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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE
Office of the Spokesman
(Brussels, Belgium)
DECEMBER 1, 1994
EMBARGOED UNTIL DELIVERY
OPENING STATEMENT OF
U.S. SECRETARY OF STATE WARREN CHRISTOPHER
AS HONORARY PRESIDENT
AT THE MEETING OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL
NATO HEADQUARTERS
BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
December 1, 1994
Mr. Secretary General, distinguished colleagues, and friends. I am
privileged to serve as your President d'Honneur at our first formal
meeting since we selected Willy Claes to succeed the brilliant and
dedicated Manfred Woerner.
Secretary General Claes has taken charge at a time of historic
opportunity and challenge for the Alliance. As we build European
security for the 21st century, we are fortunate to have this statesman
of strength and experience at NATO's helm.
The two greatest struggles of the 20th century, the battles against
fascism and communism, are over. The fallen Iron Curtain has revealed a
window of opportunity for open societies and open markets to prevail
across a continent at peace.
It is important to recall that NATO played an essential role in bringing
us to this hopeful point. For more than four decades it kept the peace,
preserved our freedom, kindled hope in oppressed peoples, and finally
helped bring the Cold War to an end -- a victory for all who love
freedom.
For half a century, NATO also provided the foundation on which our
nations built the greatest community of peace and prosperity the world
has ever seen. It cemented close relations among former adversaries in
Western Europe. It formed the core of our transatlantic community --
forging links that can never be broken. The ideals embodied in the
Treaty of Washington -- democracy, liberty, and the rule of law --
proved no less powerful than the arsenals of this Alliance. Dean
Acheson said it best: "the importance of NATO in the long run goes far
beyond the creation of military strength... Future hope lies in the
development of a community of free peoples..."
But NATO was not just about yesterday. It is about today and tomorrow -
- about Dean Acheson's "future hope."
First, let me be clear about my own nation's conviction. American power
and purpose are here in Europe to stay. This Alliance will continue to
be the anchor of American engagement in Europe, the linchpin of
transatlantic security. Through over four decades, under Democratic and
Republican administrations, we have maintained a bipartisan commitment
to a free, stable, secure, and prosperous Europe. Today, we are
committed to keep 100,000 American troops on European soil as part of
our continuing engagement.
As we meet today to continue to adapt this great Alliance, we are keenly
aware that the end of the Cold War has brought not only opportunities,
but serious challenges. The terrible conflict in Bosnia continues to
resist resolution. It has challenged NATO and all the institutions that
have dealt with it. Frankly, when this conflict emerged from the ashes
of the Cold War, the international community was insufficiently
prepared. The world ultimately turned to the United Nations to shoulder
the principal responsibility.
For its part, NATO has done whatever has been asked of it by the United
Nations. It has established a no-fly zone and prevented the conflict
from becoming an air war. It has maintained the sanctions pressure, and
it has been instrumental in preventing the spread of the conflict.
Contrary to some reports, NATO has not ruled out the use of air power.
NATO stands ready to use air power, when requested, pursuant to United
Nations resolutions.
Now, our task continues to be to seek a peaceful negotiated end to the
conflict, one that will preserve Bosnia's territorial integrity. We
should renew our efforts to seek an immediate ceasefire and general
cessation of hostilities. We should pursue with the parties the terms
for a settlement, building on the Contact Group plan.
Let me stress one important fact: The crisis in Bosnia is about Bosnia
and the former Yugoslavia. It does not diminish NATO's enduring
importance. The Allies remain committed to NATO's irreplaceable role as
the key to European security. There is no disagreement among us on this
point.
The tragedy of the war and bloodshed in Bosnia does not diminish our
responsibility to build a comprehensive European security architecture
that consolidates stability, addresses today's conflicts, and prevents
others from happening in the future. On the contrary, the tragedy in
the former Yugoslavia underscores the urgency of that task.
Central to building a comprehensive security architecture for Europe is
a measured process of NATO expansion, along with continued European
integration and a determination to strengthen the Conference on Security
and Cooperation in Europe.
Yesterday's NATO helped to reconcile old adversaries, to embed free
countries in strong and solid institutions, and to create an enduring
sense of shared purpose in one another's security. Today's NATO must do
the same -- with new countries but with an enduring purpose. This
Alliance must preserve its core defensive role and adapt its military
forces to meet the new demands of crisis management and peacekeeping.
It must also help new Partners learn Western standards of cooperation
and draw them into NATO's practical work of providing stability in
Europe.
Last January at the NATO Summit, the Alliance committed itself to deepen
our ties with Europe's emerging democracies when it approved President
Clinton's proposal for a Partnership for Peace. In less than a year,
the Partnership has come to life. Twenty-three nations, including
Russia, have joined. Belarus had just announced its intention to become
our twenty-fourth Partner. Tonight, NATO and Russia will agree on broad
possibilities for cooperation, including Russia's program for the
Partnership for Peace. And troops that for half-a-century faced each
other in the Cold War are now coming together in joint military
exercises.
Our leaders also declared last January that the Alliance is open to new
members. Today, we take an important step in the process that will lead
to NATO expansion. I urge that we agree to begin now our internal
deliberations on expansion and, in 1995, to discuss with Partners the
obligations and implications of membership.
This process will be steady, deliberate, and transparent. I want to
stress that expansion must not and will not dilute NATO. But NATO must,
over time, be ready to include nations which are willing and able to
assume the necessary Alliance obligations and commitments, and whose
membership advances the goals of the Alliance and of broader European
security. Expansion, when it comes, will occur in a manner that
increases stability for all of Europe -- for members and non-members
alike.
As we pursue NATO expansion, we must also strengthen other structures of
security cooperation. No single institution has the mandate or the
capability to meet every challenge in Europe. Our NATO Alliance must be
complemented by other institutions that can address the full range of
challenges facing Europe's future. We recognize an important role for
European integration, supported by the European Union. There is also an
important institution with untapped potential: the Conference on
Security and Cooperation in Europe. We must build on its unique
strengths as a structure for conflict resolution and prevention and as
an institution that embodies the ideal of an undivided Europe.
Speaking as your President d'Honneur, I say with confidence that the
Alliance is prepared to take up both the challenges of the moment and
the future. And speaking as a representative of President Clinton and
the American people, I say with equal confidence that as we do so, the
commitment of the United States to participate actively in maintaining
the security, prosperity, and freedom of Europe remains unshakable.
Thank you very much.
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