[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.