SLOVENIA AND NATO
Dr Dimitrij Rupel, Minister of Foreign Affairs
The tragic events that occurred in the USA on 11 September 2001
dramatically changed the world. The war against terrorism is not a
conventional interstate conflict, such as was known in the past. It is
a fight against extremist groups operating outside state control, and
a fight against regimes that harbour terrorists. There can be no
understanding and justification of terrorism. Terrorists do not
respect international treaties, by which the civilised world is
governed, but rather aggressively attempt to undermine the foundations
of international order by killing innocent people. We in Slovenia are
convinced, both in principle and in practice, that international
solidarity is necessary in the fight against terrorism. The highest
values - peace, freedom and the rule of law - are threatened. We in
Slovenia regard this time as a challenge, in which we have joined the
majority of democratic countries in the antiterrorist coalition, thus
contributing to the protection of these values.
Threats to peace and the values that we cherish have become
extremely dangerous and real. We must not underestimate them. The
European Union and NATO are the two pillars, the two leading
international organisations guaranteeing peace, freedom and the rule
of law. Particularly small nations, such as Slovenia, can find
favourable conditions for their cultural, economic and political
development within such organisations.
Slovenia's strategic goal is to join both. While the EU will soon
be able to take on crisis management tasks, to which Slovenia will
also contribute, the only defence organisation capable of providing
collective defence is the North Atlantic Alliance. While membership
in NATO will provide collective defence to Slovenia and at the same
time favourably affect its internal stability and the maintenance of a
democratic system, Slovenia, as an Ally, will be able to contribute
even more to security and stability of Europe than at the present
time. NATO is based on the victorious tradition of the anti-fascist
fight during World War Two, of which the Slovenian Resistance was also
part, and on the limiting of communist expansion during the Cold
war. The NATO of today is a modern and democratic defence
organisation, which has at its disposal the most efficient means of
protection against biological, chemical, nuclear and other forms of
terrorist destruction. But above all, NATO is based on the solidarity
of its members. By integrating into NATO, Slovenia will join the club
of the economically, politically and militarily best developed
countries.
As the most southern part of Central Europe Slovenia lies at an
important meeting point with both Mediterranean Europe and South-East
Europe. Slovenia is a link between Italy and Hungary, both NATO
members. This geographic and strategic position makes Slovenia the
gate to South-East Europe and allows it to act as a herald and
interpreter of the Transatlantic Policy in this region. Slovenia also
has vast knowledge of the cultures, ethnic diversities and problems in
Central and South-East Europe. On the other hand, Slovenia can offer
special military knowledge that can be used, for example, in the
alpine environment.
Slovenia has carefully planned and implemented a range of
activities in order to meet the necessary criteria for NATO membership
since 1994 when it joined Partnership for Peace. In 1998, the
Government adopted the National Strategy for Integration of the
Republic of Slovenia into NATO, which was also approved by the
National Assembly. In September 1999, the Government adopted the first
Annual National Programme for the Implementation of the Membership
Action Plan. On the basis of the assessment of implementation of the
previous two Membership Action Plans and NATO's Progress Reports on
the Participation of Slovenia, the Government adopted, in September
2001, the third Annual National Programme for 2001 - 2002 and
submitted it to NATO.
The Government is striving to gain overall national approval for
its endeavours to join NATO. Public support in Slovenia has remained
at a relatively high level. We have been maintaining since 1994 a
political consensus with regard to accession to NATO. All political
parties in the Parliament with the only exception of a smaller
opposition party support this project.
At the Washington Summit in 1999, NATO confirmed its commitment to
the further enlargement in compliance with its principle of the
"Open-Door Policy". Slovenia expects to receive an
invitation to NATO membership at the Prague Summit in November 2002.
Membership of NATO brings advantages but also obligations. In order
to fulfil these obligations we need to continue vigorously with
defence reforms with the goal to transform the oversized and
reserve-based armed forces of the past into small, modern, flexible
and highly professional armed forces of the future. Our defence reform
and indeed the entire defence planning system that Slovenia is putting
in place is on the one hand driven by real capabilities Slovenia needs
to deliver for our own defence, for the participation in the
collective defence of the Alliance and for crisis response
operations. On the other hand it is based on a realistic and
affordable projection of Slovenian defence spending in the coming
years.
2002 will be crucial for implementation of the Membership Action
Plan and for our endeavours to join NATO. We will only maintain the
credibility necessary for integration into the Euroatlantic structures
if we promptly and efficiently respond to the challenges confronted by
the modern world.
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