[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.