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Where there is no law, but every man does what is right in his own eyes, there is the least of real liberty
Henry M. Robert

Madeline ALBRIGHT: Ukraine will be the object of special attention at the Washington NATO Summit

27 April, 1999 - 00:00

Madeline ALBRIGHT, US State Secretary
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization was forged in the aftermath of the
Second World War and the Holocaust by the survivors of war to prevent war.
It reflected the determination to defend freedoms won at so great a cost
and an understanding that while weakness invites aggression, strength is
a parent of peace. NATO will mark its fiftieth anniversary with a summit
in Washington April 23-25, including our World War II ally and current
partner country, Ukraine.

During its first four decades, NATO's might deterred conflict in the
heart of Europe, the scene of so much past horror. In part because of NATO,
the Cold War ended as this decade began. Alliance leaders confronted a
new set of questions. President Clinton and his counterparts have taken
steps to modernize and strengthen the Alliance, prepare it for new missions,
invite new members, establish partnerships with the region's new and developing
democracies, and develop strategies for the future.

Today in Kosovo, NATO is responding to a real post-Cold War threat to
its values and interests. By acting on behalf of justice and peace in Kosovo,
we are reaffirming NATO's core purpose as a defender of democracy, stability,
and basic human decency. We are saddened and outraged by the terrible human
suffering we see: the long lines of refugees, the cries for loved ones
missing or lost, the cold-blooded butchery. But make no mistake. The atrocities
committed by Serb forces in Kosovo were not the result of NATO bombing;
they were the reason NATO had to act.

Let us be clear about what is at stake. Kosovo is a small part of a
region with great historical importance and a vital role to play in Europe's
future. The region is a major artery between Europe, Asia, and the Middle
East. World War I began in Southeast Europe, and major battles of World
War II were fought there. Today, this region is a critical missing piece
in the puzzle of a Europe whole and free.

We must stand together and act together, as allies when allied action
is called for; and as friends and partners in helping to shape a more stable,
prosperous, and lawful world. The Washington Summit will show how much
NATO values its relationships with all of the developing democracies throughout
the region.

Ukraine will receive special attention in Washington. The NATO-Ukraine
Commission Summit - the first summit with a partner country in the history
of the alliance - symbolizes the distinctive partnership between Ukraine
and NATO. Ukraine's choice to work closely with NATO promotes regional
stability and prosperity in Europe and highlights Ukraine's growing leadership
role on the global stage.

At the Washington Summit, our leaders will unveil a revised Strategic
Concept for the alliance that will take into account the variety of future
dangers NATO may confront. They will commit NATO to developing military
forces that can perform the full spectrum of alliance missions.

These include NATO's core mission, the ability to deal with aggression
committed directly against one or more NATO members. They include other
potential operations, such as those now ongoing in Bosnia and Kosovo. They
differ, day to night, from the kind of all-out defense of Europe for which
the alliance prepared for so long.

Such operations will likely differ in size and length from missions
undertaken in collective self-defense. Hopefully, they will be rare. They
may be conducted jointly with partners or with other non-allied nations.

At the summit, our leaders will have the opportunity to take these partnerships
such as Ukraine's to a new level. They will consider a framework to guide
partner participation in planning, deciding, and implementing certain Alliance
missions. They will announce a plan to upgrade the forces that partners
will have available for future NATO-led operations. The result will be
a NATO with wider military options and partner countries with enhanced
military capabilities - together multiplying NATO strength by the strengths
of its partners to arrive at the product of peace.

NATO's actions are never directed against a particular people but against
aggression, terror, and chaos. We are building a future that erases, not
replaces, the divisions of the past. Destiny is no longer determined by
geography. Nations are deciding their own fates. At the Washington Summit,
NATO leaders will welcome this progress and affirm that the door to the
alliance remains open. They will announce a concrete plan to help prepare
potential new members to meet NATO's standards. They will assure aspiring
members that they will be judged by what they can contribute to the Alliance,
not by where they sit on the map.

We must reaffirm our faith in the ability of men and women, working
together across national and ethnic lines, to forge a future better than
the past. That faith inspired NATO's founders when they assembled in Washington
fifty years ago; it guides NATO's actions today. Together with our partners,
NATO's intent is to develop a security system that will embrace the region
and enable children on both sides of the Atlantic to grow up and grow old
in freedom, security, and peace.

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