[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 34, Number 38 (Monday, September 21, 1998)]
[Page 1824]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Letter to Congressional Leaders Transmitting a Report on Implementation 
of the Partnership For Peace

September 17, 1998

Dear __________:

    In accordance with section 514(a) of Public Law 103-236 (22 U.S.C. 
1928(a)), I am submitting to you this report on implementation of the 
Partnership for Peace (PFP).
    As noted in last year's report to the Congress, the PFP has been a 
critical tool in helping all the Partners, regardless of their desire to 
join NATO, to build stronger ties with the Alliance and develop closer 
cooperative relationships with all their neighbors. As you will see from 
the attached report, NATO Allies and Partners have managed to create a 
fundamentally different Partnership through the Euro-Atlantic 
Partnership Council (EAPC) and PFP enhancements.
    The EAPC and the PFP have provided means for incorporating partners 
into NATO's operation in Bosnia, assisting Macedonia in developing its 
armed forces, and by building cooperation and confidence among Partners 
in Southeastern Europe, which has both insulated them from the Kosovo 
crisis and enabled them to help NATO deal with Kosovo's destabilizing 
effects. Enhancements to the PFP, which are nearly fully implemented, 
provide a solid foundation for closer NATO-Partner collaboration and a 
mechanism for Partners to develop the interoperability with NATO that 
will be necessary for future NATO-led Allied/Partners missions.
    Sincerely,
                                            William J. Clinton

Note:  Identical letters were sent to Jesse Helms, chairman, and Joseph 
R. Biden, Jr., ranking member, Senate Committee on Foreign Relations, 
Benjamin A. Gilman, chairman, and Lee H. Hamilton, ranking member, House 
Committee on International Relations.