ACCESSION NUMBER:377254
FILE ID:EUR305
DATE:02/01/95
TITLE:NATO OFFICIAL HAILS SUCCESS OF PARTNERSHIP (02/01/95)
TEXT:*95020102.GWE
*EUR305   02/01/95
NATO OFFICIAL HAILS SUCCESS OF PARTNERSHIP
(Predicts almost universal European accession) (350)
By Bruce Carey
USIA Staff Writer
Washington -- The Austrian parliament's vote in favor of joining the
Partnership for Peace points to almost universal acclamation of Atlantic
Alliance principles on the part of European countries, says a senior
official of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO).

The official told reporters in Washington February 1 that every former
Warsaw Pact country has joined the Partnership, and that Austrian
participation would leave out only Eire and the former Yugoslav republics.
Switzerland has not yet joined, but the official said he can "guarantee"
Bern will sign on eventually.

The "wildly successful" Partnership is unifying Europe even faster than
governments can integrate it into policy.  "It is more than they can keep
up with," the official declared.  He cited cooperation in military training
exercises as an example, which he said has gone beyond generals and
admirals and now sees majors and colonels of different countries involved
in joint planning.

Enthusiasm among the former Warsaw Pact nations for the benefits of
NATO-style collective security is demonstrated by a small booklet about the
Alliance, which, the official showed reporters, was published in Hungary
rather than in a NATO member country.  The "maximum success" of the
Partnership is propelled by Europeans' recognition that threats to
"stability and security" reflect the chief danger to their national life,
and that moving toward an alliance best guarantees their new-found liberty.

"But it will take years" to create a complete collective security regime for
all of Europe, the official predicted.  NATO and the Partnership are in
"uncharted waters," but their members clearly are moving rapidly toward
greater multilateral cooperation, he asserted.

He cautioned, however, that the greater unity of Europe "could founder" if
governments fail to allocate sufficient "resources" to its success.  "A lot
of people are missing the boat by not encompassing the full scope" of the
cooperative effort.  "They fail to see that (growing unity) did not fall
out of the sky.  It is part of a natural evolution following the collapse
of the Berlin Wall," he said.

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