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Secretary General, dear colleagues, ladies and gentelmen,

It is a great pleasure for us that today, on the eve of the 50th anniversary of the North Atlantic Alliance, it is becoming evident that the Partnership for Peace programme has made its historical contribution towards building bridges among former adversaries and promoting peace and stability. We deeply appreciate the value of the Partnership for Peace Program in building a new European security architecture, and in strengthening mutual trust and transparency in the defense area.

The period prior to the Madrid Summit, which also resulted in the initiation of PfP and the Study on NATO Enlargement, enabled Slovenia to participate in the international political-security and defense-military environment. Slovenia's political commitments to join the NATO - PfP family were not symbolic gestures, but more a reflection of our firm determination to participate actively in the newly established processes of the Euro Atlantic environment. The sharing of political and security burdens, coupled with risk-taking as the inevitable element of assuring peace and stability are among Slovenia's long-term objectives.

With the announcement of Slovenia's candidacy for membership, the PfP program and PARP have been given a new, national dimension, which is reflected in the political and security motivation of our efforts towards this objective. This high level motivation is interwoven not only into the work of the Slovenian Parliament and Government, but above all in the support of the Slovenian public.

The "Post - Madrid" period has seen Slovenia confidently proceeding with the implementation of national strategic goals set within the framework of the newly emerged political-security and military environment shaped by EAPC. In the new EAPC environment, Slovenia, along with other Partner countries, is gradually becoming aware of the importance of and opportunities for the development of political dialogue for further progress and the strengthening of the PfP program, crisis management consultations and the integration of security and military resources for the enhancement of peace and stability in Peace Support Operations under the umbrella of NATO.

The willingness and capabilities of Slovenia to meet any collective defense challenge and the responsibilities associated with it have been and are still being proved, and have been demonstrated through our political decisions. Moreover, Slovenia's capabilities are reflected in its growing military participation especially in Peace Support Operations in our neighbouring region - South East Europe. The successful preparation for and conduct of the Cooperative Adventure Exchange 98, the largest NATO/PfP out of area military exercise to date, is concrete evidence of Slovenia's capacity to host allied troops and to integrate our national armed forces into missions such as MLF within NATO formations.

The level of interoperability and compatibility attained by Slovenia is the result of the implementation of a long-term program for the development and equipping of the Slovenian Armed Forces in line with NATO standards, the enhanced training of non-commissioned and commissioned officers corps and, last but not least, four-year long involvement in the PARP and IPP programs. PARP remains one of Slovenia's top priorities. Our wish is to make even better use of it in the preparation of our capabilities for the defense of our country and membership in the Alliance. Slovenia would like the PARP program to be given a more significant role in the future preparation for NATO membership. This political, security and military instrument, which is ever closer to NATO defense and force planning for the purposes of collective defense, can be regarded as a process and mechanism for the evaluation of our status, which could possibly involve feedback for both sides of greater appropriacy and quality.

In our view the intensified dialogue as it is now has exhausted political and practical posibilities. We believe that future intensified cooperation should put more emphasis on the "Initial Partnership Goals" and subsequent "Partnership Goals" selected by country candidates, depending on their interests and preparedness for membership.

Mr. Chairman,

We except the Washington Summit next April to provide clear answers on how to execute NATO's Open Door policy. "Madrid Plus" should not only represent a quantitative but a substantial qualitative move forward. I am sure no one would want countries such as Slovenia to end up with "Madrid Minus".

Slovenia remains committed to becoming a full-fledged member of the Alliance. You may rest assured that we will do our utmost - as we have done so far - to continue fulfilling all criteria for membership.

Thank you for your attention.