Address
by
H.E. ION ILIESCU, President of Romania,
delivered at the Opening Session
of the Bucharest Summit "The Spring of New Allies"
- Bucharest, March 25 2002 -
President Kwasniewski
Prime Ministers,
Distinguished Attendees,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
I would like to start by saluting with deep satisfaction your presence in Bucharest, as an expression of the willingness of our countries to bring a significant contribution on maintaining peace and security on European realm. The history showed which are the risks that threaten our existence when we are not committed to defend vigorously the basic values of our civilization: believe in democracy and liberty, social solidarity and equity, open economy, rule of law and equality of chances.
To defend what we have built up for centuries, either material or spiritual, we need a powerful instrument, a common security mechanism for our countries. From the historical perspective of the last half of century, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) proves to be the most suitable framework, both politically and militarily, to answer to European needs of security and to strengthen the Trans-Atlantic ties.
Romania finds the process of NATO enlargement as a normal and necessary for the integration of the Central and Eastern Europe. If we would like to re-unify our continent, after half a century of split in antagonist political and military blocs and long history of bloody conflicts, the European Union and NATO enlargements represents a natural and rational way to do it.
NATO is the organization built on the principle of solidarity and shared values. So it is natural for the candidates to NATO to use the same approach in their preparation for membership. The establishment and working of the Vilnius Group is an expression of our common will to approach the process of preparation for membership as partners, not adversaries or competitors. I recall with great pleasure our last year meeting, in Sofia, at the highest level.
The arguments for joining NATO are, basically, similar, independent of our geographic position or economic and military potential. Our countries prove through the efforts on political, economic, social and military reforms that have the will and capacity to respond the membership criteria. Through our actions, both in the framework of Partnership for Peace peacekeeping operations and in combating terrorism, we proved that we can deliver security in Europe and across the world and we are not the consumers of security.
In that context, the initiative of the President Kwasniewski to trigger the regional cooperation against terrorism in Central and Eastern Europe is very relevant. I share the belief that the implementation of the Action Plan adopted at the Conference in Warsaw, last November, would substantiate the contribution of our countries. In this respect, we think to organize a follow up conference, in Bucharest, to discuss the measures adopted in common.
As President George W. Bush put it, on the occasion of commemoration of 6 months from the tragic events of September 11, the fight against international terrorism needs a long term coordinated action at diplomatic, financial and military levels.
And that coordination should go hand in hand with the global scale offensive against poverty, to reduce the gap between the developed and developing countries or countries in transition- as discussed recently at the Monterrey Summit. The extreme poverty and economic and social gaps represent a true social bomb that can endanger the global peace and stability. Europe can offer, from this point of view, an adequate social model - an objective discussed at the recent EU summit in Barcelona.
Our option to join NATO doesn’t represent a threat to any nation and it is not intended to threat anyone. It expresses the will of our nations to protect and defend their interests, to find, through NATO membership, adequate answers to the new risks and threats confronting peace and international stability.
Our countries proved that they adopted the standards and the procedures necessary to achieve a satisfying and sufficient degree of interoperability with the NATO member countries.
It is true that, in the accession process, each country would be evaluated only by its performances and that would make the accession an individual and not a group process. In this respect, Romania consistently fulfilled the engagements and the objectives of the Membership Action Plan. After the terrorist attacks against the United States of America, we acted as a de facto member of NATO. Moreover, we participate with troops at the military and peacekeeping operations in Afghanistan. We strengthened our presence in Kosovo and Bosnia. We continue to speed up the reform of the army, including the modernization of the military equipment and professionalisation of officers and non-commissioned officers. For all these actions we enjoy the firm and consistent support of the Romanian citizens that know the social and financial costs of the accession efforts and are willing to bear them.
The cooperation of our countries during the NATO accession process is a positive fact and allows a stronger support of our interest for a consistent NATO enlargement in the fall, in Prague. By accepting new members the Alliance becomes stronger, increases its coherence and consistence of the common defense space, especially in the South-East region, the most exposed area to the risks.
The Southern dimension of NATO enlargement will increase the stability in the region of the Western Balkans and will strengthen the democratization process in this area. In this respect, I would like to thank Greece and Turkey for their support. Romania wants to closely cooperate with Greece, Turkey, with our Bulgarian friends and other neighbors to consolidate the regional system of stability and cooperation, system complementary to the efforts of our friends from the North. We, the countries from Northern and the Central Europe, can bring together an important contribution to the Euro-Atlantic security.
We are encouraged in our efforts by the support and the positive attitude of the American and other European Administrations, more and more in favor of a substantial enlargement. The accession of the Czech Republic, of Poland and Hungary contradicted the fears, expressed during the debate at the Madrid Summit. I am convinced that the same kind of fears, expressed also before the Prague Summit, will prove to be unfounded.
We are in an extremely favorable moment for NATO enlargement and too much prudence or too much risk aversion should not involve its postponement or its failing. The final decision to enlarge NATO will eminently be a political one, and we want to give, at this summit, a political signal regarding our strong will to contribute at the strengthening of NATO, providing peace, security and prosperity to Europe and consolidating the Euro-Atlantic solidarity.
In the mean time, we appreciate that the new evolutions in the NATO- Russia relations will contribute to the strengthening of the Alliance’s role in ensuring peace and stability in Europe and in the world.
Ladies and Gentlemen,
The fall of communism and the dissolution of the Warsaw Treaty have offered to our country the opportunity and the liberty to choose and to build our future in accordance with our interests and aspirations. We decided to develop our countries as responsible democracies, to choose our partners on the basis of common values, to act in such manner as to insure to the citizens of our country the conditions of their full affirmation, in a climate of internal and external security and stability.
We are here to reaffirm our options and to show that we understand to act in solidarity in the run for accession, even though we will be judged on the basis of individual merits and achievements. The solidarity is the keystone of the United Europe edifice, having as foundation both the institutions of NATO and the European Union. Irrespective of the decisions taken in Prague, which each of us wish to be favorable and in line with the expectations of our people, we know that we are on the right track and that our right to make options is not questionable and it is not considered illegitimate.
The significant enlargement of NATO would represent a victory of the optimistic vision on Europe as a space of cooperation and integration, of democracy and liberty, of tolerance and diversity, a space of the quest for consensus and of the citizens’ values.
I believe we all share the faith of the President George W. Bush who was stating in Warsaw last summer “Our duty is to erase the false lines that have divided Europe for too long. The future of each European country has to be determined by the progress of its internal reforms, not by the interests of an external power.”
I wish to conclude with a remark of the British Prime minister, Tony Blair: “ No country, taken individually, be it as strong as the United States of America, cannot defend alone the democratic values.” Our countries have understood this truth and act accordingly in order to built up a better common future.
Thank you for your attention!