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Welcome to the first meeting of the North Atlantic Council of 2004 - and my first Council as Secretary General.

As I said upon my arrival Monday morning, it's good to be back. As most of you know, I worked at NATO Headquarters more than twenty years ago. In fact, I used to sit in Council meetings over there behind one of the predecessors of Amb. Patijn.

I'm proud to be here again and I am honoured to be sitting here as your Chairman, as your Secretary General.

Just as NATO was critical to the security of its members when I was first here, the Alliance is at the heart of tackling the security concerns of its members today. It remains the cornerstone of our transatlantic relations and the guarantor of our values and norms.

Je me réjouis de travailler étroitement avec vous, Représentants Permanents, et avec tous ceux dans cette salle et ces bâtiments, au profit de notre grande Alliance.

Et nous avons beaucoup de pain sur la planche. Certes, l'OTAN se porte bien. Elle mène à bien des missions essentielles du Kosovo à Kabul. Mais nous devons poursuivre de façon urgente sa transformation afin de répondre au spectre grandissant des défis de sécurité d'aujourd'hui.

A l'approche de notre Sommet d'Istanbul, nous devons assurer la mise en place de fondations solides pour l'avenir, tout en faisant face aux urgences du jour.

Il y aura certainement beaucoup de défis, existants et nouveaux, dans les semaines et mois à venir. Mais, de ce que j'ai pu voir déjà de cette équipe lors de mes deux premiers jours à l'OTAN, j'ai toute confiance qu'ensemble nous saurons garder cette Alliance sur les rails.

Avec ces quelques mots d'introduction, je voudrais maintenant me tourner vers notre ordre du jour.