Notre initiative la plus spectaculaire, bien entendu, a été le déploiement de 60.000 hommes dans l'ex-Yougoslavie, où nous avions pour mission de mettre en oeuvre l'accord de paix de Dayton. Cette énorme entreprise - comme la mise en place de la force de stabilisation, la SFOR, qui y a fait suite - illustre parfaitement le nouveau type de défi que l'OTAN est amenée à relever à l'avenir.
Dans moins de quatre mois, nous pourrons ajouter le Sommet de Madrid à la liste de nos réalisations. Je ne veux pas entrer dans le détail mais, à titre d'aperu, je vais vous indiquer les points principaux de notre programme.
L'OTAN invitera un et peut-être plusieurs nouveaux membres à entamer des pourparlers d'adhésion avec l'Alliance. Dans le cadre du Partenariat pour la paix, nous renforcerons le programme de coopération avec tous les pays intéressés, qu'ils souhaitent ou non adhérer à l'OTAN. Nous établirons un nouveau type de relation avec la Russie et l'Ukraine, et nous consoliderons, au sein même de l'Alliance, la dimension européenne.
Chacun de ces points mériterait à lui seul un petit discours mais il y en a deux sur lesquels je voudrais faire quelques remarques : l'adhésion de nouveaux membres et les relations entre l'OTAN et la Russie.
L'élargissement tout d'abord. La presse en a parlé abondamment ces derniers mois et vous savez donc sans doute qu'en juillet, nous inviterons un et peut-être plusieurs pays à entamer des négociations d'adhésion avec l'Alliance. En décembre dernier, les Ministres des affaires étrangères de l'OTAN se sont fixé pour objectif de pouvoir accueillir les premiers nouveaux membres d'ici à 1999, l'année même où l'OTAN fêtera son cinquantième anniversaire.
Dans les débats publics sur l'élargissement de l'Alliance, il y a un point dont on parle rarement, c'est que cet élargissement s'accompagnera d'une série de mesures qui rapprocheront de nous l'ensemble de nos partenaires. Le Partenariat pour la paix sera élargi et intensifié. Il y aura de nouvelles possibilités de coopération entre l'Alliance et les Partenaires, d'Europe centrale et orientale jusqu'en Asie centrale. Nous prévoyons de créer un nouveau Conseil de Partenariat euro-atlantique qui offrira un cadre commun à la coopération militaire menée au sein du PPP et au dialogue politique qui se déroule au sein du CCNA. Et l'Ukraine, en particulier, bénéficiera de rapports privilégiés.
En d'autres termes, l'élargissement de l'OTAN devrait être vu comme un processus naturel d'adaptation à une Europe nouvelle, exempte de divisions. L'OTAN, en fait, joue le rôle de pilote dans cette extension de la stabilité vers l'Est, mais nous ne sommes pas seuls dans cette entreprise. D'autres institutions, particulièrement l'Union européenne, procèdent à leur adaptation ou se préparent à accepter de nouveaux membres. Les premiers nouveaux membres de l'OTAN n'ont pas encore été choisis et le Secrétaire général devrait entreprendre des consultations intensives avec les Alliés, immédiatement avant le Sommet, en vue de choisir les premiers candidats.
When the first new countries join in 1999, they will have enjoyed several years of preparation. They will be able to add to our security. They know that to join the Alliance is to share the security burden. From a NATO perspective, they will give the organisation additional weight. They will bring important new resources, especially for such new missions as peacekeeping and crisis management.
Let me add one point. The addition of new members will put a lot of pressure on NATO's existing accommodation and infrastructure, especially here in Evere. There have been reports in the Belgian press that NATO is therefore considering moving. This is not true. NATO feels at home in Brussels and wants to stay.
There is, however, a question of improving the facilities here. The infrastructure and facilities may have been adequate in the past. They cannot sustain an enlarged Alliance, which is simultaneously in partnership with over 20 other countries. We are awaiting proposals from the Belgian authorities for improvements. But, as you all know from your experience, finding extra resources to fund new projects is always the most difficult challenge.
Nevertheless, as Tom Mears [has[ [will] point out, the Secretary General wants to ensure that we can continue to work in a pleasant, efficient and productive environment.
Now to my second point, Russia. The importance of coming to an agreement with Russia should not be underestimated. The result we want is a major increase in mutual trust and cooperation, and a major decrease in misunderstanding. A real Partnership between NATO and Russia represents a unique opportunity to work together in the wider interest of European security.
We are now working on a joint document. Much of the text has been agreed but a number of difficult questions remain to be resolved. Russia has concerns about the military aspects of the opening of NATO. We have tried to address those concerns, partly through clarifications of our intentions.
The Secretary General meets Mr. Primakov for a fifth round of talks on 6 May in Luxembourg. He is determined to leave no stone unturned in an effort to arrive at an understanding, perhaps before the end of May. But, as Ronald Reagan once said, it takes two to tango.
NATO has proposed a permanent joint NATO-Russia Council. It will meet regularly. The new arrangements will allow the Russians to see for themselves that NATO is genuinely an organisation with which they can do business. Russia will be able to take up the rich potential for cooperation afforded by PfP. If she had done so in the past, many Russian concerns might have already been satisfied.
Those two events - NATO's enlargement and the permanent joint NATO-Russia Council - will be considered by many to represent the hallmarks of a new NATO. But as I mentioned, there are other important initiatives, such as the European Security and Defence Identity, Partnership for Peace and a new military structure. Taken together, all these policies will define the NATO of the future. The result will be an Alliance which will be different in many respects from the organisation which, for over forty years, managed the collective defence of the Allies.
However, those of you who keep closely in touch with NATO, will notice the strong sense of continuity about this place. When you visit, there is the same atmosphere, even if there are different faces. I do not think that this continuity is a physical thing. It is not because the buildings and the names of the Divisions in the International Staff remain the same that keeps NATO, even after all the changes, firmly linked to its own past.
I believe that the real reason that keeps NATO going and keeps its coherent is the way we work. Some people wonder why NATO has lasted so long after the end of the Warsaw Pact. What is our secret for longevity? NATO's secret consists of the procedures and habits of mind that were nurtured and built up over the years by people such as yourselves. NATO has been a flexible, open-minded organisation right from the beginning. This has made us cope with change and survive at seismic changes in the security environment.
When I refer to our flexibility, I am thinking primarily of the consensus rule, and our habit of purposeful consultation. Because we believe in coming to agreement by consensus, agreement when it is reached is all the more firm and strong.
But the way we consult also gives the character and quality of relations between Allies. Coming to agreement by consensus means that the Allies are willing to listen carefully to each other. Persuasion and reason are prime instruments of Allied diplomacy. I believe that those countries who wish to join can see this very clearly indeed. NATO is an organisation in which their voice will be heard and respected - perhaps for the first time in their modern history.
The sense of continuity, therefore, is a real one. Its roots go deep. It is what makes NATO still an attractive organisation and keeps it at the centre of the European security debate. We are an organisation which works effectively. This is a legacy passed on to us by those who created the Alliance and developed its ground rules at the beginning.
The Madrid Summit, as I said earlier, will see a number of further changes. The patterns and even the purposes of our work will be very different than in the past. We will increasingly play a role in creating stability and security for the whole of the European continent.
Nevertheless, what will motivate NATO in the future will be the same idealism for a better, safer and more democratic Europe that existed in the past. Those of us in the Organization today know that our achievements flow from our predecessors. Pierre Dechamps, like all those who have worked here, have given much to NATO. The fact that NATO is still so dynamic and creative is a tribute to you all.
Thank you.
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