ACCESSION NUMBER:361742
FILE ID:TXT501
DATE:09/23/94
TITLE:GORE -- U.S. COMMITMENT TO EUROPE (09/23/94)
TEXT:*94092301.TXT
GORE -- U.S. COMMITMENT TO EUROPE
(VOA Editorial)  (330)
(Following is an editorial, broadcast by the Voice of America September 23,
reflecting the views of the U.S. government.)

The United States remains fully committed to its strategic partnership with
its European allies and to the freedom and prosperity of Europe.  While
American soldiers recently departed Berlin, 100,000 U.S. troops remain on
the European continent.  They are the seal of America's commitment to NATO.

As Vice President Al Gore recently pointed out, the situation now is
radically different from the Cold War period, when Europe was divided by an
"iron curtain" imposed by the former Soviet Union.  The threat today is
instability.  In this century, instability in Central Europe has brought
tragedy in the form of two world wars.  For the most part, the states of
Central and Eastern Europe regard NATO as the best hope for stability and
security.  Some have made NATO membership a top priority.  As President
Bill Clinton has said, the question is no longer whether new members will
be brought into NATO but how and when.

In recent months, the Partnership for Peace has opened the door to
cooperation with NATO's former adversaries.  The partnership is not
directed against any country, but is an important component of regional
security.  NATO's eventual expansion will be an open process, will be
accompanied by extensive consultations with all interested parties, and
1ill occur without surprises.  Expanded NATO membership will improve
security for all European nations -- both new and old members.

As Vice President Gore said, "Today all of Europe is striving for democratic
government and free-market systems, a condition which has never before
existed on this continent."  In his words, Europe "is testing the
proposition that nations need not be forever bound by the past, trapped in
the gravitational pull of old hostilities and old ways of thinking.
Instead, nations can liberate themselves from old patterns of conflict in
order to find a higher destiny."

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