ACCESSION NUMBER:339009
FILE ID:EUR413
DATE:04/14/94
TITLE:HOUSE BILL WOULD FACILITATE NATO MEMBERSHIP (04/14/94)
TEXT:*94041402.PFE
*EUR413   04/14/94

HOUSE BILL WOULD FACILITATE NATO MEMBERSHIP
(Poland, Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia)  (470)
By Jim Shevis
USIA Staff Writer
Washington -- U.S. Representative Benjamin A. Gilman, the ranking Republican
member of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, says he plans to introduce a
bill in Congress to facilitate full membership in the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization (NATO) for Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

Gilman told a news conference April 14 he planned to introduce the measure
later that day.

The Clinton administration's "Partnership for Peace" plan, unveiled at the
NATO summit meeting in January, was "a first step" toward adapting Europe's
Cold-War security structure to today's new political environment but did
not go far enough, he said.

"It provided a mechanism for stepped-up cooperation between NATO and the
emerging democracies in Central and Eastern Europe, but it stopped short of
promising eventual NATO membership to those countries," Gilman said.

"'Partnership for Peace' was a good start, but it is now time to go
farther," the New York congressman said.

"The United States and NATO cannot afford to sit idle while nations with
strong roots in Western culture and a growing commitment to democratic
values struggle in the shadow of uncertainty," Gilman said.

"The countries of Central Europe are concerned -- with good cause -- about
whether NATO will recognize the progress they have made, and provide for
their legitimate security concerns," he said.

"By building on the 'Partnership for Peace,' and using the authority that my
bill would provide, the United States can become the leader within NATO in
adapting the Alliance to the post-Cold War environment," Gilman said.

Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia "should be made full NATO
members by 1999 at the latest," provided they meet certain criteria
relating to their progress toward democratization, Gilman said.

The criteria include establishing democratic institutions, free-market
economies, civilian control of the countries' armed forces, and the rule of
law.

"A five-year timetable will afford the opportunity for a gradual integration
of these nations into the Alliance, while providing sufficient time for
them to satisfy the democratization criteria," he said.

"My legislation not only establishes a pathway leading to NATO membership
for these four nations, it also establishes a mechanism whereby other
European countries emerging from communist domination can enter onto the
pathway and be made eligible for NATO transition assistance," Gilman said.

Gilman said his proposal would not increase foreign-aid spending, but would
authorize the president to use existing programs to provide military
assistance to support and encourage the integration of the countries' armed
1orces into NATO.

A staff aide told the U.S. Information Agency (USIA) that present law
forbids the United States from transferring lethal weapons to former Warsaw
Pact countries.  If enacted into law, Gilman's bill would allow such
transfer, the aide said.

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