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<TITLE>Zoran Thaler</TITLE>
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<CENTER><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+3">Slovenia
as a Factor of European Stability</FONT></FONT></FONT></CENTER>
<CENTER><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000"><FONT SIZE="+2">Foreign
Minister of Slovenia Zoran Thaler</FONT></FONT></FONT></CENTER>
<CENTER>
<H4><B><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">SLOVENIA'S STRATEGIC
LOCATION</FONT></FONT></B></H4> </CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">With the Mediterranean to
its south and the Balkans to its southeast, Slovenia is situated at a
strategic junction of Western and Central Europe, whose southeastern area
has the potential of becoming a hotbed of crisis. As it has been
throughout history, Slovenia remains a kind of Fulda Gap to a southern
theater of war, through which major North-South and East-West lines of
communication run.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Slovenia, however, like
other countries of Central and Eastern Europe, does not now face either a
direct or an indirect military threat to its national security. Like other
countries of the region, Slovenia faces non-military challenges and
dangers that have appeared along the rim of Europe.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">The same cannot be said of
our neighbors to the southeast, a point illustrated by the war in Bosnia
and Herzegovina. There the major threat to security, peace, and stability
has been military force, the reasons for which are numerous and are
becoming better understood. While IFOR and SFOR troops did stop the war
there, difficulties implementing the political portion of the Dayton
Agreement are precluding an assessment that might prevent hostilities from
reoccurring. We therefore support the efforts being made towards finding a
permanent political solution, which I discussed recently with President
Izetbegovic and other leaders in Sarajevo. But while the international
community, particularly those countries contributing forces to IFOR,
accepted relatively easily the extension and modification of the SFOR
mandate, it is not at all certain that we can expect such an extension
again in 1998. It would be worthwhile, we therefore believe, to begin
considering "the schedule for '98" now, both its civil and
military components.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<CENTER>
<H4><B><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">THE NEED FOR
INTERNATIONAL COOPERATION</FONT></FONT></B></H4></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Post-Cold War security
must be based on the principle of cooperation. Throughout its existence,
Slovenia has clearly expressed its willingness to participate in
international endeavors aimed at neutralizing security challenges and
reestablishing stability. In the interlinked world of today, a serious
security challenge poses a threat--in one way or another--to all
countries, and so it is in the interest of all countries to participate,
within their capabilities, in the elimination of security challenges.</FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">However, it is the primary
interest of every country to eliminate the security challenges to its own
region. This includes not only actively responding to such challenges when
they occur but particularly creating conditions that will prevent such
challenges from occurring. Prevention cannot always be accomplished,
however, when past problems are so numerous that they require additional
countries' involvement.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<CENTER>
<H4><B><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">SLOVENIAN
ACHIEVEMENTS</FONT></FONT></B></H4></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Slovenia will soon be
celebrating the sixth anniversary of its birth. Though young, Slovenia is
internally stable and willing to cooperate, two factors that can help it
promote stability in the region. Within a short period of time, we have
been able to establish a system and regulate internal affairs in a way
that has enabled us to consolidate security. This accomplishment is best
illustrated in Slovenia's fulfillment of the criteria set by NATO for
countries interested in joining its ranks.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<CENTER>
<H4><B><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Internal Stability</FONT></FONT></B></H4></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">I should like to stress
that our internal stability derives greatly from our successful economic
development. The success of our economic restructuring can also be seen in
our GDP per inhabitant, which amounted to US$9,300 in 1996. This high
level of economic development places Slovenia first among the states in
transition.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<CENTER>
<H4><B><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">International
Involvement</FONT></FONT></B></H4></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">To deal with potential
crises in the region, Slovenia has followed a policy of active involvement
in international efforts towards stabilization and the establishment of
security, taking into account historic limitations. Since March 1996, we
have participated in the endeavors of the CSCE, and later of the OSCE,
aimed at settling problems in Southeastern Europe, particularly in Bosnia
and Herzegovina. Slovenia was the first among the states of the former
Yugoslavia to transparently provide information concerning its armed
forces. We also respected the embargo--though it was unfair--on the import
of arms and military equipment; put forward numerous initiatives
concerning Bosnia and Herzegovina (e.g., "the safe areas"); and
assisted in carrying out regional security consultations and in gaining
control over and disarming the belligerent parties. We were also engaged
in similar activities as a U.N. member-state.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<CENTER>
<H4><B><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Participation in
IFOR, SFOR, and Operation Alba</FONT></FONT></B></H4></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Slovenia joined the IFOR
operation at the very beginning, with the agreement regarding transit
arrangements--transit that is still underway within the SFOR operation.
From December 20, 1995, when the agreement went into effect, to June 11,
1997, approximately 700 IFOR/SFOR convoys crossed Slovenian territory, and
several hundred flights took place over our land. When the Dayton
Agreement established the political-security preconditions necessary for
greater Slovenian involvement in SFOR, my country offered to support SFOR
with its helicopters, medical facilities, and military airport in Cerklje.
Since modalities of the Agreement have now been brought into line, we hope
that our pilots will soon start to carry out SFOR tasks.</FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Slovenia is also supplying
its sanitary corps to the Alba operation in Albania. In this regard I
would like to note that, despite its brief existence and despite the fact
that the structures for participation in peace-support operations are only
now being formed, the Slovenian army has succeeded in joining with the
armies of other countries to carry out this important mission.</FONT></FONT>
</P>
<CENTER>
<H4><B><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Regional
Relationships</FONT></FONT></B></H4></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Regional efforts cannot be
directed only towards prevention. They must also strive to establish
cooperative security activities to dispel mistrust and strengthen ties
between the neighboring countries. Regional efforts should also enable
participating countries to enhance their ability to take part in
peace-support operations.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">To this end, Slovenia has
established exemplary relationships with all of its neighbors, a fact with
which NATO, as a result of discussions and individual dialogues, concurs.
Slovenia also has established relationships with countries to the
southeast, particularly Bosnia, Herzegovina, the Former Yugoslav Republic
of Macedonia, and Albania. Certain issues still exist between Slovenia and
Croatia, but these are being solved through dialogue and negotiations
between the two states, and do not involve risks to security. An offer to
normalize relations and establish diplomatic relations was made to Serbia
(FRY), but we are still awaiting their answer. The common problem of
succession issues regarding the former Yugoslavia is being solved within
the international framework of EU.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">In fall 1996, Slovenia
established trilateral cooperation with Italy and Hungary. This
cooperation has not only laid the foundation for long-term stability in
this part of Europe, but has also enabled the three countries' joint
participation in efforts to neutralize security challenges of the
post-Cold War period. Under the auspices of this trilateral security
arrangement, a joint search and rescue exercise has been carried out by
Slovenia and Italy. A joint exercise involving all three countries is
planned for 1997, and discussions are underway concerning the formation of
a joint military unit. As part of security-defense cooperation, the three
countries' Defense Ministers met in Ljubljana in April 1997.</FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">Our cooperative security
experiences have already contributed to the strengthening of regional
security and stability, and have confirmed our belief that regional
cooperation represents the territorial nucleus of the new European
security architecture. Regional cooperation cannot, of course, replace the
enlarged NATO that is envisioned. It can, however, serve as an appropriate
framework for supporting that enlargement.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<CENTER>
<H4><B><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">NATO ENLARGEMENT MUST
PROJECT STABILITY</FONT></FONT></B></H4></CENTER>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">We do not consider NATO
enlargement to be a separate issue from the broader context of
Euro-Atlantic security and its new arrangement. We see it as part of the
process of forming a much larger, all-encompassing strategy for
strengthening security by projecting stability from the West to the East
and the South of Europe. This process is driving the internal
transformation of NATO into the so-called New NATO, an organization able
to respond to the challenges created by the admission of new members, to
establish significant relationships with those who wish to enter NATO but
are unable as yet to do so, and to settle NATO's relationships with the
Russian Federation and Ukraine. The prospect of NATO membership has
already greatly contributed to settling numerous open bilateral questions
and issues for the countries in transition.</FONT></FONT> </P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">As NATO enlarges, it will
be crucial for European security that enlargement take place in a balanced
manner and include countries in strategic areas that can project stability
toward areas of potential crisis. Such an approach would help to eliminate
crises and not just provide a reactive defense mechanism for crisis
containment. I hope that the enlargement strategy will actively project
stability and not passively contain the current security challenges.</FONT></FONT>
</P>
<P><FONT FACE="Palatino"><FONT COLOR="#000000">If enlargement does not
include countries close to areas that are sources of tension and
instability, security threats to the region, and exporters of
destabilizing factors that can affect all of Europe, we must ask an
important question: "Will such an enlargement attain its objective of
a higher level of security and stability?" If stable countries that
are not security receivers are left out, a dividing line between stable
countries will be unnecessarily drawn. NATO enlargement would thus
artificially limit the area of stability instead of consolidating the
existing one. Such an outcome would be detrimental to both the stability
of the countries beyond the line and to that of the region as well.</FONT></FONT>
</P>
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