    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [March 20, 1998]
    [Pages 409-411]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Remarks on the Enlargement of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization
    March 20, 1998

        Thank you. Thank you very much, Secretary Albright, General Shelton,
    General Sandler, Mr. Berger, Senator Roth, to the
    members and representatives of the Joint Chiefs, members of the
    diplomatic corps, and other interested citizens, many of whom have held
    high positions in the national security apparatus of this country and
    the military of our country. We're grateful for everyone's presence here
    today.
        I especially want to thank the Members of the Senate who are here. I
    thank Senator Roth, the chairman of the
    NATO observer group; Senator Moynihan; Senator Smith; Senator
    Levin; Senator Lugar; Senator Robb; and Senator
    Thurmond. Your leadership and that of
    Senators Lott, Daschle, Helms, and Biden and others in this Chamber has truly, as the Secretary of
    State said, made this debate a model of bipartisan dialog and action.
        The Senate has held more than a dozen hearings on this matter. We
    have worked very closely with the Senate NATO observer group. And I must
    say, I was immensely gratified when the Senate Foreign Relations
    Committee voted 16 to 2 in support of enlargement.
        Now, in the coming days, the full Senate will act on this matter of
    critical importance to our national security. The admission of Poland,
    Hungary, and the Czech Republic to NATO will

    [[Page 410]]

    be a very important milestone in building the kind of world we want for
    the 21st century.
        As has been said, I first proposed NATO enlargement 4 years ago,
    when General Joulwan was our commander in
    Brussels. Many times since, I've had the opportunity to speak on this
    issue. Now a final decision is at hand, and now it is important that all
    the American people focus on this matter closely. For this is one of
    those rare moments when we have within our grasp the opportunity to
    actually shape the future, to make the new century safer and more secure
    and less unstable than the one we are leaving.
        We can truly be present at a new creation. When President Truman
    signed the North Atlantic Treaty 49 years ago next month, he expressed
    the goal of its founders in typically simple and straightforward
    language: to preserve their present peaceful situation and to protect it
    in the future. The dream of the generation that founded NATO was of a
    Europe whole and free. But the Europe of their time was lamentably
    divided by the Iron Curtain. Our generation can realize their dream. It
    is our opportunity and responsibility to do so, to create a new Europe
    undivided, democratic, and at peace for the very first time in all
    history.
        Forging a new NATO in the 21st century will help to fulfill the
    commitment and the struggle that many of you in this room engaged in
    over the last 50 years. NATO can do for Europe's East what it did for
    Europe's West: protect new democracies against aggression, prevent a
    return to local rivalries, create the conditions in which prosperity can
    flourish.
        In January of 1994, on my first trip to Europe for the NATO summit,
    we did take the lead in proposing a new NATO for a new era. First, by
    strengthening our alliance to preserve its core mission of self-defense,
    while preparing it to take on the new challenges to our security and to
    Europe's stability; second, by reaching out to new partners and taking
    in new members from among Europe's emerging democracies; and third, by
    forging a strong and cooperative relationship between NATO and Russia.
        Over the past 4 years, persistently and pragmatically, we have put
    this strategy into place. NATO has shifted to smaller, more flexible
    forces better prepared to provide for our defense in this new era, but
    also trained and equipped for other contingencies. Its military power
    remains so unquestioned that it was the only force capable of stopping
    the fighting in Bosnia. NATO signed the Founding Act with Moscow,
    joining Russia and history's most successful alliance in common cause
    for a peaceful, democratic, undivided Europe. We signed a charter to
    build cooperation between NATO and Ukraine. We created the Partnership
    For Peace as a path to full NATO membership for some, and a strong and
    lasting link to the alliance for others. Today, the Partnership For
    Peace has exceeded its mission beyond the wildest dreams of those of us
    who started it. It has more than three dozen members.
        Now we're on the threshold of bringing new members into NATO. The
    alliance's enlargement will make America safer by making NATO stronger,
    adding new forces and new allies that can share our security burdens.
    Let me be very clear: NATO's core mission will remain the same, the
    defense of the territory of its members. The addition of new members
    will strengthen and enhance that mission. In pursuing enlargement, we
    have made sure not to alter NATO's core function or its ability to
    defend America and Europe's security.
        Now I urge this Senate to do the same and, in particular, to impose
    no constraints on NATO's freedom of action, its military decisionmaking,
    or its ability to respond quickly and effectively to whatever challenges
    may arise. NATO's existing treaty and the way it makes defense and
    security decisions have served our Nation's security well for half a
    century.
        In the same way, the addition of these new members will help NATO
    meet new challenges to our security. In Bosnia, for example, Polish,
    Czech, and Hungarian soldiers serve alongside our own with skill and
    professionalism. Remember, this was one of the largest, single
    operational deployments of American troops in Europe since World War II.
    It was staged from a base in Taszar, Hungary. It simply would not have
    happened as swiftly, smoothly, or safely without the active help and
    support of Hungary.
        As we look toward the 21st century, we're looking at other new
    security challenges as well: the spread of weapons of mass destruction
    and ballistic missile technology, terrorism and the potential for high-
    tech attacks on our information systems. NATO must be prepared to meet
    and defeat this new generation of threats, to act flexibly and
    decisively under American leadership. With three new members in our
    ranks,

    [[Page 411]]

    NATO will be better able to meet those goals as well.
        Enlargement also will help to make Europe more stable. Already, the
    very prospect of membership has encouraged nations throughout the region
    to accelerate reforms, resolve disputes, and improve cooperation.
        Now, let me emphasize what I've said many times before and what all
    NATO allies have committed to: NATO's first new members should not be
    its last. Keeping the doors open to all of Europe's new democracies will
    help to ensure that enlargement benefits the security of the entire
    region, not just the first three new members.
        At last summer's summit in Madrid, NATO agreed to examine the
    process of enlargement at our next summit in 1999. Neither NATO nor my
    administration has made any decisions or any commitments about when the
    next invitations for membership should be extended, or to whom. I have
    consulted broadly with Congress on decisions about the admissions of the
    first three members. I pledge to do the same before any future decisions
    are made. And of course, any new members would also require the advice
    and the consent of the United States Senate.
        For these reasons, I urge, in the strongest terms, the Senate to
    reject any effort to impose an artificial pause on the process of
    enlargement. Such a mandate is unnecessary and, I believe, unwise. If
    NATO is to remain strong, America's freedom to lead it must be
    unfettered and our freedom to cooperate with our other partners in NATO
    must remain unfettered. A unilateral freeze on enlargement would reduce
    our own country's flexibility and, perhaps even more important, our
    leverage, our ability to influence our partners. It would fracture
    NATO's open-door consensus; it would undermine further reforms in
    Europe's democracies; it would draw a new and potentially destabilizing
    line, at least temporarily, in Europe.
        There are other steps we must take to prevent that division from
    reemerging. We must continue to strengthen the Partnership For Peace
    with our many friends in Europe. We need to give even more practical
    expression to the agreements between NATO and Russia and NATO and
    Ukraine, turning words into deeds. With Russia and other countries, we
    must continue to reduce our nuclear stockpiles--and we thank you,
    Senator Lugar, for your leadership on
    that--to combat the dangers of proliferation, to lower conventional arms
    ceilings all across Europe. And all of us together must help the Bosnian
    people to finish the job of bringing a lasting peace to their country.
    If you think about where we were just a year ago in Bosnia, not to
    mention 2 years ago, not to mention 1995, no one could have believed we
    would be here today. It would not have happened had it not been for
    NATO, the Partnership For Peace allies, the Russians, all of those who
    have come together and joined hands to end the bloodiest conflict in
    Europe since the Second World War.
        Now we have to finish what America started 4 years ago, welcoming
    Hungary, Poland, and the Czech Republic into our alliance. If you look
    around at who is in the room today, you can see that they are more than
    willing to be a good partner. They will make NATO stronger; they will
    make Europe safer; and in so doing, they will make America and our young
    people more secure. They will make it less likely that the young men and
    women in uniform who serve under General Shelton and the other generals here, and their successors in the
    21st century, will have to fight and die because of problems in Europe.
        A new NATO can extend the blessings of freedom and security in a new
    century. With the help of our allies, the support of the Senate, the
    strength of our continued commitment, we can bring Europe together, not
    by force of arms, but by possibilities of peace. That is the promise of
    this moment. And we must seize it.
        Thank you very much.

    Note: The President spoke at 12:46 p.m. in the East Room at the White
    House. In his remarks, he referred to Gen. Henry H. Shelton, USA,
    Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; Maj. Gen. Roger Sandler, USA
    (Ret.), executive director, Reserve Officers Association; and Gen.
    George A. Joulwan, USA (Ret.), former Supreme Allied Commander, Europe.