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Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen and welcome to the Spring 2005Plenary session of the Senior Civil Emergency Planning Committee.
On previous occasions when I had the honour to chair this committee’sproceedings, we always met at the NATO Headquarters. Today, for thefirst time during my Chairmanship, we hold a meeting outside Brussels.And we do so in a special place, the beautiful city of Helsinki, uponthe gracious invitation of our trusted and valuable Partner Finland.
Finlandhas been a consistent and effective contributor to civil emergencyplanning activities in the framework of the Euro-Atlantic PartnershipCouncil. These contributions, along with those of our many otherPartners, have served to build a strong and productive Partnership inCivil Emergency Planning. In fact, looking back to our achievements inthe last years, it is fair to say that the contribution of EAPCPartners to NATO Civil Emergency Planning has become indispensable.Looking towards the future, this is even more true.
Ourdiscussions over the next day and a half will range from civil-militarycooperation in peacekeeping operations to disaster response andterrorism preparedness. These are complex challenges, to which we needto find comprehensive and – above all – effective answers.
Our Civil Emergency Planning Action Plan and the work of theEuro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Centre make an importantcontribution. Today, we need to build upon this strong foundation andmove further ahead in our efforts to improve civil preparedness.
Likewise,we can build upon our excellent record of cooperation in peaceoperations in the Balkans and in Afghanistan as we embark upon theimportant task of facilitating more robust and structured civiliansupport to the military. Partners have a lot to contribute to thiseffort, commensurate with their strong participation in NATO’soperations. And once again, our host Finland deserves specialmentioning in this regard.
Ladies andGentlemen, I think you will agree that there are many common challengesbefore us. The defining feature of our Partnership is that we do notonly acknowledge those challenges, but that together we take concrete,tangible measures to address them.
I look forward toworking on these issues with you for the next day and a half. Butbefore we begin with our agenda, I would like to express to you, Mr.Salmi, on behalf of all of the guests here – our profound appreciationfor hosting this meeting here in Helsinki. A special thanks also forthe splendid reception last night, which we all enjoyed greatly.
Mr. Salmi , would you like to take the floor for some opening remarks?