    [Public Papers of the Presidents of the United States: William J. Clinton (1998, Book I)]
    [February 11, 1998]
    [Pages 208-210]
    [From the U.S. Government Publishing Office www.gpo.gov]

    Message to the Senate Transmitting the Protocols of Accession to NATO
    for Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic
    February 11, 1998

    To the Senate of the United States:
        I transmit herewith Protocols to the North Atlantic Treaty of 1949
    on the accession of Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic. These
    Protocols were opened for signature at Brussels on December 16, 1997,
    and signed on behalf of the United States of America and the other
    parties to the North Atlantic Treaty. I request the advice and consent
    of the Senate to the ratification of these documents, and transmit for
    the Senate's information the report made to me by the Secretary of State
    regarding this matter.
        The accession of Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic to the
    North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) will improve the ability of
    the United States to protect and advance our interests in the
    transatlantic area. The end of the Cold War changed the nature of the
    threats to this region, but not the fact that Europe's peace, stability,
    and well-being are vital to our own national security. The addition of
    these well-qualified democracies, which have demonstrated their
    commitment to the values of freedom and the security of the broader
    region, will help deter potential threats to Europe, deepen the
    continent's stability, bolster its democratic advances, erase its
    artificial division, and strengthen an Alliance that has proved its
    effectiveness during and since the Cold War.
        NATO is not the only instrument in our efforts to help build a new
    and undivided Europe, but it is our most important contributor to peace
    and security for the region. NATO's steadfastness during the long years
    of the Cold War, its performance in the mission it has led in Bosnia,
    the strong interest of a dozen new European democracies in becoming
    members, and the success of the Alliance's Partnership for Peace program
    all under score the continuing vitality of the Alliance and the Treaty
    that brought it into existence.

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        NATO's mission in Bosnia is of particular importance. No other
    multinational institution possessed the military capabilities and
    political cohesiveness necessary to bring an end to the fighting in the
    former Yugoslavia--Europe's worst conflict since World War II--and to
    give the people of that region a chance to build a lasting peace. Our
    work in Bosnia is not yet complete, but we should be thankful that NATO
    existed to unite Allies and partners in this determined common effort.
    Similarly, we should welcome steps such as the Alliance's enlargement
    that can strengthen its ability to meet future challenges, beginning
    with NATO's core mission of collective defense and other missions that
    we and our Allies may choose to pursue.
        The three states that NATO now proposes to add as full members will
    make the Alliance stronger while helping to enlarge Europe's zone of
    democratic stability. Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic have been
    leaders in Central Europe's dramatic transformation over the past decade
    and already are a part of NATO's community of values. They each played
    pivotal roles in the overthrow of communist rule and repression, and
    they each proved equal to the challenge of comprehensive democratic and
    market reform. Together, they have helped to make Central Europe the
    continent's most robust zone of economic growth.
        All three of these states will be security producers for the
    Alliance and not merely security consumers. They have demonstrated this
    through the accords they have reached with neighboring states, the
    contributions they have made to the mission in Bosnia, the forces they
    plan to commit to the Alliance, and the military modernization programs
    they have already begun and pledge to continue in the years to come at
    their own expense. These three states will strengthen NATO through the
    addition of military resources, strategic depth, and the prospect of
    greater stability in Europe's central region. American troops have
    worked alongside soldiers from each of these nations in earlier times,
    in the case of the Poles, dating back to our own Revolutionary War. Our
    cooperation with the Poles, Hungarians, and Czechs has contributed to
    our security in the past, and our Alliance with them will contribute to
    our security in the years to come.
        The purpose of NATO's enlargement extends beyond the security of
    these three states, however, and entails a process encompassing more
    than their admission to the Alliance. Accordingly, these first new
    members should not and will not be the last. No qualified European
    democracy is ruled out as a future member. The Alliance has agreed to
    review the process of enlargement at its 1999 summit in Washington. As
    we prepare for that summit, I look forward to discussing this matter
    with my fellow NATO leaders. The process of enlargement, combined with
    the Partnership for Peace program, the Euro-Atlantic Partnership
    Council, the NATO-Russia Founding Act, and NATO's new charter with
    Ukraine, signify NATO's commitment to avoid any new division of Europe,
    and to contribute to its progressive integration.
        A democratic Russia is and should be a part of that new Europe. With
    bipartisan congressional support, my Administration and my predecessor's
    have worked with our Allies to support political and economic reform in
    Russia and the other newly independent states and to increase the bonds
    between them and the rest of Europe. NATO's enlargement and other
    adaptations are consistent, not at odds, with that policy. NATO has
    repeatedly demonstrated that it does not threaten Russia and that it
    seeks closer and more cooperative relations. We and our Allies welcomed
    the participation of Russian forces in the mission in Bosnia.
        NATO most clearly signaled its interest in a constructive
    relationship through the signing in May 1997 of the NATO-Russia Founding
    Act. That Act, and the Permanent Joint Council it created, help to
    ensure that if Russia seeks to build a positive and peaceful future
    within Europe, NATO will be a full partner in that enterprise. I
    understand it will require time for the Russian people to gain a new
    understanding of NATO. The Russian people, in turn, must understand that
    an open door policy with regard to the addition of new members is an
    element of a new NATO. In this way, we will build a new and more stable
    Europe of which Russia is an integral part.
        I therefore propose the ratification of these Protocols with every
    expectation that we can continue to pursue productive cooperation with
    the Russian Federation. I am encouraged that President Yeltsin has pledged his government's commitment to additional
    progress on nuclear and conventional arms control measures. At our
    summit in Helsinki, for example, we agreed that once START II has
    entered into force we will begin negotiations on a START III accord that

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    can achieve even deeper cuts in our strategic arsenals. Similarly,
    Russia's ratification of the Chemical Weapons Convention last year
    demonstrated that cooperation on a range of security matters will
    continue.
        The Protocols of accession that I transmit to you constitute a
    decision of great consequence, and they involve solemn security
    commitments. The addition of new states also will entail financial
    costs. While those costs will be manageable and broadly shared with our
    current and new Allies, they nonetheless represent a sacrifice by the
    American people.
        Successful ratification of these Protocols demands not only the
    Senate's advice and consent required by our Constitution, but also the
    broader, bipartisan support of the American people and their
    representatives. For that reason, it is encouraging that congressional
    leaders in both parties and both chambers have long advocated NATO's
    enlargement. I have endeavored to make the Congress an active partner in
    this process. I was pleased that a bipartisan group of Senators and
    Representatives accompanied the U.S. delegation at the NATO summit in
    Madrid last July. Officials at all levels of my Administration have
    consulted closely with the relevant committees and with the bipartisan
    Senate NATO Observer Group. It is my hope that this pattern of
    consultation and cooperation will ensure that NATO and our broader
    European policies continue to have the sustained bipartisan support that
    was so instrumental to their success throughout the decades of the Cold
    War.
        The American people today are the direct beneficiaries of the
    extraordinary sacrifices made by our fellow citizens in the many
    theaters of that ``long twilight struggle,'' and in the two world wars
    that preceded it. Those efforts aimed in large part to create across the
    breadth of Europe a lasting, democratic peace. The enlargement of NATO
    represents an indispensable part of today's program to finish building
    such a peace, and therefore to repay a portion of the debt we owe to
    those who went before us in the quest for freedom and security.
        The rise of new challenges in other regions does not in any way
    diminish the necessity of consolidating the increased level of security
    that Europe has attained at such high cost. To the contrary, our policy
    in Europe, including the Protocols I transmit herewith, can help
    preserve today's more favorable security environment in the
    transatlantic area, thus making it possible to focus attention and
    resources elsewhere while providing us with additional Allies and
    partners to help share our security burdens.
        The century we are now completing has been the bloodiest in all of
    human history. Its lessons should be clear to us: the wisdom of
    deterrence, the value of strong Alliances, the potential for overcoming
    past divisions, and the imperative of American engagement in Europe. The
    NATO Alliance is one of the most important embodiments of these truths,
    and it is in the interest of the United States to strengthen this proven
    institution and adapt it to a new era. The addition to this Alliance of
    Poland, Hungary, and the Czech Republic is an essential part of that
    program. It will help build a Europe that can be integrated, democratic,
    free, and at peace for the first time in its history. It can help ensure
    that we and our Allies and our partners will enjoy greater security and
    freedom in the century that is about to begin.
        I therefore recommend that the Senate give prompt advice and consent
    to ratification of these historic Protocols.

                                                          William J. Clinton

    The White House,

    February 11, 1998.