NATO safeguards global security

Translated from the Norwegian

Now, as in the past, NATO is the cornerstone of Norwegian security policy. And NATO still holds a strong position due to the Alliance’s ability to adapt to new challenges. This will be demonstrated during the informal meeting of NATO Foreign Ministers in Oslo this week.

NATO is still the mainstay of Norway’s security in our region, particularly in the north. But the Alliance has also encountered new challenges and taken on new tasks. Today, NATO has more than 50 000 troops engaged in peace operations on three continents. This shows that the Alliance is more than a collective defence organisation — it is a key player in the efforts to safeguard global security.

Tomorrow the NATO Foreign Ministers will meet in Oslo. Norway is hosting this event for the first time since 1992, when Foreign Minister Thorvald Stoltenberg brought together his counterparts from 16 countries. On Thursday and Friday, I will be host for 26 foreign ministers. That alone says something about the changes that have taken place in recent years.

Peace operations

NATO’s important peace operations in Afghanistan and the Balkans will be at the top of the agendas for the meetings in Oslo. We will also discuss how the Alliance can best address our common security challenges and exchange views on a possible missile defence system in Europe. The meeting of the NATO-Russia Council, which is itself one of the important innovations of the post-Cold War era, will provide an opportunity for in-depth discussions with Russia. With such a lot of important contacts present in Oslo, I for my part will have the opportunity to have a number of bilateral meetings, including with the US Secretary of State and the Russian Foreign Minister.

Today NATO is an important supporter of the UN. This is something Norway has advocated. Through its support of the UN in Kosovo and Afghanistan, of the EU in Bosnia and Herzegovina, and of the African Union in Darfur, the Alliance is helping to build peace and democracy in some of the world’s most volatile areas. This also has an impact on our own security.

Without NATO’s engagement in the Balkans during the past ten years, it would be difficult to imagine the progress we are now seeing in the region.

Basic stability

But these tasks are not yet concluded, and we are facing an extremely demanding situation. The negotiations in the UN Security Council on the future status of Kosovo are in a critical phase. There is a danger of new unrest. It takes time to build trust between Albanians, Serbs and other groups. A continued NATO presence is therefore necessary.

For Norway and its allies, the goal is a Kosovo where the various ethnic groups can live side by side and preserve their cultures and identities. A division of labour, where NATO is providing basic stability and the EU is building up Kosovo’s police force and judicial system, shows that the two organisations are joining forces in their efforts to create lasting peace in this turbulent corner of Europe. This is also a development Norway has welcomed.

Since 1999, Norway has been an important contributor to the efforts to stabilise Kosovo. In my view, it is of great importance that we continue to provide substantial support, particularly for building a stable society for all ethnic groups and for carrying out security sector reform in the area.

Still, NATO’s primary task today is Afghanistan. NATO is in charge of the ISAF operation, which includes an addition 11 countries. This openness to cooperation with other countries is also an important new development in NATO. The operation has a UN mandate and has been requested by the Afghan Government. NATO is thus an instrument for the UN and the international community in their efforts to stabilise Afghanistan. Our task is to provide security and stability, so that the Afghan authorities, the UN, NGOs and others can rebuild the country. Only when the Afghans are able to assume responsibility for their own future will we have reached our goal.

More effective assistance

Together with the Afghan authorities, ISAF must seek to prevent those who want to destabilise the country from achieving their goal. But the international community cannot achieve its goals by military means alone. Throughout the whole of last year, Norway stressed this point, and this view is gradually gaining acceptance.

We will only succeed if ordinary Afghans feel it is in their interest to support the Afghan authorities, at both the central and the local level. We must therefore strengthen civilian assistance, and — no less importantly — the assistance must be made more effective. The UN, the EU and the World Bank are in the process of intensifying their engagement, which is something Norway has hoped for.

Norway has advocated that coordination in Afghanistan should be improved. At the NATO meeting in Oslo, I will take this initiative further. Norway’s main message will be that the international community should dedicate more resources and attention to building up the Afghans’ own institutions. Today, the Afghan Government bears the full responsibility for its people, but it lacks the necessary institutions to truly assume this responsibility.

Norway is able and willing to do its part in addressing the common challenge in Afghanistan, both through increased development assistance and through its significant military presence.

No simple solutions

There are many challenges in Afghanistan. We hear of rebel groups attacking both civilian and military targets. We must do what we can to stop this, and here Norwegian women and men in uniform are making an important contribution. It shows how important it is that we succeed in the area of security. But we must not lose sight of the encouraging developments.

When the international community went into Afghanistan, the country was in ruins after decades of war. During the past five years, presidential and parliamentary elections have been held, economic growth has been high, a large number of schools and clinics have been built, Afghan children, not least girls, have started attending school again, and there has been a vast increase in the number of Afghans that have access to health services. All of this shows that our efforts are not in vain.

There are no simple solutions in Afghanistan. Concerted, well-coordinated and long-term efforts will be called for. An Afghanistan characterised by peace, stability and economic development would be the most important contribution NATO could make to international peace and security, and not least to a better future for the Afghans themselves.

Preventing abuses

Whether in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Kosovo or Afghanistan, NATO’s goal is not to stay indefinitely, but to help to develop the local capacity to safeguard security and stability.

It is a question of enabling democratic governments to build up effective institutions, preventing abuses committed by warlords and rebel groups, fighting organised crime and creating conditions that are conducive to economic and social development. The aim is to enable the authorities to stand on their own feet.

This will require that we are able to cooperate. NATO, the UN, the EU, the World Bank and others need to pull in the same direction and help to create a balance between political, military, humanitarian and development assistance measures. Only if NATO takes such an integrated approach can its engagement bear fruit. I believe this will be the most important theme at tomorrow’s NATO meeting in Oslo.

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The negotiations in the UN Security Council on the future status of Kosovo are in a critical phase. There is a danger of new unrest. A continued NATO presence is therefore necessary.

Without NATO’s engagement in the Balkans during the past ten years, it would be difficult to imagine the progress we are now seeing in the region.