Speech by the Minister of Foreign Affairs dr Dimitrij Rupel at the
ceremonial meeting of the North Atlantic Council
Brussels, 2 April 2004
Secretary General, dear colleagues, excellencies, friends!
Let me first admit that today is a historic and a happy day for
Slovenia and for me personally. It is another springtime of my
nation. We called the spring days of 1989 - Slovenian spring.
I remember the days when Slovenia, still a part of socialist
Yugoslavia, started its democratic process. I remember my secret
private meeting with a high representative of NATO here in Brussels
back in 1991. We have come a long way!
Second, I would like to thank the members of the Alliance and the
NATO Secretariat for the help and advice given during the Membership
Action Plan process, as well as during the whole accession period.
Our membership in this leading and successful security Alliance
means the beginning of new and extended efforts to increase our
abilities to participate in joint international efforts to project
security and stability into the troubled regions. Slovenia has already
demonstrated its role of a security producer and a reliable partner by
supporting unreservedly the operations and policy of the Alliance and
by participating actively in all NATO operations.
Joining the Membership of Slovenia in NATO was a national project,
sweeping across the broad political spectrum. In March last year, the
citizens of Slovenia showed in the best possible way Slovenian
commitment to Trans-Atlantic cooperation and to its values. At the
referendum, the Slovenian voters convincingly - 66,8% in favour -
supported our country's membership in NATO. It is my opinion that,
thanks to the referendum and the activities that accompanied it, the
people of Slovenia are now well aware of the significance of modern
security environment and of being a NATO member.
The Trans-Atlantic link is one of the key elements of European
security and stability. It has reached its highest level of
institutional cooperation through NATO. The most efficient and,
ultimately, the only possible way of confronting security threats of
modern times is to confront them jointly.
We believe that the essential contribution of Slovenia should be in
our neighbourhood. NATO was the only organization which managed to end
violence in the Western Balkans and, by doing that, it has indirectly
contributed to Slovenia's peace and stability. We would like to
continue our close cooperation with the Alliance by contributing and
sharing our experience and knowledge on the Western Balkans.
We firmly support NATO's open door policy. Slovenia as a NATO
member is willing and ready to assist all those countries that want to
join the Alliance in their endeavors to fulfill the
criteria. Enlargements have successfully extended the area of
stability into those parts of Europe that throughout history generated
considerable instability and insecurity.
Recent events have unfortunately demonstrated that the Western
Balkans region as a whole has not yet reached a level of
self-sustainable stability, and therefore NATO's continuing role in
the area is still crucial. The Alliance has to retain its physical
presence in the region as long as situation requires so. Slovenia has
clearly demonstrated its commitment to the peace and security of that
area, by having our troops engaged in NATO-led SFOR and KFOR. At the
same point I would like to stress that our commitment is not limited
to the Western Balkans. Slovenia is also participating in the
NATO-led operation ISAF in Afghanistan and has expressed its readiness
to expand its presence in ISAF.
One of the ways for NATO to optimize its efficiency is to cooperate
even more closely with other regional organizations, e.g. the EU and
the OSCE. Their complementary roles provide a key to successful
international engagement in the troubled regions. As Chairman in
Office of the OSCE in 2005 Slovenia will strive for closer cooperation
between both organizations.
NATO has to be agile and flexible in order to cope with the
security unpredictability of the 21st century. The Summit in Istanbul
provides us a good opportunity to act resolutely and responsibly in
our efforts to address the security challenges which represent an
imminent as well as long term threat to our own security and
stability.
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