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<html> <head> <meta name="Generator" content="Corel WordPerfect 8"> <title>MR. AXWORHTY - ADDRESS TO A MINISTERIAL MEETING OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL - BRUSSELS, BELGIUM</title> </head> <body text="#000000" link="#0000ff" vlink="#551a8b" alink="#ff0000" bgcolor="#c0c0c0"> 97/60 CHECK AGAINST DELIVERY NOTES FOR AN ADDRESS BY THE HONOURABLE LLOYD AXWORTHY, MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, TO A MINISTERIAL MEETING OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC COUNCIL BRUSSELS, Belgium December 16, 1997 This document is also available on the Department's Internet site: http://www.dfait-maeci.gc.ca Our meetings over the next two days will see certain historic milestones in the evolution of the Alliance. NATO will take another significant step toward admitting three new members. Those who were once our adversaries are becoming our allies. This is cause for satisfaction -- but it is also a moment to recall that our work is far from done. These meetings provide a significant opportunity to advance NATO's evolution, and to ensure the continued relevance, modernity and self-renewal of the Alliance. Ten years ago, few would have imagined that we would soon be welcoming Poland, the Czech Republic and Hungary into NATO. Now we are demonstrating, in the most concrete and permanent way possible, that, in the same way as the Berlin Wall fell, the old barriers and suspicions that once divided Europe have been swept away. We are displaying the new spirit of openness and transparency that characterizes the Alliance. The door has been opened -- and it will remain open. As we agreed in Madrid, we must continue to work actively on the enlargement project. That means helping partner countries interested in becoming members to pursue the political, economic and military reforms necessary to achieve their goal. At the same time, we should continue exploring and expanding our relations with those countries that chose not to become members -- to develop the innovative approaches to security and confidence building required for a new era. Enlargement is a significant aspect of the transformation of the Alliance. But it is far from being the only one. The real shape of NATO in the 21st century will emerge from ongoing progress in a number of areas, including our efforts in Bosnia and, more broadly, our military and civilian response to the security challenges that confront us in the new international landscape. Bosnia The situation in Bosnia epitomizes the complex, non-traditional threats to security that face us in the aftermath of the Cold War. We can take pride that, in these unfamiliar and difficult conditions, NATO forces were nonetheless able to move quickly into Bosnia to end the conflict and establish conditions in which the more complex job of building peace could begin. Building a lasting peace in Bosnia is no easy task. We have seen some encouraging signs. Following our decision at Sintra, recently reaffirmed at Bonn, the High Representative has had notable success in encouraging implementation of the Dayton accords and curtailing the activities of those impeding implementation, with the support of SFOR [Stabilization Force]. Securing television transmission towers to prevent the broadcast of propaganda is not the stuff of traditional peacekeeping -- but it is necessary to a reconciliation that will underpin a lasting peace. This is just one aspect of many on which much work remains to be done. The need to maintain an international security presence in Bosnia beyond the end of SFOR's mandate is, in my view, becoming increasingly clear. A force similar to the current SFOR would ensure that the secure environment for the implementation of Dayton endures, and that peace has a better chance of becoming self-sustaining. I recognize that maintaining this presence will create political difficulties and costs for a number of Allies, ourselves included. But the cost of not guaranteeing the investment we have already made would be far greater -- for Bosnia and for the future of the Alliance. Last month a delegation of Canadian parliamentarians visited our troops in Bosnia. They came home convinced of the importance of the mission, of Canadian participation in it, and of the unique capacity of NATO and its partners to secure peace in that country. They also expressed their support for NATO's preparations on possible options for a follow-on force. What IFOR [Implementation Force] and SFOR have accomplished exemplifies our success -- but we must be frank and admit that in other areas we are falling short. The most notorious suspected war criminals remain at large in Bosnia. Moreover, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia [ICTY], Justice Louise Arbour, has expressed profound concern about the working relationship between the Tribunal and SFOR. The tasks confronting both civil and military authorities implementing the Dayton agreement in Bosnia are difficult -- and the problems posed by indicted war criminals are among the most complex. Our efforts to implement the accords in all their aspects should not be handicapped as a result of imperfect understanding among ourselves. We might establish a unit within SFOR devoted specifically to protecting and supporting the Tribunal as it collects evidence and pursues its task of bringing war criminals to justice. I think, therefore, that as NATO commanders start discussing options for a follow-on force in Bosnia, we should instruct our representatives to consider this issue as a matter of urgency. In particular, I want to urge them to examine -- with a view to intensifying co-operation -- the co-operation and liaison arrangements set up in the Memorandum of Understanding [MOU] between SHAPE [Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers in Europe] and ICTY. In the past, concerns were expressed about how the parties would react to a more assertive approach by SFOR. We now have experience that we did not have a year ago -- the seizure of suspected war criminals by British troops, the securing of television transmitters in Pale -- that shows that SFOR can take a more assertive stance without undue backlash. We should bring this experience to bear as we prepare for the next phase in Bosnia. The bottom line is that without justice there will be no reconciliation, and without reconciliation, no lasting peace. Rethinking NATO: Military and Civilian Objectives The challenges we face in Bosnia represent only the most immediate and intense demands on the Alliance; the sharp end, if you like, of a continuum of demands to review and update our concepts, goals and tools. The broadened definition of security that we adopted in 1991 was an important achievement in this respect: it demonstrated foresight, provided for partnership with non-members, and helped transform former lines of confrontation into areas of co-operation. We need to maintain the same openness to innovation and focus on results as we pursue the continued transformation of NATO, in everything from its strategic concept to its civilian budget. This requires us to look closely at the value of our existing programs, in the light of our objectives, to ensure that our money is being directed toward areas of high priority. Among the priority objectives within the civilian budget, Canada would place outreach to our partners in Central and Eastern Europe (including to young people), and arms control efforts directed toward building peace and preventing conflict. In all of these areas, we are prepared to commit resources. I will be presenting tomorrow a package of further assistance to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. This includes a contribution of $600 000 to support the Tribunal's ability to conduct trials and investigate mass graves. In addition, we plan to provide five RCMP crime analysts for a period of six months, and a list of other skilled investigators who can be made available to the Tribunal if needed. This assistance reflects the importance Canada attaches to bringing war criminals to justice, as a necessary step in healing the wounds of conflict in Bosnia. In parallel with these efforts, I recently approved a contribution of $400 000 from Canada's peace-building fund to support a public information campaign in Bosnia on the peace process. This comes on top of our contribution to the Open Broadcast Network and other measures designed to support the development of independent public media in Bosnia. Ending the propagation of highly biased and distorted views of the Tribunal and the Dayton peace implementation process is an essential precondition to lasting reconciliation. Canada is also contributing in other areas to building peace in Bosnia. We will provide $100 000 to help finance the new police training academy in Banja Luka in Republika Srpska, thereby ensuring security and the functioning of government at the most basic level. For many young people today, the strategic situation that led to the creation of NATO is little more than a dim memory. To ensure the ongoing relevance of the Alliance, we need the support of our citizens, particularly our young people, and an understanding of NATO's new mandate. To this end, I have approved a $300 000 internship project that will bring 20 young Canadians to Europe over the coming year. Under the auspices of the Atlantic Council of Canada, they will work here in Brussels and in many of our partner countries to encourage and develop the co-operation we believe is vital in ensuring that NATO plays its full part in building European security. NATO and the Anti-personnel Mines Convention If there is one issue that most clearly highlights the changing environment in which NATO must operate, it is the campaign against anti-personnel mines. As you know, two weeks ago in Ottawa, 122 countries -- including 14 members of the Alliance -- signed a convention banning anti-personnel mines. This document was the product of increased public awareness and scrutiny of security issues, and a new focus on the humanitarian impact of weapons of war. I hope that those Alliance members that did not sign the convention will be in a position to do so soon. Bosnia stands out as an acute example of the humanitarian case against anti-personnel mines, based on the terrible legacy they present to civilian populations, long after the fighting has stopped. Canada has already made a significant contribution to efforts to alleviate the problems caused by mines in Bosnia and Herzegovina, including the training of deminers and mine-awareness campaigns. To date, we have provided about $2 million in aid. As you may be aware, Prime Minister Chrétien announced that Canada would provide $100 million over the coming five years to implement the Landmines Convention. I can assure you that Canada will devote substantial amounts from the post-Ottawa package announced by the Prime Minister to activities supporting Alliance aims. SACEUR [Supreme Allied Commander Europe] and the Commander of SFOR have developed a number of proposals that will help to lift the burden of mines from Bosnia. Proposals to create more effective indigenous training facilities; to recognize and encourage the dedicated work already being done by Bosnians in mine clearance every day; to bring new technologies to the demining battle through partnerships with industry; and to help to establish a greater capacity to train mine-clearing personnel in each entity: are all worth considering. Most important of all, we will be talking to our own Forces in Bosnia to seek advice on actions that Canada can take to help clear or destroy mines. Work in this area should include initiatives that make use of the particular skills of our partners in the EAPC [Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council]. The step we will take tomorrow toward full accession to the Alliance of three new members is a sign of the times. It symbolizes the ongoing project of self-transformation that NATO is undertaking. Whether it is in our efforts in Bosnia, in outreach to our citizens and our young people, or in implementing the Landmines Convention, we are adapting to change. We are moving NATO from guarding the walls of a Cold War fortress to extending a hand in partnership; from sowing landmines to digging them up; and from keeping the peace to building it. Thank you. </body> </html>

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