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.