ACCESSION NUMBER:315581
FILE ID:EUR503
DATE:12/03/93
TITLE:CHRISTOPHER EXPLAINS PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE (12/03/93)
TEXT:*93120303.EUR
*EUR503   12/03/93

CHRISTOPHER EXPLAINS PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE
(Text: Christopher remarks at 12/03 NACC)  (540)
Brussels -- Following is the text of remarks made by U.S. Secretary of State
Warren Christopher at the NACC meeting at NATO headquarters December 3:

(Begin text)
With the Partnership for Peace that President Clinton proposed in October,
NATO is poised to extend its engagement with the East.  All members of the
NACC -- as well as some other European countries -- would be invited to
join. Our approach will be inclusive.  Each nation will decide for itself
how intensively and actively it chooses to be engaged, and what resources
it wants to commit.

1he Partnership for Peace will represent a solemn commitment by NATO.
Partnership members will undertake obligations toward NATO and each other.
Active participants in the Partnership should have the right to consult
with NATO whenever their territorial integrity, natural independence and
security is threatened.

The Partnership for Peace will benefit the countries that participate.
Those countries will also be expected to contribute their own resources and
experience for mutual benefit.

We use the word "partner" deliberately.  We would like to bring those
nations that join into a much fuller relationship with NATO.  The
Partnership will advance cooperation among its members to a qualitatively
new level.  It will provide a framework for significantly enhanced
political and military cooperation.  It will prepare the way for joint
crisis management, peacekeeping, and humanitarian missions.  The
Partnership for Peace will expand the array of tools that we can apply to
near-term security problems.

We would like Partners to plan and train and exercise side-by-side with NATO
members.  We expect that these activities will begin next year.  Partners
will participate in certain NATO political and military bodies guiding
Partnership activities, and in a military planning group.

The Partnership is an important step in its own right.  At the same time,
active participation in the Partnership will help prepare countries to meet
the obligations of NATO membership.   Of course many other factors will
enter into any membership decisions, and expansion will not occur
overnight.  NATO membership, with all the mutual responsibilities it
demands, must be the result of an evolutionary process.  This process must
sustain the core functions and operational effectiveness of the Alliance.
And it must be consistent with Article Ten of the North Atlantic Treaty.

The United States believes that the Partnership for Peace will permit NATO
to reinforce its strength, its unity, and its indissoluble links across the
Atlantic.  And the Partnership will testify and add to an unprecedented
commitment to a Europe of shared values and shared security -- East and
West.

I am confident that the Alliance will move forward.  I an confident that we
will invite old adversaries to become new Partners.  And I am confident
that we will build a new Europe.

As I mentioned at the outset, we advanced the prospects for Partnership
yesterday in the NAC.  Today we have the privilege of discussing this major
new initiative with our NACC partners.   Let me assure you that your views
will be given careful consideration as the Alliance pursues this important
initiative and as we move toward the Summit.  I look forward to your
reactions.

(End text)
NNNN

.