No. 14. (30/04/97)       The month of Euro-Atlantic integration (April 1997)

1st April

• The United States and Spain have agreed to invite Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic to the Madrid conference on joining, the possible NATO-membership of Romania are objects of consideration - Reuters announced referring to Spanish government sources. The news saw light in connection with the negotiations between Strobe Talbott American deputy foreign minister and Eduardo Serra Spanish defence minister.
• Boris Yeltsin, Russian president does not plan to take part in the NATO summit meeting in Madrid in July, but he would like it if the agreement came about between his country and the North Atlantic Organisation before the summit - stated by Sergej Jastrzsembszki the president's spokesman, contradicting the news that talks of Yeltsin intending to take part in the Madrid summit.
• Jacques Chirac, French head of state in a television announcement that "France fully supports the NATO membership of the Czech Republic whatever the standpoint of Russia is". At the same time he stated that Paris is a committed believer in the NATO Moscow agreement.

2nd April

• There will be serious consequences if Boris Yeltsin signs an agreement with NATO, from which the legally valid obligations are missing - says a Russian foreign policy specialist in an article published in the International Herald Tribune. According to Aleksei Puskov in these circumstances the Russian parliament will not ratify the START 2 contract signed on the limiting of strategic weapons, the further lengthening of this process prevents the start of the START 3 negotiations.
• Václav Havel in a television interview was against the idea of confirming the NATO membership intention with a referendum. "Except for Spain no country has organised such a referendum, and they regretted it later" - said Havel. He added that the referendum would not justify anything, as NATO membership does not limit the nation's sovereignty.
• Croatia satisfies every condition of NATO membership and stands closer to the organisation than Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland, which are being accepted first from among the ex-communist countries in Europe - announced Franjo Tudjman, Croatian president in Defense News an American weekly.

3rd April

• Jacques Chirac, French president during a speech on the event of his Czech visit there were again sparks flying about Romania being one of those countries that become a member of the Atlantic organisation in the first round. The French head of state also said that it is almost impossible that Szlovakia is there in the first round of NATO expansion. He said that he considers the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland as being the most prepared for membership of NATO and the European Union and he definitely supports their entrance into these organisations.

6th April

• An anti-NATO demonstration was organised in the Polish capital by the left wing group called Alternativa. The demonstrators outside the Warsaw foreign ministry demanded the declaration of the military neutrality of Poland.

7th April

• The air force sub-group of the NATO Training group held their spring meeting in Budapest with the representatives of the participant countries of the peace partner program. The significance of the event was increased as it was the first time the conference has been held in a NATO partner state. The NATO-group is responsible for organising the training on a multi-national basis, and its task is to improve and extend the types of training between the member countries.

8th April

• On the event of his Paris visit Jevgeni Primakov, Russian foreign minister had talks with Alain Juppé, head of government and Hervé de Charette, foreign minister. During the discussions Primakov talked about what Russia's wishes would be if NATO is expanded. According to him the Russia-NATO pact is hindered by that the military organisation is not willing to promise: to not build modern military infrastructure in the territory of the new member states. After the meeting Alain Juppé, prime minister gave hopes that by the end of May they would succeed in signing the agreement between Russia and NATO.

9th April

• Within NATO there is no centrally directed weapons acquisition or technological development, and the Brussels based defence organisation in the area of weapons purchasing and modernisation to not have compulsory expectations from their members - said Norman W. Ray NATO deputy secretary after negotiations held with György Keleti, defence minister.
• Helmut Kohl, German Chancellor and Jacques Chirac, French president held talks in Bonn about speeding up the work of the inter-governmental conference on European Union reforms and about the preparation for the eastern expansion of NATO. In the unofficial discussions they tried to clear up those differences of opinion that had come about recently between the two countries with respect to the EU internal reforms.
• According to Teodor Melescanu, the ex-Romanian foreign minister, the president of the foreign affairs committee of the senate, if Romania is not in the first round of NATO expansion it would cause a problem in the region if not in Romania or Hungary or between the two countries but with respect to the balance and stability of the area.
• If the agreement determining and strengthening the relationship between NATO and Russia is prepared by the end of May then the official signing of the document will probably take place in Paris on 27th May - practically this was announced by Jevgeni Primakov, Russian foreign minister after a meeting with Jacques Chirac, head of state in the French capital.

10th April

• Primakov, Russian foreign minister in the French capital said that the agreement between NATO and Russia can be signed on 27th May, and that Boris Yeltsin was very pleased to accept the invitation to the ceremonial event. "I have seen the newspaper reports about this but we have to determine with the Russians what Primakov understands in this" - announced Nicholas Burns, the American foreign ministry spokesperson. According to him the final agreement has not yet come about. He repeated at the same time that the United States are hoping for the creation of the agreement. According to American official circles France has proposed 27th May as the date for signing, and in principle they have no objections to this.
• NATO according to the advertised timetable is expanding, and Hungary is among those to be taken on, said Lee Hamilton in Washington, the earlier president and senior member of the committee for international relationships in the United States House of Representatives.
• Volker Rühe, German defence minister on the event of his Madrid visit announced that partner agreement between NATO and Russia can not be an obstacle against situating modern weapons in the new East-European member countries of the military organisation.

11th April

• The countries to be taken into NATO will be full members, and in this respect there can be no compromise with Moscow - said Javier Solana NATO chief secretary in Washington.
• Madeleine Albright, American foreign minister expressed the hope that next month the charter for the regulation of the partner relationship between NATO and Russia will be completed, but again she emphasised that the expansion process will not be stopped even if a comprehensive agreement is not signed before the July NATO summit meeting.
• Vytautas Landsbergis, the Lithuanian parliament president at talks in Washington got guarantees from the American leaders that the NATO membership of Lithuania can be taken for granted. Al Gore, American vice president confirmed president Clinton's earlier words, according to which Lithuania is on the road to membership of the North Atlantic Organisation. The question is not whether they get in or not, but when - said Landsbergis quoting the American vice president.

14th April

• Even Russian diplomacy does not believe that the document regulating the relationship between Russia and NATO will be signed at the end of  May. Constanze Krehl, the leader of the European Parliament delegation negotiating in Moscow spoke about this after a meeting with Nikolai Afanasevski deputy foreign minister.

15th April

• The Moscow meeting between Javier Solana, NATO Secretary General and Jevgeni Primakov, Russian foreign minister did not bring a breakthrough. According to the short announcement issued after the meeting the standpoints of the two politicians have come closer, but some questions still have to be cleared up in the interest of both parties being able to sign the agreement determining the relationship between the North-Atlantic Organisation and Russia.
• Adrian Severin, Romanian foreign minister handed over to the NATO countries' ambassador to Bucharest the 80 page, English language, White Book which collects the reasons why Romania should be taken into consideration in the first round of NATO expansion, and that they should be invited to negotiations at the July NATO summit meeting.

17th April

• Only one step separates Russia and NATO from the planned joint document, as ninety percent of the agreement has been prepared - it turned out at the Baden-Baden summit meeting of Helmut Kohl, German chancellor and Boris Yeltsin, Russian president.

20th April

• It is not possible to solve the security of the continent with NATO centralism. Moscow does not bar NATO from playing an important part in the security structure of Europe, but it needs to extend to those outside this organisation - announced Victor Chernomyrdin Russian head of parliament.
• At the Madrid summit the NATO leaders are preparing to issue a declaration in which not only do they want to ceremoniously state that the process of the expansion of the Atlantic Organisation will not close with the first round of those invited, but they are also not going to exclude the possible membership of Russia - wrote The Washington Post.

21st April

• Hungary has done a lot more in defence planing than Brussels had counted on - announced Anthony Cragg, NATO deputy-chief secretary in charge of defence planning on the event of his Budapest visit.
• Madeleine Albright, American foreign minister said that Washington was satisfied with the exceptionally significant political and economic results that Romania has been able to show recently, in spite of this she could not guarantee that the country would be among those invited to join NATO in the first round.

23rd April

• In the last minute agreement was reached in the basic question of NATO commanding system reform - announced at the end of the two days conference of the leaders of the general staff. According to this in future the three European commands under the NATO main command will be merged into two - a northern and a southern. It has still not been cleared up, however, how many sub-regional commands will operate under these.

24th April

• It Brussels it was confirmed that on the second day of the NATO summit in Madrid in July that the leaders of the countries taking part in the peace partner program will also be invited.
• Madeleine Albright, American foreign minister - together with William Cohen, defence minister - at a hearing of a senate committee again confirmed that they are not willing to accept legally strengthened commitments limiting the new NATO members. However, in the foreseeable future they are not planning, do not find necessary, and do not intend the placing of atomic weapons and troops in the new member states, we do not accept other conditions than the prescriptions of the maximum traditional weapons contract - stated Mrs Albright.