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

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.