|
"Ladies and Gentlemen,
Dear Friends,
It is my great pleasure to be here and welcome to Bucharest a
group of such promising young professionals. I thank the
Atlantic Council of the United States and the Council of
Romania-Casa NATO for organizing this “youth summit”, already a
tradition for NATO Summits after Prague and Istanbul.
I also want to thank Director Maior and his institution for
supporting this event and I would also like to thank the
Atlantic Treaty Association – NATO’s community of Atlantic NGOs.
In its more than half a century of activity, the ATA has served
a crucial role in the life of our Atlantic Alliance – giving our
civil societies, our academic and business communities, an
important role in shaping the agenda and decisions of NATO
leaders.
I see the Young Atlanticist Forum as a place for provocative and
creative debate on the major issues concerning the North
-Atlantic Alliance nowadays, in the stimulating context of the
Bucharest NATO Summit.
We count on you to bring fresh ideas and prospects to our vision
and to the strategic security thinking.
Dear Friends,
Romania today is a thriving economy, a country on the move, a
country proud of its culture and heritage yet committed to its
own future.
We are a country on an irreversible path.
We now rightfully take our place on the world stage as an equal
with our allies in North America and Europe.
For all these reasons, I think you can understand why we are so
proud to host this NATO Summit.
We are truly not only an appropriate venue for the largest
gathering ever sponsored by the most successful Alliance in the
modern world but THE appropriate city and country.
The people of Romania have experienced tyranny in its worst
forms.
The people of Romania have known oppression.
The people of Romania have seen the flame of freedom almost
extinguished. But we never lost our hope.
In this context I remember an obsessive reflection of Franz
Kafka:
“By believing passionately in something that still does not
exist, we create it. The nonexistent is whatever we have not
sufficiently desired.”
We the Romanians as well as other nations in the former Soviet
block never lost our thirst for freedom and liberty and the firm
spirit that makes us today valued partners and allies.
After Romania joined NATO and the EU, we felt that we had
finally regained our rightful place in the community of nations.
This gathering today is the culmination of years of hard work,
of doing the right thing, which is how true partners and allies
can act.
Yet it is with pride that young Romanians stand shoulder to
shoulder with Europeans and North Americans throughout the
globe.
We are involved around the world in a variety of peacekeeping
efforts because we know how important it is to help those who
share the longing for a better world.
To share the dream that life must be better for their children.
To act in solidarity with those believing that equality and
freedom are always worth fighting for.
Dear young Atlanticists,
These days in Bucharest we will have one of the most challenging
Allied summits in history.
The Alliance is at a time of crucial decision making regarding
its operation in Afghanistan, its cooperation and partnership
patterns and its future role.
Major decisions will also be taken on the role of NATO in
bringing stability and strengthening Euro-Atlantic values in the
Balkans and the Black Sea region.
Romania is a strong advocate of an increased Allied role to the
East, with an emphasis on the Black Sea region as an area of
rapidly increasing relevance to Euro-Atlantic security.
Therefore, we hope that here, in Bucharest, partners from
Western Balkans will receive an invitation for membership and
that Ukraine and Georgia will be offered a strengthened,
increasingly closer relation with NATO.
We also hope Bosnia-Herzegovina, Montenegro and Serbia will also
receive a positive signal towards closer ties with NATO.
But enlargement is not the only way to defend and spread the
Allied values.
The Alliance needs to move to the next level in projecting the
reinforced message and significance of its responsibility as the
core defender of our values.
This is where your role as future leaders of the Atlantic
community lies: you will be the ones to foster new solutions,
new visions and an always renewed trust in the historic mission
of NATO.
You represent a reassurance that NATO’s successful future is
guaranteed.
As “Atlanticists” you embody the values that lie at the core of
our Alliance: individual freedom, democracy and human rights. I
trust you to carry these values forward.
I trust you can confirm President Franklin Roosevelt’s urge: “We
cannot always build the future for our youth, but we can build
our youth for the future. “
I believe in your capacity to assure the necessary leadership
towards a successful future.
I also hope you will convey from Bucharest experience and your
colleagues will learn by remaining active in the Young
Atlanticist Network which will be launched here this week.
Dear friends,
The risks and threats to our values and security, even when they
emerge from further and further beyond the borders of the
Alliance, remain clear and present.
They take new shapes and change the nature of our fight.
Therefore, the Alliance has to redefine its role. The key words
are adaptation, flexibility and vision.
The greatest threat to our security and way of life is
terrorism, especially the fundamentalism driven one.
NATO has troops on the ground in Afghanistan, fighting every day
a fierce battle against Al-Qaeda and the insurgents. But this is
mainly a battle of “hearts and minds”.
Fundamentalism and terrorism feed on poverty, lack of human
rights, of rule of law and of democracy.
Armed force can only ensure a secure framework for the civil
partners to act, for the businesses to develop – for a free
society to emerge.
This is why the key to our future success lies in solid and
efficient partnerships.
Partnerships with other international organisations, like the EU
and the UN.
Partnerships with countries aspiring to be members of our
Alliance, with like-minded nations across the globe.
Partnerships between the military and the civilian sides.
NATO is, first of all, about freedom, democracy and prosperity.
Let’s never forget that!
The world of today is also challenged by the lack of sufficient
energy sources and by climate change. Securing energy sources
and a clean and safe environment for the future generations are
among the main challenges that you, as future leaders, will
face.
Energy security liberates us from tensions and conflicts and
allows us to foster an environment of cooperative prosperity and
development.
The NATO you will lead has to take an active role in tackling
these crucial challenges for our security and our values.
Dear friends,
Many in the new generation are very fortunate to have grown up
only in this world of great opportunity. They have not known a
history of struggle. But we must never forget our history.
We can never forget where we came from.
It only makes us stronger. It only makes us more reliable. It
only reinforces the importance of the values we share in this
great Alliance.
Speaking of the lessons of history let me share with you my
belief that we cannot but overemphasize the tremendous value of
democracy for our Alliance’s mission in responding to today’s
challenges.
Democracy is like rock and roll.
It is always better when democratic voices are loud.
It seems to me that if promoting democracy tends to become just
another public diplomacy program, the risk is to transform
democratic activism into a timid and simply discreet diplomatic
message.
Supporting democracy as a universal value is a keystone of
NATO’s presence and action in today’s world.
You are part of a generation that, everywhere in this world, is
prepared to speak up in upholding this most precious asset.
I am a strong believer in your dedication to keeping it an
„all-time hit” – if I may use a rock and roll expression.
We count on you, as future leaders, to continue engaging the
challenges facing the Atlantic community.
You have a valuable ground. Build on it!
Take our dreams as high as possible! The future is yours!
Thank you. "
|
