[Weekly Compilation of Presidential Documents Volume 36, Number 51 (Monday, December 25, 2000)]
[Pages 3129-3130]
[Online from the Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]

<R04>
Statement on the Outcome of a NATO Foreign Ministers Meeting in Brussels 

December 19, 2000

    I am very pleased with the outcome of NATO's foreign ministers 
meeting in Brussels last week. Secretary Albright and her

[[Page 3130]]

NATO colleagues reaffirmed the Alliance's commitment to peace, 
democracy, and respect for human rights throughout southeast Europe. 
They also reviewed the important progress we have made towards meeting 
our April 1999 Washington summit commitments--including improving our 
defense capabilities, increasing efforts against weapons of mass 
destruction, and reviewing the enlargement process at our next summit, 
to take place no later than 2002. I applaud the selection of Prague as 
the site for the next NATO summit. The Czech Republic under President 
Havel has been a driving force in the continued integration of Europe.
    Working closely with the EU, NATO also has advanced the goals we set 
at the Washington summit for strengthening European defense 
capabilities. I welcome the agreement at the EU's Nice summit to improve 
Europe's ability to act in times of crises and to put arrangements in 
place for close collaboration with NATO. NATO Defense and Foreign 
Ministers also acted to establish a strategic partnership with the EU. 
These efforts will strengthen NATO's European pillar, promote the EU's 
ability to manage crises where NATO is not engaged, and reinforce our 
transatlantic ties.
    We still have work to do to implement these arrangements and 
strengthen the habits of cooperation that have been NATO's hallmark 
since the end of the cold war. The United States looks forward to 
working with our European allies and partners to enhance our partnership 
and advance our common goals.