NATO MULTIMEDIA ACCOUNT

Access NATO’s broadcast-quality video content free of charge

Register

Create an account

Create an account

Check your inbox and enter verification code

We have sent a verification code to your email address. . Enter the code to verify your account. This code will expire in 30 minutes.
Verification code

Didn't receive a code? Send new Code

You have successfully created your account

From now on you can download videos from our website

Subscribe to our newsletter

If you would also like to subscribe to the newsletter and receive our latest updates, click on the button below.

Reset password

Enter the email address you registered with and we will send you a code to reset your password.

Log in or Create an account
Reset password
Check your inbox and enter verification code
We have sent a verification code to your email address. Enter the code to verify your account. This code will expire in 30 minutes.
Verification code

Didn't receive a code? Send new Code

Create a new password

The password must be at least 12 characters long, no spaces, include upper/lowercase letters, numbers and symbols.

Your password has been updated

Click the button to return to the page you were on and log in with your new password.

Mesdames et Messieurs,

C'est pour moi un très grand plaisir de vous accueillir au 26ème colloque économique annuel de l'OTAN. Depuis sa création, en 1971, ce colloque a acquis une excellente réputation, celle d'un forum d'échanges où des experts discutent des corrélations entre l'évolution de la situation économique et l'évolution de la sécurité.

Pendant les vingt premières années, le colloque a réuni d'éminents économistes d'Amérique du Nord et d'Europe occidentale pour un débat sur la situation économique de ce que l'on appelait le "bloc de l'Est".

La décennie en cours a vu le colloque se transformer pour réfléter les évolutions intervenues dans le contexte de la sécurité européenne en général. Aujourd'hui, nous réunissons des économistes des pays partenaires et des pays de l'Alliance. Le débat est plus large, plus riche et encore plus fructueux que dans le passé.

Le thème du colloque de cette année est l'avancement de la réforme économique dans les pays partenaires, l'accent étant mis sur la coopération régionale. Je suis tout particulièrement ravi que ce soit le ministre du développement et des relations économiques de la Slovénie, Marijan Senjar, qui prononce le discours introductif et contribue ainsi à engager le colloque sur la bonne voie.

Avant tout, je souhaiterais présenter le contexte plus général de votre débat et le rôle de la nouvelle OTAN dans une Europe transformée. Le point de départ de toute politique de sécurité harmonieuse repose aujourd'hui sur la constatation que le concept de sécurité s'est nettement élargi depuis la fin de la guerre froide.

Le sécurité militaire reste importante. Elle demeure de fait l'élément fondamental de toute politique de sécurité harmonieuse. Mais d'autres aspects de la sécurité ont acquis une importance de plus en plus grande. La sécurité a maintenant des dimensions à la fois économiques, environnementales, politiques et militaires. Le principal défi stratégique auquel tous nos pays sont confrontés, qu'ils fassent partie ou non de l'OTAN, réside dans la question de savoir comment rendre l'Europe plus stable. Aujourd'hui, notre ennemi commun se nomme "Instabilité"!

Les rivalités d'origine ethnique ou nationaliste peuvent être des catalyseurs très puissants de l'instabilité. Au temps de la confrontation Est-Ouest, ces rivalités étaient masquées ou étouffées. Aujourd'hui, elles se manifestent, comme nous l'avons vu en Bosnie. Tout comme nous avons pu y constater, des tensions d'origine historique existant de longue date peuvent être aggravées par les disparités économiques.

 

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ladies and Gentlemen,

So what is NATO's role today in the face of these dramatic changes? What is the Alliance contributing to a more stable and secure Europe? I would make two points.

NATO has been in the forefront of creating a new cooperative approach to security across the whole of the Euro-Atlantic area. We have launched a number of initiatives to overcome the divisions of Europe, and introduce a new pattern of security relationships.

Without going into detail, I would cite Partnership for Peace with its emphasis on developing close and practical cooperation on military and defence matters. We have established a Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council which brings Allied and Partner politicians, diplomats and military officers together regularly to consult, exchange information and coordinate our policies.

As you are aware, we have signed a "Founding Act" with Russia which will see us working and consulting closely together in a new Joint Permanent NATO-Russia Council.

We will have distinctive arrangements with Ukraine. And NATO has launched a Mediterranean dialogue, with the aim of developing friendly and productive relations to our South.

Last but not least, next month we will announce the first countries who will be invited to join the Alliance by 1999. We will also make a commitment to keep the door of NATO open in future.

The effect of all these initiatives has been to introduce a very positive dynamic into European security. To use an old phrase, there is a real sense of a single security space from Vancouver to Vladivostok.

The second major contribution that NATO is making is in the sphere of crisis management. Perhaps the major significance of NATO's intervention in Bosnia is that it has established a model for managing future crises by bringing Allies and Partners under a single chain of military command, united to achieve the same purpose: a lasting peace in Bosnia. This is a precedent which will have a powerful deterrent effect in the area, and provides many lessons for NATO's future involvement in crises.

The Madrid Summit will consolidate and reinforce the direction NATO has been taking in recent years as a dynamic organization providing stability and a forum for security cooperation to the whole Euro-Atlantic area. We will be setting the basis of a new NATO adapted to a new Europe. A NATO that will carry us forward into the XXI century.

So what, then, is the connection between what NATO is doing in stimulating security-related cooperation, and the issues you will be addressing today and tomorrow?

The experience of Western Europe after 1945 shows that economic progress and security integration are closely linked. The effective security framework provided by NATO contributed to put past divisions behind us and allowed Europeans and North Americans together to look ahead to a better and more secure future.

A modernized NATO is having the same effect to the East of this continent that it had throughout many decades in the West. We are helping to create the strategic confidence which is essential for sustained future economic growth. The prospect of joining NATO is providing a powerful incentive to the reform processes in Central and Eastern Europe. In addition, many long-standing bilateral problems have been resolved as countries prepare for joining NATO and the European Union.

NATO of course, cannot achieve or sustain transformation of Europe on its own. Other institutions have their part to play too. The OSCE has to develop its role in preventive diplomacy. The Council of Europe has to extend the habits and process of democracy. And of course, in the long run, the European Union will have the most significant effect in the economic sphere. But in terms of creating the initial impetus towards change, NATO's policies are already providing a very powerful stimulus today.

So, on that point, let me end these brief remarks. I look forward to hearing the results of your discussions. And I welcome you and wish you well for the 1997 Economics Colloquium.