is clear that PfP is a two-way street, with the Alliance as well as our Partners deriving benefit". In this regard he stressed that "Partnership for Peace is not a substitute for NATO membership...Our next task is to begin to examine internally the way ahead, so that we can prepare the Alliance to accept new members in a way which enhances European security". Mr. Claes underscored that the "enlargement debate must not be conducted in terms of a "zero-sum game", where membership for some would translate into a net loss for others...Expanding our Alliance must be recognized for what it is: the enlargement of a community of values, not an exercise in exclusion or isolation". Mr. Claes said that such a process "also requires that NATO develop a close and special partnership with Russia in the interests of European and global stability".
Turning to NATO's relations with Russia, the Secretary General said that the Alliance was currently "working out an Individual Partnership Programme to foster co-operation in the security field". He added that NATO was also working to "strengthen our relations through the development of a far-reaching dialogue and co-operation between NATO and Russia, outside the PfP framework, in areas where Russia has unique and important contributions to make, commensurate with its weight and responsibility as a major European and international power".
Mr. Claes defended NATO's role in support of the United Nations in the Former Yugoslavia. He stressed that "within the limits of our mandate, we have accomplished a lot...The embargo has certainly encouraged Belgrade to accept the Contact Group's peace plan and isolate the Bosnian Serbs; and the threat - and occasional use - of our air power has provided virtually the only protection to the people of the Safe Areas, as well as help deter attacks against UNPROFOR". He acknowledged that "co-operation between NATO and the UN - two very different organisations, with different structures and bureaucratic 'cultures' - has been a learning experience". Nonetheless he was confident that "we are setting the stage for more fruitful co-operation in the future, as well as for eventual NATO support to CSCE - sponsored peace-keeping operations".
Another task for the Alliance was to give NATO's support for the European Security and Defence Identity a practical dimension. In this regard, Mr. Claes reaffirmed NATO's readiness "to make collective assets available for WEU operations in which the United States and Canada choose not to participate". He said that "the Combined Joint Task Forces Concept, if properly implemented, should provide us with this flexibility", it being clear that "we cannot expect the United States to take the lead in each and every crisis".
Finally, Mr. Claes highlighted the growing importance of the Mediterranean region for Alliance security. He said that this item was now on NATO's agenda and "will be an area of increasing priority for the Alliance in the years to come". In order to enhance security in the Mediterranean and elsewhere, NATO had to pursue "a common policy on proliferation issues". Mr. Claes pointed out that "NATO will support, and not duplicate, work already underway in other international fora...but we will also consult regularly on proliferation threats, both 'at 16' and within the framework of the North Atlantic Co-operation Council". The Secretary General warned his audience, however, that "we also must be prepared should our efforts at prevention fail...For this reason, we will also examine how our defence capabilities can be improved and how NATO's defence posture can support or influence diplomatic efforts to block the spread of weapons of mass destruction".