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Your Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

A year ago, terrorism was considered one of several new threats to our societies. Since September 11 ^th> it has taken centre stage.

The horrific attacks against the United States made it abundantly clear that we are all potential victims of terrorism. That the terrorists’ aim is not to change our societies, but to destroy them.

If we are to succeed in our fight against terrorism, we must stand together - within nations as well as between nations.

We must fight on many fronts and over many years.

We must use every means available to us: political, legal, diplomatic, financial and military.

We must actively promote the values the terrorists despise: democracy, human rights and tolerance.

We must target the social injustice, despair and hopelessness that terrorists so effectively exploit.

And our fight must be based on the very values we are defending.

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The international community responded quickly and decisively to the events of September 11 ^th>. A few hours after the attacks, the UN Security Council stated that international terrorism is a threat to international peace and security, and confirmed the right of the United States to individual and collective self-defence.

The very next day, the North Atlantic Council decided that Article 5 would be invoked if and when it became clear that the attacks were orchestrated from abroad. With irrefutable evidence on the table, this decision went into effect on October 7 ^th>, and the allies quickly implemented a number of measures in support of the US-led operations in Afghanistan.

NATO’s decision to invoke Article 5 gave an important impetus to the formation of the broad international anti-terrorist coalition, which is still holding firmly together.

Our achievements to date have been consider-able, not least due to the strength of the international coalition. The Taliban regime has been defeated, and a new interim government is in place in Kabul. And the international community is now committed to the political and economic reconstruction of Afghanistan.

From a Norwegian perspective, investment in international security is an investment in national security. Therefore we actively support the US-led military operations against the Taliban.

We will continue to contribute to the British-led UN force to provide the security necessary to rebuild Afghanistan. A robust international presence is the most effective way to prevent new conflicts from arising. The military presence must, however, be tailored to support the political process.

As one of the major donor countries to Afghanistan, and as the current chair of the Afghanistan Support Group (ASG), Norway’s priorities are to help meet the need for security, political stability and humanitarian assistance and thereby help steer the country onto the road to democracy and reconstruction.

Without peace and stability, there can be no real recovery and no lasting economic development, and we risk that Afghanistan once again becomes a breeding ground for warlords, drug barons and terrorists.

This is why the international community must provide every possible support to the Interim Administration and the political process – including the work by the UN Secretary General’s Special Representative, Lahkdar Brahimi.

International terrorism knows no borders.

As we have seen with the al-Quaida group, terrorist networks can operate from anywhere. Therefore our efforts to combat this menace require close international cooperation in many areas and at many levels.

I am convinced that our success in fighting terrorism will depend on maintaining a broad international coalition. For the coalition to remain united, it is essential that we focus on the threats from terrorism, and do not expand our objectives.

The fight against international terrorism is today at the top of the agenda of many international organisations. The United Nations, NATO, the European Union and the OSCE are all actively engaged.

Measures to prevent financing of terrorism - like Security Council resolution 1373 and the EU common positions on combating terrorism, which Norway supports – are likely to be particularly important in the longer perspective. By fighting criminal networks, money laundering and trafficking in drugs, weapons and human beings, we are denying the terrorists the financial means they are so crucially dependent on.

It is within this broader perspective that we must consider the role of the Atlantic Alliance. September 11 ^th> has already had a profound impact on NATO’s pattern of cooperation - both internally and vis-à-vis its cooperation partners.

The fact that NATO decided – with very little discussion – that terrorist attacks on a member country are covered by Article 5, may be the best illustration of the Alliance’s ability to adjust and react to new security challenges.

No one would have imagined that Article 5 would be evoked for the first time as a consequence of an attack on the United States. Article 5 was first and foremost an expression of the security guarantee the United States extended to its European allies throughout the Cold War.

Although NATO’s military apparatus was not activated when the North Atlantic Council decided to invoke Article 5, invoking it was far more than a symbolic gesture. First of all, it underlined that transatlantic solidarity is a two-way street. This is just one of many ways of showing our longstanding solidarity with the United States.

The political significance of activating Article 5 should not be underestimated. The offers of troops and military equipment by the European allies – Norway included – in support of the military operations in Afghanistan was a solid testimony to the strength of the transatlantic ties.

Ladies and gentlemen,

The Atlantic Alliance is founded on the notion that security is indivisible. We have put mechanisms in place to turn the political commitments into operational capability.

Through regular joint exercises and weapons programmes, the NATO allies have reached a level of interoperability that are crucial to joint operations – whether they are peace operations or operations for our common defence.

It is a fact, however, that in Afghanistan as well as during the Kosovo campaign, the United States has borne the lionshare of the burden. For this reason,some have argued that the United States should go it alone.

Such a perspective fails, however, to take account of the larger political objectives. To maintain the broadest possible coalition is essential to the success of the long-term struggle against terrorism.

This said, we have seen – yet again – that the capability gap revealed during the Kosovo operations puts clear limitations on the military support offered by the European allies to the US-led operation in Afghanistan. Closing the capability gap therefore remains a major challenge for the European allies.

Norway, for our part, is in the midst of restructuring its armed forces. Our aim is the establishment of a balanced and modernised force structure that is based on the requirements spelled out in the "Defence Capabilities Initiative." Norway participates fully in the DCI process, and we are seeking to reflect DCI guidelines in our national defence planning.

Since the fall of the Berlin Wall, NATO has been constantly adapted to meet new challenges as they arise.

The Alliance has been one of the most important vehicles for turning confrontation and competition into partnership and cooperation.

The NATO countries have actively promoted new structures for cooperation, and filling these structures with new content. Ever since the establishment of the Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme in 1994, Norway has strongly supported the inclusion of new partners and new areas of cooperation.

The PfP quickly became one of the most important vehicles for building confidence and security in Europe. Combined exercises between allies and partner nations, and training programmes in a number of defence-related areas, have been crucial for fostering the interoperability required for successful joint peace operations.

Allies and partner nations alike are now working together in Bosnia and Kosovo, as well as contributing troops and equipment to the US-led military operations in Afghanistan.

These are some of the more visible achievements of the Partnership for Peace. Much harder to measure is the impact on the partner nations’ own societies. PfP programmes aimed at democratic control of the defence sector and the armed forces have greatly aided the transformation process in a number of countries, helping them to strengthen their democracies. The PfP has been crucial to nations preparing for membership in NATO.

Ladies and gentlemen,

NATO has never opted to remain an exclusive club. The enlargement process that started in 1997, when the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland joined the Alliance, will continue at the Prague summit next November. Norway will seek to ensure that the next round is as inclusive as possible.

It is vital that the Alliance remains open to nations that have the desire and the qualifications to join. NATO’s open door policy adds to the strength of the Alliance and thereby to the overall security and stability of the Euroatlantic area. Norway therefore actively supports the preparations for membership for the three Baltic countries.

Parallel to the enlargement process, cooperation with partner nations should be deepened. The structures for cooperation with our partner nations established during the previous decade have already proved useful. Our partners in the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) and the Mediterranean Cooperation Group all have important contributions to make in many different fields.

Converging interests since September 11 ^th> have opened the way for extensive cooperation in a number of areas, not least on combating terrorism. President Putin did not hesitate - as a matter of fact he was very early - in extending his full support to the United States in this fight, including in the field of intelligence.

The fact that US and allied troops engaged in Afghanistan are operating from former Soviet territory underlines the historic proportions and the common interests of the US and Russia. Only a few years ago the idea of US soldiers being based in Uzbekistan and Kyrghyzstan would have been unthinkable.

The rapprochement between the United States and Russia has opened the way for an entirely new partnership between NATO and Russia as well. We must continue to build on this momentum. Our decision at the NATO ministerial in Brussels last December to create a new forum for cooperation with Russia is an important step in the right direction.

We now have a rare and historic opportunity to build a qualitatively enhanced partnership between NATO and Russia. This should be built on cooperation on an equal footing, and in areas where we can achieve concrete results.

This can be done, as we have seen in our bilateral relations across the Norwegian-Russian border in the North.

NATO and Russia have cooperated successfully for several years in a number of concrete areas: peace operations in the Balkans, consultations on strategy and doctrine, retraining of military personnel in Russia, search and rescue, and arms control and arms reductions. But these efforts have not been fully reflected at a political level. There is clearly a large potential for the further development of our partnership.

Cooperation on preventing the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and missile technology will be extremely important in our fight against terrorism, and I expect it will be high on the agenda for cooperation with Russia. Our efforts to halt the proliferation of nuclear, biological and chemical weapons and their delivery systems must be intensified. Existing arms control agreements must be maintained and strengthened, and new multilateral, verifiable agreements must be negotiated.

Never before have the conditions been better for building an enduring and constructive partnership between NATO and Russia. In the light of the many security challenges ahead, this is an opportunity we cannot afford to miss.

Norway is committed to working hard to ensure that in the run up to the NATO meeting in Reykjavik this spring,a solid foundation is laid for a new beginning in NATO-Russia relations.

Russia’s relations with the EU have also taken a leap forward, in keeping with President Putin’s westward-oriented foreign policy. This bodes well for future stability and security in Europe.

It also bodes well for Norway’s bilateral relations with Russia. It is my firm conviction that both Norway and Russia have much to gain from increased cooperation in a number of areas, ranging from nuclear safety to cooperation in the fields of energy and natural resources. Our day-to-day contacts at the people-to-people level have never been better or more extensive. Our political contacts have greatly intensified. President Putin’s visit to Norway this autumn will be the highlight of a number of high-level visits that show the importance we attach to our neighbourly relations and the substance that underpins them.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Security in Europe is indivisible. Therefore it is in our common interest to forge an enduring security partnership with Russia. Therefore we have to ensure that all the nations of southeastern Europe are firmly integrated into Euroatlantic security structures.

Our peace operations in Bosnia and Kosovo have put an end to the fighting in Europe. But peace is more than merely the absence of war. The international community must continue to be engaged in the Balkans until that corner of Europe is firmly integrated into the European community of democratic and pluralist societies.

Norway welcomes and supports the EU’s aim to play a dynamic role in European crisis management through a broad range of political, economic and military tools.

We are very pleased to see that the common European and defense policy (ESDP) was declared operational at the Laeken summit in December, even though it was on the understanding that its ability to engage in concrete operations will be developed over time.

The ESDP is a project in the making. Norway has already pledged a considerable commitment both to the military and the civilian components of crisis management – a force pool of 3 500 military troops and 80 police officers. We will do our utmost to ensure the success of this project.

The EU is about to launch its first ESDP operation. Norway would welcome an EU follow-on mission to the UN police task force in Bosnia. We have expressed our readiness to participate in this operation. In order to achieve peace and stability in that country, where NATO has been heavily engaged for seven years now, it is crucial to establish sustainable policing arrangements under Bosnian leadership. An important part of this effort will be the training and mentoring of Bosnian personnel. We can contribute experienced specialists in a number of fields that are relevant to this task.

In my opinion our experience of the informal cooperation between the Nordic countries forms a useful framework for our further engagement in the ESDP. The Nordic cooperation on peacekeeping, NORDCAPS, is a particularly useful tool in this regard.

September 11 ^th> has again underlined the need for the ESDP to be developed in close cooperation between the EU and NATO. Not least to prevent terrorist acts from occurring again, we need to use our combined resources in the most rational way possible. We must ensure that the transatlantic ties do not suffer as a result of this process. This would be a serious setback to European security, and to our ability to meet the challenges ahead.

Norway will continue to do its utmost to ensure that the ESDP is a success. An important measure of this success will lie in the reconfirmation of the transatlantic ties.

Ladies and gentlemen,

NATO is defined by its purpose and mission.

Its purpose is to safeguard our right to choose our own way of life.

Its mission is to defend and deter any threat to our territories and our societies, and to safeguard our most fundamental values – democracy, the rule of law and respect for human rights.

It is from these defining traits that the Alliance derives its enduring strength, and its ability to adapt in the face of changing threats.

Thank you for your attention.