No. 27 (19/09/97)     Negotiations on accession to the NATO have commenced

On September 10 1997 negotiations on the accession to the NATO commenced in Brussels and they will presumably last until the end of October. Simultaneously, in addition to these meetings experts' consultations are held in order to clear technical details. The Hungarian negotiating delegation is headed by Ferenc Somogyi, the Undersecretary of Integration Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the NATO delegation is headed by Klaus-Peter Klaiber, Deputy Political Secretary-General.

The three candidates, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland will have to, upon the negotiations, confirm in a letter of intent that they accept the accession conditions and are prepared for the NATO membership.

The primal aim of the accession negotiations is to clear that Hungary understand and accept the principles of the Washington Treaty through which the NATO was founded, the titles and obligations that come from it. The adjustment of Hungary to the commanders' structure of the NATO, the extent of the contribution of the Hungarian budget and the expected support to be given by the Organization.

At the negotiations the Hungarian partner has confirmed that Hungary is prepared to act in compliance with the spirit of the Washington Treaty, also that Hungary accepts the decision making mechanism of the Organization and is ready to participate in it constructively.

Option for consultation has been offered by the NATO with regard to the international treaties, agreements which regulate the activity of the NATO in various fields. These are political, military and security agreements. A part of them can be available at a relatively early stage of the accession, prior to gaining membership with full powers, another part of them are, however, such that they are known to fully entitled members only.

In the first round of the negotiations merely political matters, thus Hungary's political covenants has been discussed. At the next stage of the negotiations military/defence affairs will be dealt with, and subsequent to that the financial aspects of the accession will be discussed.

The advantage of the stepped-up negotiation schedule is that the basic conditions of NATO membership will have been clarified prior to the matter settling referendum in November, subsequently voters will be able to vote on the accession with responsibility. The government in its arguments say that the NATO membership will strengthen the stability of the country and the whole region and effective security guaranty will be provided by it for Hungary. The increase of stability may have favourable effect upon business life since through the accession Hungary will become a more secure, more reliable investment area.

Provided that the negotiations proceed as scheduled, the accession minutes will be signed at the summit meeting of the NATO foreign ministers in December. In 1998 the minutes will be ratified, and Hungary will actually accede to the NATO in 1999, the 50th anniversary of the establishment of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

Javier Solana, the Secretary-General of the NATO said, it was important for the Organization that the referendum with regard to the accession was held in Hungary in time. ”I hope that Hungary, together with the other two invited countries, the Czech Republic and Poland can proceed jointly in the last stage of the accession negotiations”, said Solana, who believes the Hungarian leadership is able to cope with the tasks related to the referendum.

The organization bearing the name of New Atlantic Initiative (NAI), whose members are political dignitaries and businessmen, was founded in 1996 in Prague. The members of NAI believe that the NATO is not only the shield of existing democracies but a vital factor of reinforcing new ones as well. The Senate will have to ratify the accession of Hungary, Poland and the Czech Republic.

In an interview Bill Clinton, President of the United States of America stated that peace partnership, the accession of new members and further extension would decrease security risks, could prevent ethnic and border incidents and the outburst of a new arms race.