Dinner speech at NATO manouvre

Generals, Admirals, Distinguished guests,

It is a great pleasure to visit the NATO manouvre Strong Resolve. I am greatly looking forward to meeting the men and women of the allied forces on land and at sea tomorrow. NATO and the transatlantic partnership are indispensable to Norway and form the mainstay of Norwegian security policy. I want to express our thankfulness to all countries participating in "Strong Resolve". Despite the profound changes since the fall of the Berlin Wall five years ago, we still need an effective and credible Alliance. This effectivenes and this credibility depend not only on defence budgets and political decisions, but on the quality and commitment of the people in uniform, from generals to privates, from admirals to ratings.

Our democratic societies, with free flow of information, and well developed educational systems, both in the civilian and military sectors, is perhaps the best guarantee that the Alliance will be able to carry out the tasks we assign to it. From the youngest conscript to the Chiefs-of-Staff we have the best educated human resources available in the world today, and we as governments have the responsibility to maintain and improve that situation.

Over a number of years, I have had the pleasure of meeting high-ranking officers from allied countries serving in or visiting Norway, and I have made a habit of discussing mot only military, but also general political issues with them. More than one SACEUR or AFNORTH Commander coming to my office have experienced this. Sometimes to their surprise.

We need mutual advice. I don't know what the generals among you think of this, but I believe that Admiral of the Fleet, Lord Chatfield, was very wrong when he stated that "Admirals don't need advice".

We certainly all do.

Such dialogue and advice provides the best basis for the mutual confidence we need when decisions have to be taken, and sometimes quickly. It also rewarding, I believe, for both sides.

Strong Resolve mirrors the new political developments in Europe. It is not designed to be counter-offensive in the face of a particular threat. It does, however, show that the Alliance is now playing from the new score written by the later NATO summits. These tunes are more pastoral than the forceful arrangements of the past. But certain basic elements remain unchanged.

A continued US commitment to Europe, including an adequate military presence, is essential and we are pleased that this commitment has been reaffirmed by the Clinton administration. Peace and stability require, moreover,that we act according to a wider agenda than NATO and WEU can privide on their own, - one that includes preventive diplomacy, humanitarian relief, peace-keeping, and economic and environmental cooperation. The EU, the G-7 and other organizations are all contributors to the new security policy that is aiming at improving the quality of peace.

Anyone who had tried in 1985 to predict the course of world event over the next ten years would have been wrong. We are fortunate to experience receding threats, even though uncertainties and dangers remain. We have had both luck and history on our side, neither of which are irrelevant to the military. We can recall General Eisenhower's remarks about a colleague: "He possessed that most priceless quality of military qualities - luck".

Today Russia does not pose any military threat, but the instability of the political situation represents a new kind of security threat that it would be foolish to ignore.

The nature of the nuclear threat has changed. Non-proliferation and non-contamination are as high on the agenda as strategic missiles. Northwestern Russia is facing a major ecological crisis, not least with regard to possible radioactive contamination from decomissioned submarines and other nuclear waste.The challenges facing us are, however, of such magnitude that they far exceed both Russia's and Norway's capacity to deal with them. Many countries may be affected, and a broad-based international effort is clearly needed to deal with this problem.

In conclusion, we are pleased by the allies' continued committment to Norway as demonstrated by Strong Resolve. I propose a toast to our transatlantic partnership and to the men and women of the forces defending our democracies and our freedom.