Meeting of NATO Heads of State and Government

Mr Secretary General,

To put the Madrid Summit into perspective, I would like to go briefly back to our last meeting three and a half years ago in Brussels. We then started a process:

• to create a new kind of cooperation with former Warsaw Pact countries through Partnership for Peace,
• to accept new members to the Alliance,
• to deepen and broaden our cooperation with democratic Russia,
• and to continue the process of internal reform of our Alliance.

Today - let us agree; we have come far.

• We have developed the PfP, made it into a more solid partnership, and launched the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council.
• We will today invite a first group of partners to join the Alliance, while clearly stating that NATO's door will remain open.
• We have concluded the historic Founding Act with Russia - and tomorrow we will sign a Charter with the Ukraine.
• And we have made progress - although not as much as we would have desired - in the process of internal reform of the Alliance.

In my view, Mr. Secretary General - these are significant achievements.

Today, there will be focus on some remaining issues of disagreement. History, however, will tell a different story. Our Alliance - created to meet the challenges of the Cold War - has not only proven to be the most successful alliance in history. It is also proving to be the most useful instrument in forging lasting peace and stability in the new Europe. Bosnia tells all about it.

NATO's main purpose will remain. As will the core functions. But the new NATO will not only continue to provide collective defence for its members. It will be at the very center of a new and inclusive security structure for the entire Euro Atlantic area.

Enlargement is an integral part of NATOs evolution. Norway wholeheartedly welcomes new members. Today we invite candidates to start accession negotiations. By proceeding gradually we ensure that the Alliance can absorb new members while maintaining its effectiveness.

We also reconfirm that NATO's door remains open. Those invited today must not be the last. In 1999 - 50 years after the signing of the Washington treaty, we should review the process of enlargement. In the meantime - and beyond - the candidates as well as the remaining partners should be offered a substantial dialogue aimed at strengthening their involvement.

Mr. Secretary General,

All democratic countries have equal rights to become members of NATO. No country or group of countries should be placed in a specific category for geographic reasons.

Norway believes that the door should remain open to the applicant countries in South Eastern Europe. And we believe that the door should remain open for present and future candidates in Northern Europe.

We support the efforts and aspirations of the Baltic states to join NATO as full members. We believe that the Baltic states have made good progress towards that goal and that they will continue to do so. Their security - as our security - should be ensured within a broader European and Euro-Atlantic framework. We should work hard, bilaterally and multilaterally, for their continued integration.

Our main challenge today is to build new networks. It is in the North that Russia meets the West. In May, when we signed the NATO Russia Founding Act in Paris, I took the opportunity to remind you of the perspectives of Norway's expanding relations with neighboring Russia.

Over the last few years we have developed a new kind of regional cooperation around the Barents Sea, drawing upon the local communities of Russia, Finland, Sweden and Norway and supported by the United States and our European allies. In the same way, 11 countries around the Baltic Sea are cooperating closely on a wide range of issues. With the support of processes anchored in NATO, regional cooperation can receive further impetus. We foresee active regional consultations within the wider EAPC framework. They must be open to all interested parties.

Peace and security in the new Europe means addressing the new security challenges. Let me mention just one of them at this occasion: The environmental legacies of the cold war. We are cooperating closely with Russia, the United States, the Commission and EU member states to improve environmental security and reduce the risk of proliferation. I would like to take this opportunity to express Norway's gratitude to our partners in this difficult task. There should be further scope to pursue these endeavors within NATO. The joint NATO-Russia Council and the EAPC could also be used for consultations on such issues.

Mr. Secretary General,

I regret that we have not succeeded in agreeing on a new command structure before this Summit. It is Norway's sincere wish to see France and Spain fully integrated. That would enhance the strength of our Alliance. We have made substantial progress towards a more distinct European identity within the Alliance. Our task now is to continue our work to find mutually satisfactory solutions which are militarily effective and which fit within the resource constraints.

A key consideration will be the balance between collective defence and NATO's new missions related to crisis management, peace support operations and cooperation with partners. A major NATO quality remains the ability to formulate a common assessment of risks and challenges and to act in solidarity when required. We must avoid a re-nationalisation of defence and a fragmentation of the military structure. The importance of an integrated military structure and participation in collective defence planning cannot be overstated. This is what makes NATO unique, and which provides the basis for political action.

The new NATO should be an Alliance which is more integrated, more cohesive and more effective. This requires common funding of collective capabilities which nations cannot afford on their own, and takes on added importance as we invite new members with limited national resources. The new command structure should promote cohesion and cooperation in Europe as well as across the Atlantic.

The upcoming examination of NATO's Strategic Concept should also have as its basis our commitment to collective defence, the preservation of NATO as the essential forum for consultations and a strong Trans-Atlantic link. The aim should be consensus on a more robust concept that can stand the test of time. It should confirm the basic rationale for NATO and give overall guidance on the operation of the Alliance.

The Strategic Concept should reflect NATO's new tasks. Common efforts to prevent and counter proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery means will be crucial for our future security. The development of ESDI within the Alliance should be clearly stated, in order to reflect Europe's new position in our cooperation.

The new Strategic Concept must also set our aims and objectives, our priorities and our missions. There are still risks stemming from ethnic rivalries and social and economic problems in and around Europe. Emerging technologies and weapons of mass destruction may pose formidable challenges to our common security also in the future. A dynamic and effective Alliance is the best guarantee against instability, tension and conflict in Europe.

Mr. Secretary General,

As we approach the 50th anniversary of the North Atlantic Treaty, we can conclude that the Alliance has served its member countries - and Europe as a whole - extremely well. The area covered by the Treaty has enjoyed the longest period of peace in recent history. The Alliance has promoted stability and democracy - and will continue to do so as we take a strong and new NATO into the next century.