No. 16. (18/06/2004)

Spring Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly
(Pozsony, 28 May-01 June 2004)

President Hrusovský, Prime Minister Dzurinda, Doctor ElBaradei, Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer, Distinguished Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen: On behalf of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, I am pleased and honoured to welcome you to this Plenary Sitting of our 2004 Spring Session.

Today marks a historic milestone, as it is the first meeting of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly with the 26 member countries' parliaments and 248 members - along with 21 associate member and observer countries. As all of you know, on March 29, seven nations joined the most successful alliance in history and thereby secured the freedom that they had worked so hard to gain.

At that time their parliaments also gained full member status in this parliamentary Assembly. So, I ask you to join me in welcoming the newest full members of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly: the 34 parliamentarians from Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia. Would delegates from the new members countries please stand so that we may applaud you.

Enlargement: A successful policy

The decision to admit former communist nations from Central and Eastern Europe into NATO is one of the great successes of Alliance policy since the end of the Cold War. It is also a success in which this Assembly has played a very important role.
In the pivotal year of 1989, a time when the nations of Central Europe were still under the yoke of communist oppression, this Assembly decided to lend its encouragement to the forcespushing for change in that part of the world. With great foresight, the Assembly invited Members from the still communist parliaments of Poland, Hungary and Czechoslovakia to observe the workings of the Assembly and meet with their Western counterparts.

As communism crumbled, the Assembly remained at the forefront of outreach to the parliaments of Central Europe. The Assembly in 1990 established the category of associate membership to allow Members from those parliaments and others to attend our sessions on a regular basis, more than three years before NATO itself launched the Partnership for Peace. In 1991, the Assembly established a series of outreach seminars that today bear the name of two of my American predecessors, Charlie Rose and Bill Roth, whose support was essential to their success. The U.S. Agency for International Development provided the funding for that program for its first ten years, and the Assembly enthusiastically continues it.
Since then, the Assembly has repeatedly emphasized its support for NATO enlargement and the fundamental role of NATO in transatlantic security. We recognize that throughout its history, NATO has succeeded not only in keeping its members free and secure, but also in extending that freedom and security to new lands that had long yearned for them.

Last year, as President of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, I travelled to all seven of the newest member countries. After those visits, I was even more confident that their membership would reinvigorate the Alliance.

So, it is indeed appropriate that this first session of the 26-nation NATO Parliamentary Assembly is taking place here in the capital of Slovakia, one of those new member states. This beautiful city overlooking the Danube, for centuries the seat of parliaments and the site of coronations, reminds us how artificial and temporary the painful post-war division of Europe really was.
The Iron Curtain that ran just a few miles outside this city's environs lies today on the scrap heap of history. And while this is the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, I would be remiss in failing to note the second great enlargement since we met six months ago: the admission of ten new members into the European Union.
A 2007 Enlargement Summit

My Colleagues, it cannot be emphasized too much that NATO's door must remain open to all European countries that wish to join the Alliance and meet the commitments and standards for membership. Our first task must be to support the efforts of the remaining candidate countries in the Membership Action Plan - Albania, Croatia and Macedonia - as they strive for NATO membership. Already, these nations are acting as allies, with all three contributing to NATO's ISAF operation The admission of seven new members this spring was a great accomplishment for NATO, but the enlargement process must continue. Therefore, today I call on our national leaders, when they meet next month at Istanbul, to schedule the next enlargement summit no later than 2007.
This is a reasonable timetable, one that gives NATO time to incorporate the seven new members while ensuring that the three remaining candidates and others to be added to the waiting list are not forgotten, but instead are encouraged and energized.
Ukraine: Fair elections are crucial

Furthermore, both Ukraine and Georgia have declared their intention to join NATO in the future, and I am confident that more European countries will also seek their place among the aspirant countries. That is why the door to NATO must clearly remain open.

Last week, I made a presidential visit to Ukraine to encourage its efforts to join NATO and to assess the progress of its reforms. In my meetings with Ukrainian officials, I emphasized that the door to the West is open to Ukraine. However, I also emphasized that the next several months will be a crucial test of whether the Ukrainian people and their government are willing to take the necessary steps toward that open door.

The NATO Parliamentary Assembly should look favourably upon Ukraine's aspiration to join the Alliance, but it is the actions of Ukrainian officials that will determine whether this goal eventually will be achieved. If it wants to meet the standards for NATO membership, Ukraine, of course, should be ready to take the necessary decisions and implement the political, economic and defence reforms needed.
The NATO Parliamentary Assembly attaches great importance to the success of Ukraine's transition to democracy, with strong institutions and with a flourishing market economy. We remain committed to assisting Ukrainian efforts to build a stable, democratic, and prosperous country, more closely integrated into European and Euro-Atlantic structures.

No issue will be more important to Ukraine's future standing with the West than the strength of its democracy. Therefore, the upcoming presidential election in October is of crucial importance. Based on the numerous problems of past elections in Ukraine, including a recent notorious local election, concerns have already been raised in the international community about whether the upcoming presidential election will be free, fair and transparent. I believe it is important that Ukraine's leaders absolutely do understand that the presidential election will be regarded as a litmus test of Ukraine's commitment to democracy.

Afghanistan: Test of NATO's Credibility

My Colleagues, all of us attending this meeting recognize that NATO's involvement in Afghanistan was the most important issue discussed during our committee meetings here in Bratislava. Members of our own Defence and Security Committee visited Afghanistan two weeks ago and saw firsthand the problems facing our forces. They saw the professionalism of our soldiers and their enthusiasm for their job, but they also heard of the shortfalls in personnel and equipment that are now urgent.

I cannot overstate how critical the next few weeks will be for the future of Afghanistan and for the credibility of the North Atlantic Alliance. Unless the NATO allies quickly remedy the grave shortfalls in military personnel and equipment, the NATO mission in Afghanistan faces a real danger of failure.

Since last year, when NATO took over command of the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, 6,500 troops from allied and partner nations have succeeded in providing a more secure environment in and around Kabul. However, the NATO allies have never completely fulfilled a single force requirement in Afghanistan. In fact, the Alliance has failed to meet critical requirements for the backup forces that would assist NATO units that might need reinforcements, air support or medical evacuation.

Drastic shortfalls exist despite the fact that there are more than two million military personnel in the active and reserve forces of the European NATO allies; only two percent of those forces are deployed in Afghanistan. The NATO allies have promised to make more than 1,000 infantry companies available for NATO missions. They have promised to make more than 2,000 helicopters available for NATO missions. They have promised to make almost 300 transport aircraft available for NATO missions. Yet for the mission in Afghanistan, the allies seemingly cannot find a few more infantry companies, cannot find a few more helicopters, and cannot find a few more transport aircraft that are essential to avoid failure.

Actually, this is a failure of political will, pure and simple. Make no mistake about it, this is a failure that jeopardizes the success of our mission in Afghanistan and jeopardizes the very credibility of the Alliance. We often say that "failure is not an option." My friends, in Afghanistan, failure is a distinct possibility. And unless allied leaders in the next few weeks demonstrate the political will to deploy the necessary assets in Afghanistan, failure gradually will become a reality.
This goes to the very credibility of NATO as an institution. Promises and pledges must be kept; resources must be quickly deployed! Recognizing this reality, our Standing Committee yesterday authorized me to send a letter to the leaders of all 26 NATO countries, expressing the concern of this Assembly and urging governments to provide the necessary resources for the NATO mission in Afghanistan. Likewise, when you return to your capitals, I ask that you emphasize to your governments that failure cannot be permitted. As the legislators of the North Atlantic Alliance, we must press our governments to dig deep and find the extra personnel and resources that are needed to make this mission a success.
NATO and the Fight Against Terrorism

My colleagues, as a final part of my comments here today, I will focus on the compelling effort we must jointly make against terrorism. I'm sure you all recognize that NATO's presence in Afghanistan - its first operation outside of Europe and North America - is the outgrowth of the very first invocation of Article 5 in NATO's history, immediately after the terrorist attacks against the United States on September 11, 2001.

Sadly, we also now cannot speak of September 11 without recalling March 11 of this year, the day when terrorists linked to al Qaeda struck in Madrid. Two hundred people died, and one thousand five hundred people were injured, many of them seriously.

The bombings in Spain - and those in Istanbul last November - demonstrate that Europe is indeed a target of al Qaeda and the brand of Islamic extremism that it espouses. They were a terrible shock, but came as no surprise to European terrorism experts. However, if there was still any thought among Europeans that they were somehow immune from al Qaeda attacks, these bombings proved them wrong.
The response to terrorism cannot be a quest for neutrality. It cannot be the pursuit of a non-aggression pact or a modus vivendi with al Qaeda. The only viable response is the reaffirmation of a commitment to strenuously work together, within Europe and within the Atlantic Alliance, to root out the terrorists in our midst and to destroy their ability to operate throughout the world.
Today, of course, we stand by our Spanish allies in this struggle against terrorism. We restate our sympathy for the families of those killed in the Madrid bombings, for those injured, and for the Spanish people. And we reaffirm our commitment to work together to defeat the perpetrators of this terrible crime.
Honoured guests, distinguished colleagues, ladies and gentlemen: In summary and conclusion, I would emphasize that while we are focused on future challenges, today we also celebrate a great achievement in the history of our Alliance: the admission of seven new members. In this hall, just a few kilometres from where the Iron Curtain ran, we celebrate the end of Europe's division.
The values that set the West apart largely have been embraced by former adversaries. Today, our common enemies - terrorists - seek to destroy our democracies not because of what we do, but because of what we are. With fresh memories of the evils of totalitarianism, our new allies have pledged their willingness to fight for our collective freedom.

No one nation alone can defend against today's primary security threats: global terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and the states that support them. Just as we stood united against the security threats of the Cold War, so too must we stand united against today's threats. In this effort, we now have seven new allies standing alongside us.

Our new allies joined NATO recognizing that it remains the primary guarantor of security for its members and partners. And so, let us all work to ensure that NATO remains the cornerstone of our common defence and a reflection of our common values.

(NATO PA press release)