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<TITLE>Romanian President Emil Constantinescu's Address to the 15th NATO
Workshop in Vienna, Austria, in June 1998.</TITLE>
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CONTENT="Romanian President Emil Constantinescu's address to the 15th NATO Workshop in the Hofburg Palace,
Vienna, Austria in June, 1998. President Constantinescu describes European security, its legacies, and future challenges
including crisis prevention and the effects of NATO's enlargement.
The NATO Workshop Chairmen were SACEUR General Wesley Clark and Roger Weissinger-Baylon.">
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CONTENT="Romania, President of Romania, Emil Constantinescu, emil constantinescu, NATO, NATO Workshop, NATO expansion,
NATO enlargement, crisis prevention, General Wesley Clark, Roger Weissinger-Baylon">
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<BODY LINK="0000ff" BGPROPERTIES="FIXED" BGCOLOR="ffffff"><BASEFONT SIZE="3">
<P ALIGN="CENTER"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="6" FACE="Arial">European
Security: Legacies of the Past,<BR>
Challenges for the Future </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="CENTER"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="4" FACE="Arial">President of
Romania Emil Constantinescu<A HREF="0_FN0.htm"><SUP></SUP></A></FONT>
</P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">Any analysis of European
security, for today as well as for the future, should begin with the fall
of the Berlin Wall in 1989 and continue through the gradual establishment
of democratic regimes in almost all the countries in Eastern and Central
Europe. These events, which brought a final end to the Cold War, have
redefined the European security issue, radically changing both the scene
and the actors. The fall of the Communist regimes in Central and Eastern
Europe, the reunification of Germany, and the dismantlement of the Warsaw
Pact and of the Soviet Union are all elements that marked the end of the
bipolar political, military, and ideological structure of the continent.
With these events Europe proclaimed its commitment to the common values of
pluralist democracy, human rights, and a market economy. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">This process of events
denotes great progress for humanity, putting, as it has, an end to the
repression that mutilated our history in the last half century as well as
an end to conflict between states and a beginning to creative dialogue.
But ending this somber period in European history has greatly changed the
European security landscape. European security today—and even more so
tomorrow—must be one and indivisible. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="CENTER"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3" FACE="Arial"><B>A NEW
SITUATION IN EUROPE</B> </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">As long as Europe was
divided, European security was also divisible. The traditional division of
Europe, inherited from the 19th century, led to quite different destinies
for the Western and Eastern parts of the continent. Following the Second
World War, the West, united by the North Atlantic Alliance and
increasingly by the European Community, began solving the conflicts that
had formerly seemed to be unsolvable. But in Eastern Europe, the
domination of the USSR only froze in place old antagonisms or brought
about new ones. Spared domestic outbursts because of a solid and
democratic system of alliances, Western Europe was able to simplify,
forget, or calmly observe the conflicts in “the other Europe,”
which did not directly, politically or militarily, affect its security.
This is why the West felt at most disturbed, certainly not threatened,
when Hungary and Czechoslovakia were invaded. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">The disappearance of
bipolarism led to a new situation in Europe. Instead of being confronted
by a seemingly uniform bloc, the Warsaw Treaty countries, the West found
itself confronted, in the East, by an infinite number of diverse
conflicts: ethnic, religious, political, national. If NATO had decided to
remain inflexible at that point and if the European Union had concentrated
only on its internal construction, leaving Central and Eastern Europe
submerged in violence and chaos, Eastern Europe would have been doomed to
ruin. And it would not have been long before Western Europe began slipping
down the slope of antagonisms. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="CENTER"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3" FACE="Arial"><B>THE
EFFECTS OF ENLARGEMENT</B> </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">This disastrous scenario did
not happen because NATO and the European Union decided to enlarge,
fulfilling the most profound aspirations of the restored Central European
democracies—unification and dialogue. NATO and the EU have replaced
competitive protectorates with their own organizations, which, over the
past 40 years, have built, step by step, peace and cooperation between
Germany and France, between Austria and Italy, between great and tiny
states. NATO and the European Union have offered to our countries a model,
a common goal, a code of conduct in domestic and foreign policy.
Integration suddenly became the common major project of one and all, the
fundamental common aspiration, the great historical opportunity, in
exchange for which NATO and Europe demanded but one thing: the exercise of
democracy, eliminating any potential source of conflict at the regional
level. The will of the peoples of Central Europe to share the values of
the great European democratic traditions has become an extraordinary
engine for building cooperation and a European security architecture that
is based on solidarity. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="CENTER"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3" FACE="Arial"><B>THE NEW
EUROPEAN SECURITY STRUCTURE</B> </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">Because of this will,
European security today is defined by a wide spectrum of states, including
members of the North Atlantic Alliance and WEU; states aspiring to this
double membership; countries that have a special relationship with NATO,
such as the Russian Federation and Ukraine; countries that, as part of the
Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, are committed <I>de
jure</I> to the decisions of this organization; and nations that do not
belong to OSCE and therefore take advantage of the situation by failing to
observe the common principles of European security. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">Although very diverse, we
must be careful not to fall into the logical—at times even
ideological—trap of confusing this new architecture <I>in statu
nascendi</I> with chaos. On the contrary, I believe such diversity holds a
promise for the future: a Europe joined in solidarity that can become a
reality through the equal commitment and equal political will of all the
people. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">Conflicts today that occur
in Eastern European countries are no longer looked at with indifference
from the other side of the former Berlin Wall. The intervention that took
place in Bosnia is glaring proof that European security is now
indivisible, and continues to evolve along an ever-more-direct path
towards proactive, not reactive, strategies. We are moving on from ad-hoc
answers to crisis prevention. But the construction of preventive
mechanisms is not easy; one needs a global balance that is difficult to
achieve. But one lesson of the past 50 years is that the only efficient
mechanism—and the only one bearable in terms of material and human
costs—is prevention. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="CENTER"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3" FACE="Arial"><B>CRISIS-PREVENTION
MECHANISMS</B> </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">To prevent crises that may
threaten European stability, it is necessary to look at two main issues:
identifying the new types of risks, and identifying the organizations and
structures capable of managing the potential for conflict. As for the
risks, I have never ceased to warn that the most explosive source of
conflict today is that of national communism. Unfortunately, this
assertion has been confirmed more than once, especially in the area of the
Former Yugoslavia. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">We Romanians are more
sensitive than other peoples to the always delicate problems of relations
between majority populations and ethnic minorities. That sensitivity has
now been translated into something unique in Europe—an ethnic
minority party, the Hungarian one, participates in our government. It has
also been translated, at another level, into a clearer understanding of
the nature of contemporary inter-ethnic conflicts in Eastern or
Southeastern Europe—which are not dead, no matter what some may
believe. But in order for such conflicts to become a danger, in order to
keep the flame of conflict burning, they need a number of key ingredients.
</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">Inter-ethnic conflict is
born from a deficiency of democracy—from a lack of minority rights to
a lack of inter-ethnic communication, from diverging political interests
of the majority and the minority to conflicting mythology and the
substitution of monologues and arbitrariness for flexible negotiations.
Such elements can lead to the eruption of conflict, but for conflict to
last, something else is needed: groups capable of acquiring weapons—in
other words, groups that are economically powerful and/or enjoy strong
economic support—that thrive on chaos, crime, and death. These groups
are, invariably, representatives of those Communist structures that are
incapable of adapting to the new context. Whether they are representatives
of the political police or of the single party, these remnants of the
Communist nomenklatura foment not only violent nationalistic discourse,
but also criminal violence under the guise of nationalistic demagogy. And
though a remnant, national communism is the scourge of the very positive
transition we are experiencing. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">Preventing the deadly
outbreak of conflict cannot be limited to simplistic statements about the
nationalistic traditions in Eastern Europe—both because the East does
not hold a monopoly on such tendencies and especially because we do not
always understand how to prevent the disease itself. But as a major part
of prevention, NATO and EU enlargement—in other words, the
dissemination of the values these organizations protect and symbolize—is
critical. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">Romania’s main goal
remains that of reducing the potential for violence and the deficiency of
democracy, along with actively promoting dialogue and mutual respect. We
have a long way to go, but at least in Romania, we have been extremely
productive. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">Along with nationalistic
demagogy, another threat of danger, which evolved from the transition
process in the former Communist states in Europe, is linked to economic
hardship. Countries in transition are strongly affected by international
instability, which weakens their domestic order and the reform process.
Our region is currently undergoing, on various levels, a difficult
political and economic reform process aimed at establishing a democratic
and prosperous society. We must set forward today the objective of
supporting this democratization process in Central and Eastern Europe, the
success of which is key to ensuring the stability of the whole continent.
</FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">The threats to European
security today are different from what they were in the bipolar world;
they are no longer focused on inter-state conflict, but rather on new
types of challenges, as NATO understood back in 1991. The present
globalization phenomenon, while providing multiple positive effects, also
gives rise to new challenges to security and stability. Smuggling,
organized crime, terrorism, illegal migration, economic instability, and
threats to the environment are only some of the current consequences of
greater freedom of movement and an increase in interdependence. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="CENTER"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3" FACE="Arial"><B>REDEFINING
SECURITY</B> </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">The regional security
structures—NATO, OSCE, WEU—are currently adapting to the new
realities of our time and endeavoring to identify new means for crisis
prevention. To this end, all European states, whether present or potential
members of these organizations, should contribute to the collective
effort. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">The concept of security
itself is also undergoing a transformation process. Whereas in the past it
focused on the military-strategic component, today it is more and more
oriented toward economic, political, and environmental aspects. We must
all participate in this process of redefining our continent’s
security. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">The starting point should be
the assessment of trends in the evolution of the international system—facing
the challenges of globalization, especially taking into account the limits
it imposes on the national state and the importance it bestows on
integrated spaces, the supranational actors, and civilian society. Central
and Eastern European foreign policy should be tied to the logic of
cooperation and preventive diplomacy. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="CENTER"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3" FACE="Arial"><B>ROMANIA’S
CONTRIBUTIONS TO EUROPEAN SECURITY</B> </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">The goal of the Central and
Eastern European states to integrate with the European and Euro-Atlantic
structures stems from the fundamental post-Communist belief in shared
Western values. This belief has helped to redefine NATO’s Strategic
Concept, transforming NATO from an instrument of collective defense for
the territory of member-states to an instrument for defending their
security interests. Such a concept illustrates the point that states
geographically close to NATO’s borders are no longer seen as
potential enemies, but rather as potential allies. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">Romania, in accordance with
its vocation and national interest, is firmly on the path toward
integration with NATO and the European Union. Because of this goal,
Romania is sensitive to the attempts to create new dividing lines in
Europe, as well as to the theory, based on cultural or religious
determinism, that limits democratic values, the state of law, and a market
economy to only certain European countries, excluding others. A Europe
divided into power centers and one that excludes states on its peripheries
has generated conflicts. It is clear that a divided Europe endangers the
security of the continent. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">In addition to its belief in
shared Western values, Romania’s bid for NATO membership is also
based on the belief that NATO, through its force, values, and the dynamism
of its adaptation process, continues to be the organization most capable
of undertaking the new risks and challenges to security and stability. And
Romania believes that it can contribute to this undertaking by making its
own contribution to regional security. In this context, it acts as a
pillar of stability and security in the region, actively helping to
alleviate potential regional instability sources by continually developing
relations with countries in the region and through joint management of
cross-border threats. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">Romania also seeks to
increase confidence in and cooperation with its neighbors. Several
political treaties have already led to enhanced bilateral cooperation, and
Romania has initiated trilateral cooperation patterns with states in the
region as a new means of coordinating efforts to solve concrete issues.
These measures have already produced promising results in such fields as
infrastructure and the establishment of Euro-regions. On the issue of
fighting organized crime, Romania has deepened its position as a security
provider in the region through such initiatives as the establishment, in
Bucharest, of a <I>SECI Regional Center for combating organized crime and
corruption</I>. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">By participating in
subregional structures—the Black Sea Economic Cooperation (BSEC), the
Central European Free Trade Agreement (CEFTA), the Central European
Initiative (CEI), and the Southeast Europe Cooperation Initiative (SECI)—Romania
contributes to strengthening economic and political cooperation among the
states in the region. Romania is also endeavoring to increase military
cooperation with the countries in the region, the most recent effort in
this respect being Romania’s participation in the<I> Southeastern
European Multinational Peace Force</I>. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">Through such actions,
Romania seeks to do more than just ensure its own security. We also hope
to set up a security regime based on NATO values that could help Romania
and other countries in the region prepare for NATO membership. Because of
its pragmatic nature, this type of network would not duplicate the work of
other institutions and bureaucratic structures, but promote preventive
efforts that could be adapted on a case-by-case basis. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">Romania has already
participated in several peacekeeping missions and is ready to contribute
further to enhancing security and stability on the continent. We reiterate
our willingness to participate in international efforts under the U.N.
mandate aimed at reconstructing and stabilizing the region that includes
Albania, Bosnia, and Kosovo. </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="CENTER"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3" FACE="Arial"><B>CONCLUDING
REMARKS</B> </FONT></P>
<P ALIGN="LEFT"><FONT COLOR="000000" SIZE="3">The answers to the questions
that we are asking today pertaining to the establishment of a peaceful and
prosperous environment on the continent should be expressed in the voice
of the solidarity that unites us. The elements that divide us should not
become a source of conflict, but rather the legacy of European diversity
and creative intercultural dialogue. Today, Europe has the chance to unite
and to forge a common security architecture, one without divisions or
sources of conflict. We can do this by replacing the former centers of
domination with the future centers of progress. We have a unique chance.
It is up to all of us to keep this window of opportunity from closing.
</FONT></P>
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