[Congressional Record Volume 143, Number 27 (Wednesday, March 5, 1997)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1975-S1976]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




               HUNGARY'S PROGRESS TOWARD NATO MEMBERSHIP

  Mr. BIDEN. Mr. President, today I will deliver the first in a series 
of statements on the theme of NATO enlargement. In the next 4 months 
leading up to the Madrid Summit in July, I will examine the rationale 
for NATO's admitting new members, which countries appear to be leading 
candidates for admittance to the alliance, how NATO and Russia can 
define a new relationship, the responsibilities of our European allies 
in the process, and how to share the costs of enlargement fairly.
  Mr. President, as many of our colleagues are aware, the distinguished 
foreign Minister of the Republic of Hungary, Laszlo Kovacs is in 
Washington this week for a series of meetings. I would like to take the 
occasion of the foreign Minister's visit to note the progress that 
Hungary has made toward meeting the criteria for membership in the 
North Atlantic Treaty Organization and to thank his government for the 
assistance it has provided to our forces involved in the Bosnia 
mission.
  Mr. President, the foreign Ministers from the 16 NATO members will 
meet in Madrid in early July to decide which Central European 
democracies should be invited to begin accession negotiations with the 
Alliance.
  In the NATO Enlargement Facilitation Act of 1996, Congress named 
Hungary--along with Poland, Slovenia, and the Czech Republic--as a 
leading candidate for NATO membership and, therefore, eligible for 
transition assistance. I plan to travel to the region over the Easter 
recess to assess the progress that these countries have made toward 
meeting the criteria set out in the NATO enlargement study. Today, 
however, I can already point to several things that indicate to me that 
Hungary is well on its way toward assuming the responsibilities of NATO 
membership.
  The first is the successful effort by Hungary to conclude bilateral 
treaties with its neighbors, Romania, Slovakia, and Ukraine. Students 
of Central European history know how truly important these treaties are 
for the security of the region. Many had predicted that the end of the 
cold war would bring with it a resurrection of Hungary's territorial 
claims against its neighbors, and they predicted an era of instability 
that would make us wish the cold war had never ended.
  Events, and the concerted effort of the Hungarian Government, have 
proven the pessimists wrong. First, Hungary has succeeded in 
establishing a stable, open democracy that has allowed the Hungarian 
people to enjoy the fruits of political and economic freedom.
  Equally important, Hungary has recognized that its security and 
prosperity are dependent upon a resolution of the territorial claims 
that poisoned relations with its neighbors in the decades after World 
War I.
  For those of my colleagues who have asked: ``Why should NATO admit 
new members?'' I ask you to look closely at the Hungarian example. One 
of the criteria for new members of NATO is that they must resolve all 
territorial disputes with their neighbors.
  Just as common membership in NATO has allowed France and Germany to 
overcome the enmity and territorial disputes that had resulted in three 
wars in 80 years, so too has the prospect of NATO membership led to 
reconciliation in Central Europe. The Hungarian Government is to be 
commended for its forward-thinking policies that recognize that 
cooperation is the key to stability in Europe in the 21st century. I 
particularly want to recognize the political courage of Hungarian Prime 
Minister Horn in disregarding the criticism of ultranationalists in his 
country and signing these treaties.
  In exchange for renouncing territorial claims, Hungary has secured 
pledges that its neighbors will respect the rights of the large ethnic 
Hungarian communities in those countries. As the European Union also 
begins to expand its membership eastward, I hope that national 
boundaries in Central and Eastern Europe will matter less and less, and 
the free exchange of people, products, and ideas will help ensure peace 
and prosperity for all.
  Romania and Slovakia are home to the largest Hungarian communities 
outside Hungary, and ideally we would like to see them join NATO as 
well. I am pleased by the recent progress made by Romania, which 
through free and fair elections has peacefully changed its government. 
The new ruling coalition, incidentally, includes a party representing 
the interests of the Hungarian minority.
  Slovakia, unfortunately, for the past several years has seemed to be 
heading in the wrong direction. I must question the commitment of Prime 
Minister Vladimir Meciar to democracy, particularly to minority rights 
and a free press. The treaty with Hungary is a step forward, but if 
Slovakia is to join the community of Western democracies, it must show 
that it will not water down its commitments to respect the cultural and 
linguistic rights of its ethnic Hungarian citizens.

  The other theme I want to focus on today is the cooperation that 
Hungary has extended to us and our allies in connection with the 
ongoing peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. An essential part of that 
mission has been a staging base in Taszar, Hungary, which the Hungarian 
Government has leased to the U.S. military. It is from that base that 
we have deployed our forces to Bosnia to prevent a return to Europe's 
worst fighting since World War II. As former Secretary of Defense Perry 
has stated, without the cooperation of Hungary, the IFOR and SFOR 
missions would have been immeasurably more difficult.
  At Taszar 1,200 Hungarian troops are working with 3,200 Americans. 
This cooperation has allowed Hungarian officers and enlisted men to 
understand how a NATO military functions and what Hungary must do to 
allow its forces to operate jointly with those of the NATO countries. 
By all accounts, the work at Taszar has been a rousing success, both in 
supporting the IFOR and SFOR missions and in helping the Hungarian 
military.

[[Page S1976]]

  The threat to the security of Europe today no longer comes from an 
easily identifiable Soviet adversary; it comes from the prospect of 
instability. It comes from the prospect of future Bosnias. NATO must 
adapt to this new reality and prepare itself to undertake missions 
outside the territory of its member states.
  Our experience at Taszar shows that Hungarian membership in NATO will 
help us and our allies to carry out these new missions and will enable 
us together to help maintain the security and stability of the 
continent as a whole.
  Moreover, the Taszar experience shows how NATO enlargement can help 
reduce costs that we and our allies would face without enlargement. 
Enlargement will allow us and our allies access to bases like Taszar in 
times of crisis, and it will allow the central European democracies to 
rely on others for part of their security, thereby reducing the cost to 
them of restructuring their militaries.
  Let me reiterate that the prospective new members of NATO must agree 
to make the financial sacrifice necessary to modernize their 
militaries. We will, of course, do our fair share to help. In that 
regard, the 15 percent of the direct enlargement costs that last 
month's Pentagon cost study envisages the United States will assume 
seems an equitable proposal. But the prospective new members and the 
non-U.S. current NATO members must shoulder the largest share of the 
costs.
  My meeting with Mr. Kovacs today to discuss Hungary's progress toward 
NATO membership was extremely fruitful, and, as I mentioned earlier, I 
will visit Budapest later this month to help me ascertain for myself if 
Hungary is ready to join the Atlantic alliance.
  I commend the Hungarian people on the progress they have made in 
creating a successful democracy and free-market economy over the past 8 
years and for their determination to ensure their security through 
cooperation with their neighbors and other democracies.
  I hope that Hungary will continue in this direction and will meet the 
criteria for membership in NATO so that in July it will be in the group 
of prospective members invited to begin accession negotiations with the 
alliance.
  I thank the chair and yield the floor.
  I thank my colleague from Alabama for giving me the opportunity to 
take the floor.
  Mr. SHELBY addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Smith of Oregon). The Senator from 
Alabama.

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