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<TITLE>José Cutileiro</TITLE>
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<CENTER><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+3">The
Western European Union Today</FONT></FONT></FONT></CENTER>
<CENTER><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+2">WEU
Secretary General José Cutileiro</FONT></FONT></FONT></CENTER>
<CENTER><B><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"> </FONT></FONT></B></CENTER>
<CENTER>
<H4><B><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">WEU AND THE NEW
SECURITY ENVIRONMENT</FONT></FONT></B></H4> </CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">The various organizations
now involved in European security are adapting in response to the changes
that have taken place in the European security environment since 1989. The
reinstatement of democratic systems in Central and Eastern Europe has made
enlargement a top priority for NATO and the European Union. At the same
time, conditions have been created that enable the building of a European
security order based on trust and cooperation, in which Europeans will
play a more prominent role.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Although the threat of
massive conflict in the heart of Europe has practically disappeared, new
areas of instability have appeared in Europe and its periphery that may
require us to intervene militarily to preserve or reestablish peace or to
prevent human disasters. In organizations concerned with defense and
security, such as NATO and WEU, much attention has been devoted to these
new missions, the so-called Petersberg missions, to use the WEU term.
These may range from humanitarian and rescue tasks to tasks involving
combat forces in crisis management, including peacemaking.</FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">As the only European
organization empowered to carry out military operations, WEU has an
important role to play in this new security environment: to endow
Europeans with an institutionally based capability to carry out Petersberg
tasks in which the U.S. does not wish to participate. WEU, however, is not
an alternative to NATO and does not seek to duplicate NATO's structures.
On the contrary, mechanisms are being created to allow WEU, if necessary,
to draw on NATO assets and capabilities. This will allow Europeans to
shoulder a greater responsibility in military matters.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Since I took office in
1995, WEU has concentrated on the development of its operational
capabilities. Much has been accomplished. WEU is now ready to undertake
Petersberg tasks on its own. At the same time, procedures and mechanisms
allowing it to draw on NATO assets and capabilities, if warranted by the
complexity and magnitude of an operation, are being finalized.</FONT></FONT>
</P>
<CENTER>
<H4><B><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">TIES WITH EU AND NATO</FONT></FONT></B></H4></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><I>Links with EU.</I>
WEU's operational development has been underpinned by a strengthening of
links with NATO and EU, which has made WEU better equipped to carry out
its tasks. It should come as no surprise, therefore, that internal
developments in these two organizations have a direct impact on WEU and
the pivotal role it is called upon to play between them. The recent
Amsterdam Summit clarified WEU's institutional position vis-à-vis
the European Union by strengthening ties between WEU and the European
Union's common foreign and security policy. The new treaty underscores
these ties by stating that:</FONT></FONT> </P>
<UL>
<LI><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">The European Council
has the authority to establish guidelines for common foreign and
security policy matters with defense implications. These guidelines will
also apply to tasks for which EU avails itself of WEU, including
Petersberg tasks.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">WEU observers (Austria,
Denmark, Finland, Ireland, and Sweden) will be able to participate fully
and on an equal footing in planning and decision making in WEU when EU
avails itself of WEU.</FONT></FONT></LI>
<LI><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">A reference to
cooperation in the field of armaments will be included.</FONT></FONT></LI>
</UL>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">EU will therefore foster
closer institutional relations with WEU, but the integration of WEU into
EU remains only a possibility. WEU retains its distinct and separate
institutional character. Practical arrangements for cooperation between
WEU and EU will need to be worked out within a year.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">WEU and EU have
anticipated these developments by studying the practical modalities of
cooperation between them, focusing on the various phases of an operation
to be carried out by WEU at the request of EU (i.e., emergence of a crisis
and its evaluation; joint consultations and development of an operational
plan; and operation execution and termination). This work will be carried
forward in light of the conclusions reached in Amsterdam.</FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">The new treaty will
therefore set a new framework for WEU's relations with the European Union.
This new framework should not unduly affect WEU's cooperation with NATO,
which has progressed enormously.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><I>Links with NATO. </I>The
focus of our joint work has been on the implementation of the decisions
taken by NATO Ministers in Berlin and Brussels, and by WEU Ministers in
Birmingham. For the first time ever, WEU has contributed to the NATO
Ministerial Guidance on Defense Planning. WEU is now looking forward to
being involved throughout the NATO defense planning cycle, with due
account taken of the work done within WEU on the principles and modalities
for such involvement, especially regarding WEU's requirements for
Petersberg tasks.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Military planning for
WEU-led operations is also well underway. WEU has forwarded illustrative
profiles drawn from the spectrum of Petersberg tasks for which it may wish
to engage NATO assets and capabilities. Some of these profiles have
already been analyzed by NATO military authorities. An agreement should
now be drawn up on the process for cooperation between WEU and NATO that
will enable NATO to conduct military planning for illustrative WEU
missions at the request of and in coordination with WEU</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">We have also started work
on a consultation mechanism between WEU and NATO to discuss possible
operations. Additional work may include the development of a flow chart to
illustrate how NATO and WEU might cooperate in the context of a WEU-led
operation using NATO assets and capabilities. Preliminary work has also
begun to define the modalities for the transfer, monitoring, and return of
NATO assets, which will result in a WEU/NATO framework agreement.</FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Finally, enlargement of
NATO and EU may affect WEU membership: NATO enlargement may lead to an
increase in the number of WEU Associate Members, and EU enlargement may
lead to more Member-States and Observers. These developments could have an
impact on WEU's functioning, including its decision-making process.</FONT></FONT>
</P>
<CENTER>
<H4><B><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">WEU AS A FRAMEWORK
FOR 28 NATIONS</FONT></FONT></B></H4></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">WEU brings together not
only all European members of NATO and all EU members, but also the ten
Central European countries that have signed an Europe Agreement with EU.
Over the past months, all 28 nations have participated in a process of
reflection on European security interests--a follow-up to the 1995
publication of the common concept on European security by the WEU nations.
Among the topics that were considered, the follow-up reviewed recent
developments in the European security architecture, their effect on the
security of the 28 WEU nations, and the development of security
relationships with neighboring regions.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Another part of our work
with 28 nations is of a more practical nature and is actually a corollary
to WEU's operational development. This work includes Associate Partners
making information available on those forces they may wish to allocate for
WEU operations, and the WEU Planning Cell making information on training
facilities available to WEU for national or collective use by WEU nations.
All WEU nations also recently took part in the first meeting of the annual
exercise conference that defined objectives for an exercise policy and a
draft program up to the year 2000.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">These various developments
illustrate that WEU constitutes a genuine framework for dialogue and
cooperation among the 28 nations of the WEU family on broad European
security and defense issues.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<CENTER>
<H4><B><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">RELATIONS WITH RUSSIA
AND UKRAINE</FONT></FONT></B></H4></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">In 1995-96, WEU created
the institutional framework for its relations with the Russian Federation
and Ukraine. This framework, for the exchange of information and political
dialogue, has led to greater transparency and enhanced mutual
understanding. Currently, we are concentrating on developing practical
forms of cooperation with these two countries, in particular in the area
of long-haul air transport. An agreement with Ukraine will probably be
signed by July 1997.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<CENTER>
<H4><B><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">MILITARY CAPABILITIES
AND OPERATIONS</FONT></FONT></B></H4></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">WEU plays a significant
political role in the field of European security. Its main distinctive
attribute, however, is the capacity to undertake military operations of
its own volition or at the request of EU. The continued development of its
operational capability is therefore essential. To this end, the first
meeting of an annual exercise conference took place early in 1997, and a
decision has been made to create a military committee under the council's
authority that should be in place by the end of 1997.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">WEU has also carried out a
number of operations on our continent in recent years. Three operations
involving the former Yugoslavia--Sharp Guard, Mostar, and Danube--ended in
1996, but WEU recently sent an advance party to Albania to prepare the way
for a larger Multinational Police Element that will complement the action
of the Multinational Protection Force and of the international community
in general. The Multinational Police Element will give the Albanian police
authorities information and advice on policing and restoring order, as
well as on their responsibilities during the electoral process.</FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">The situation in Albania
illustrates how each crisis brings its own particular challenges, and how
no ready-made solutions exist to meet them. The need to respond in an
appropriate and timely way to a variety of challenges obliges us to stand
ready for a variety of situations across the spectrum of Petersberg
missions.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<CENTER>
<H4><B><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">WORKING TO STRENGTHEN
THE COMMON DEFENSE</FONT></FONT></B></H4></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">The Amsterdam Summit and
the Madrid Summit may both be perceived as beacons pointing the way to the
future not only of EU and NATO, but also of WEU. We can be reasonably
confident that Europeans are gradually acquiring the tools for a more
effective common foreign policy and for shouldering a greater
responsibility in defense and security matters. Greater political cohesion
within the framework of the European Union, strong and reliable military
capabilities organized within the NATO framework, and effective tools for
crisis management within WEU will give Europeans what they need to play a
larger role in world affairs. The challenge now is to make sure these
diverse contributions can be welded into a coherent whole, enabling Europe
to undertake military operations and strengthen its contributions to the
common defense without endangering the Atlantic Alliance, which remains
the bedrock of our common security.</FONT></FONT> </P>
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