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<TITLE>Dariusz Rosati</TITLE>
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<CENTER><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+3">The
Effects of Enlargement on the Stability and</FONT></FONT></FONT></CENTER>
<CENTER><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+3">Security
of Central and Eastern Europe</FONT></FONT></FONT></CENTER>
<CENTER><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+2">Minister
of Foreign Affairs of Poland Dariusz Rosati</FONT></FONT></FONT></CENTER>
<CENTER>
<H4><B><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">OPENING REMARKS</FONT></FONT></B></H4>
</CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">The ancient city of Prague
is a very proper place to observe that the Madrid Summit is likely to
permanently change the course of European affairs as well as permanently
change the face of Eastern and Central Europe. For over a thousand years,
Prague has been one of the principal intellectual and artistic centers of
this part of the Continent. A city of almost two thousand historic
monuments, it symbolizes the deep and rich traditions of our region. And
because Prague is the city where the Communist coup took place in 1948,
where foreign tanks filled the streets in 1968, and the "Velvet
Revolution" took place in 1989, Prague also symbolizes this region's
difficult recent history. In less than two years, however, I believe that
Prague will become one of the great capitals of the free, democratic
nations that are united under the flag of the Atlantic Alliance.</FONT></FONT>
</P>
<CENTER>
<H4><B><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">DIVIDING LINES IN
EUROPE</FONT></FONT></B></H4></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">When we talk about erasing
the dividing lines in Europe, we usually think of the line that existed
during the Cold War era. That line was indeed a painful and important one.
But another dividing line exists that is rooted deeper in history and
marked not by walls or "iron curtains" but by stereotypes and
prejudices. This line does not run along borders, but across the minds of
Europeans. It is a line that for much too long has separated Europe--or
the West--from "the other Europe"--the East. This line was drawn
by the dramatic and tumultuous histories of nations on our part of the
Continent, and by the long tradition of their being objects of foreign
designs and of the games played by the Great Powers. This psychological
line has been at the foundation of the decisions made at Tehran and Yalta,
as well as of those made earlier at Locarno and Munich.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">In 1938, an ominous
reference to this psychological line was made in a well-known statement by
Neville Chamberlain. Chamberlain said that it was "horrible,
fantastic, and incredible" that British soldiers should fight and die
"because of a quarrel in a far-away country between people of whom we
know nothing." The far-away country he referred to was
Czechoslovakia. The people of whom he knew nothing were the Czechs and the
Slovaks. The "peace for our time--a peace with honour" that he
claimed to have brought to London from Munich turned out to be a tragic
mistake of terrible consequence for all of Europe.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Buying peace and security
for the West at the expense of the "far-away" East was never a
good policy, for it ignored the hard fact that European security is
indivisible. In recent years much has been done to erase the line between
East and West, but it will not disappear completely until we are all an
integral part of the European system of security and cooperation that has
blessed Western Europe with freedom, peace, and prosperity. The line will
be erased only when democracy and freedom are defended with the same
resolve whether in Paris, Berlin, Prague, or Gdansk.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">True integration is
integration that takes place in the minds and hearts of Europeans. The
enlargement of NATO is a crucial element of this process, but it is only a
means toward this end. Enlarging NATO is not only about admitting a
particular country from our region; it is also about crossing the
psychological Rubicon and opening the Atlantic community's door to all
nations in Central and Eastern Europe, to make NATO truly and fully a
Euro-Atlantic community.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<CENTER>
<H4><B><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">OPENING THE DOOR TO
ALL DEMOCRATIC STATES</FONT></FONT></B></H4></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">The decisions on
enlargement that we expect, the recent signing of the NATO-Russia Founding
Act, the upcoming signing of the NATO-Ukraine Charter, and the launching
of the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council are all necessary components in
the creation of a common, secure home for all nations in this part of the
world. I believe that there is room in this home for all peace-loving,
democratic states that share the values and goals on which NATO was
founded. Enlargement will open the door to this home and provide an
historic chance for all nations in Central and Eastern Europe--those who
will be invited to join NATO and those who will not, as well as those who
want to join NATO and those who do not.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Creating the truly
undivided and free Europe that we envisage may take a long time. But even
the longest journey begins with a first step. The step that NATO will take
in Madrid is the right one and it is in the right direction.</FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Let me reiterate that the
enlargement of NATO threatens no one; to the contrary, it expands the area
of security and stability that is an indispensable condition for peaceful
development of democracy and a market economy. Every one of the past
Alliance enlargements widened this space, facilitated new members'
political and economic development, and strengthened the entire Atlantic
community. We expect NATO to continue doing this work in our part of the
Continent, because it has been not only the most successful military
alliance in history, but also an effective catalyst of domestic
development and international cooperation and integration.</FONT></FONT>
</P>
<CENTER>
<H4><B><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">THE BENEFITS OF
NATO'S PRESENCE</FONT></FONT></B></H4></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">NATO's presence in our
broadly defined region will also help to prevent a resurgence of those
international behavior patterns that in the past won Eastern Europe the
name of "powder keg." In addition it will help to address old as
well as new risks and challenges to security, to which states undergoing
rapid transformation are especially vulnerable. These challenges include
organized crime, terrorism, trafficking of drugs and nuclear materials,
and serious economic disturbances that can produce political instability
and social tension such as that recently witnessed in Albania. Ethnic and
territorial disputes, for decades suppressed by the realities of the Cold
War, are also still a potential seed of instability in Europe, as
demonstrated by the dramatic developments in the former Yugoslavia. But
there the NATO-led IFOR-SFOR operation created conditions for a peaceful
settlement of the conflict. This operation is tangible proof of NATO's
continuing significance and of the vitality of its principles of
solidarity and cooperation, supported by its military might in the service
of peace.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Now the Alliance has a new
challenge awaiting it outside its current borders. But enlargement will
give NATO new strength and add a new meaning to its historic mission. I
hope that its future successes will match those of its past.</FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Just the promise of
enlargement has already done a great deal for stability and security in
Central and Eastern Europe. Relations between Hungary and Romania, Hungary
and Slovakia, Romania and Ukraine, and Poland and Lithuania, to name just
a few, have all benefited. And the prospect of enlargement, along with the
development of the Partnership for Peace Program, has helped develop
initiatives concerning regional and bilateral political and military
cooperation among several nations of our region. The Euro-Atlantic
Partnership Council and the enhanced PFP, which is providing a new,
improved political framework and new forms of military cooperation, will
encourage additional initiatives of this kind. The promise of enlargement
has also helped consolidate democracy in several states by encouraging
thorough reforms of their defense systems to bring them in line with
modern democratic standards.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Even before enlargement,
NATO--with its values and principles, its spirit of cooperation and
friendship--is present in Eastern and Central Europe. It would take a
great deal of ill will to see anything negative in this presence.</FONT></FONT>
</P>
<CENTER>
<H4><B><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">CONCLUDING REMARKS</FONT></FONT></B></H4></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">"Nothing can bring
you peace but the triumph of principles," 19th-century American poet
R. W. Emerson has said. NATO's success has resulted from the triumph of
principles over more than a thousand years of conflict and war in Europe.
But it was not the formalizing of the Washington Treaty that brought about
this success. Rather, it was the unity of values shared by its signatories
and the perfect combination of military power and political and moral
principles that they instituted. I believe that the same principles to
which NATO owes its current success will now bring lasting peace,
security, and stability to our region.</FONT></FONT> </P>
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