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<TITLE>Polish President Aleksander Kwasniewski ...Poland and NATO</TITLE>
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<CENTER><FONT SIZE="+4"></FONT><FONT SIZE="+4">Poland and NATO</FONT></CENTER>
<CENTER><FONT SIZE="+3">President of the Polish Republic Aleksander
Kwasniewski</FONT></CENTER>
<P>Our generation has brought about colossal, historic change. During the
last seven years, we have transformed the political landscape of the
European continent. In this short time we have promoted and deepened the
reservoir of our shared values: freedom, democracy, human rights, the rule
of law, and a free market economy. Remembering where we were in 1989, it
is hard to believe the progress that has been made. </P>
<P>Over the past seven years, new sovereign states have emerged on the
European stage, following the breakup of artificial and undemocratic
constructions. International actors have had their roles redefined.
Central European states have regained the capacity to determine their own
affairs and acquired significant standing in the overall framework of
European politics. From objects, these states have become fully sovereign
and independent subjects of international relations. </P>
<P>Now we are at a unique point in history. Over the next several months,
the process of opening the North Atlantic Alliance and the European Union
eastward will begin to come to fruition. The December meeting of the North
Atlantic Council and the ongoing European Union Intergovernmental
Conference will be critical factors in determining the mechanism for
bringing Poland and other Central European countries into the
Euro-Atlantic community. It is our strong expectation that accession
negotiations will commence soon after these events have concluded, taking
a huge step toward strengthening Central European security and a decisive
move toward a new security architecture throughout Europe. </P>
<CENTER><B><FONT SIZE="+1">POLAND AND THE ALLIANCE</FONT></B></CENTER>
<P>I reaffirm now Poland's continuing and unequivocal aspiration to become
a full-fledged member of the North Atlantic Alliance at the earliest
possible date. I believe that there is no longer a need to address why we
seek NATO membership. I consider that phase of the debate completed. It is
obvious that every credible scheme for a European security architecture
must include NATO at its core--the Alliance is the key factor of stability
in Europe. Both NATO and its Partnership for Peace program have
demonstrated a huge potential for designing security arrangements in
Europe as well as for promoting democracy. At the critical moment of the
crisis in Bosnia, NATO showed the necessary resolve to break through the
persistent impotence of the international community and move toward a
viable settlement. </P>
<P>While we are no longer concerned with the question <I>why </I>NATO
should expand, we must now proceed with the <I>how. </I>First, we must
undertake intensive pragmatic efforts, both within the applicant states
and within the Alliance. Second, we must develop a wider vision of Europe
after enlargement. We welcome the Berlin North Atlantic Council decision
to strengthen the role of European countries in NATO and to use the
Combined Joint Task Force. We also continue to strongly support the United
States' political and military presence in the Alliance. As the world
moves forward, politicians and opinion-makers will need to stand up to the
test of time and use creative imagination to lay the basis for a stable
order in the Europe of tomorrow. </P>
<CENTER><B><FONT SIZE="+1">RESTRUCTURING FOR NATO MEMBERSHIP</FONT></B></CENTER>
<P>Poland has made good progress in its domestic preparations for NATO
membership. Our political system has all the characteristics of a mature
and stable democracy. Civilian control of our armed forces is already
rooted in our domestic law, and we are now acquiring practical experience
in this crucial domain. By the time our negotiations for membership in the
Alliance take place, this issue will be decisively and irreversibly
settled. </P>
<P>We have also moved forward in restructuring our armed forces, so that
they meet NATO requirements. Poland is deeply committed to achieving full
military interoperability with the Allied forces, commencing with command,
control, communications, and intelligence as well as management of
air-defense systems. Numerous joint military exercises involving NATO and
Polish troops have strongly contributed to the development of mutual
understanding between our military and the Alliance at all levels, and
have resulted in a strong habit of cooperation. A Polish assault
battalion's participation in the NATO-led peace implementation force in
Bosnia has given our Euro-Atlantic aspirations a strong practical
dimension. </P>
<P>We are currently drafting a National Integration Plan that would cover
all aspects of our country's accession into NATO as well as the period
following, from finances to the legal issues of stationing NATO troops on
Polish territory to implementing all the necessary structural and
technical reforms. </P>
<CENTER><B><FONT SIZE="+1">POLISH PERCEPTION OF THE NEW EUROPEAN SECURITY
ENVIRONMENT</FONT></B></CENTER>
<P>Because we believe the enlargement of NATO is part of a complex effort
to construct a new security architecture in Europe, we believe that
enlargement should proceed in parallel with the development of other forms
of European cooperation. The effort to expand the European Union eastward
is one such form of cooperation. </P>
<P>Also important are attempts to enhance the security of states that will
not join NATO in the near future. Such security measures can be advanced
through the continuation of the Partnership for Peace program, maintaining
dialogue within the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, and through the
Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe. There must also be a
close partnership between an expanded NATO and Russia, and between NATO
and Ukraine, to sustain the stability of the new European construction. A
cooperative relationship between those nations and NATO will greatly
contribute to European security. </P>
<P>Poland also believes that more attention ought to be devoted to the
strengthening of confidence-building measures and conflict-prevention
techniques. There must be no departure from the existing arms control
agreements, which underpin the stability of the European continent.
Additional arms reductions, however, may take place sometime in the
future. </P>
<P>We strongly feel that a pattern of cooperative bilateral and subregional
relations is an indispensable element of stable order on the continent.
Consequently, Poland attaches particular importance to maintaining
peaceful and friendly relations with our neighbors. The Polish-German
partnership has been referred to as a model for the constructive building
of mutual ties in the evolving European context. We are also developing
trilateral relations with Germany and France within the framework of the "Weimar
triangle," and are cultivating close, strategic relations with
Ukraine. With other neighbors to the south and the east, we have reached
bilateral relations that we assess as "good" or "good
neighborly," a step that has often required overcoming the barriers
that have come with the baggage of history. Issues such as the status of
national minorities have become a strength rather than a weakness of our
relations with neighboring states, and our bilateral ties have been made
more durable through the many subregional cooperation networks, including
the Central European Free Trade Agreement CEFTA), the Central European
Initiative, and the Council of the Baltic Sea States, in which Poland
plays an active role. Poland will bring to NATO its experience as a
stabilizing factor both within its particular region and on the wider
international scene. </P>
<CENTER><B><FONT SIZE="+1">POLAND'S ROLE IN THE NEW NATO</FONT></B></CENTER>
<P>As a nation, Poland is committed to accepting all the obligations and
responsibilities associated with achieving common security goals within
the North Atlantic Alliance. We are also prepared and willing to shoulder
our part of the responsibility for implementing NATO tasks to ensure the
stability of the European continent <I>sensu largo.</I> </P>
<P>There are many parts of the world that are still subject to political
turbulence, ethnic tension, instability, disputes, or crises. These areas
require a more effective response on the part of the international
community. The fundamental truth is that the answer to today's challenges
does not lay in geopolitical egoism. Isolating oneself and concentrating
only on one's own narrow political interests will not guarantee security.
What is required instead is to assume one's share of international
responsibility and to build greater confidence among the states of Europe
by multiplying the ties of cooperation between them. </P>
<P>Through its potential as a security enhancer, the North Atlantic
Alliance will inject fresh incentive into the consolidation and expansion
of the Euro-Atlantic zone of security, prosperity, and mutual
understanding. The enlarged Alliance will extend the prospect of long-term
stability to the countries of Central as well as Eastern Europe. The new
NATO will reinforce the tendency toward integration and cooperation in
Europe as a whole. It is such a NATO whose membership we wish to join and
to which we want to contribute. </P>
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