Merci Monsieur le Secrétaire Général. Je suis surpris de parler en premier, mais je crois savoir pourquoi si je regarde autours de moi. Je suis le dernier chef de gouvernement présent aujourd’hui qui était déjà présent à Washington lors de l’adoption du dernier concept stratégique.
In my eyes, an even more important decision at that Summit in Washington was the invitation we adressed to seven countries to join NATO (Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia). Their membership has been a most welcomed contribution to our common security and to stability in the euro-atlantic area.
Solidarity with these allies requests – today as it requested so far – that we listen carefully to their concerns regarding security guarantees. I find it therefore very appropriate that our new strategic concept reaffirms Article V as the cornerstone of our Alliance and that we offer to our allies the possibility for reinforcements if needed.
While our own defensive posture is essential to our security, a constructive relationship with Russia, is equally indispensable to assure peace and stability. A strategic partnership with Russia does not mean less security for NATO or its members, its means more security. The historic lesson of World War II compared to World War I is that you do not make peace against your former enemy, you make peace with your former opponent. The Cold War is no different.
Russia is a complex society and chances are that we shall occasionally doubt their true commitment. In the long term, their motivation to make this reset relationship with NATO mutually beneficial, will not only stem from Russia’s relationship with us. It will also stem from their perception of challenges South and East of its boarders. And we know these challenges to be truly strategic, for Russia but also for us. We shall be far better off to meet them together with Russia rather than to face Russia as an additional strategic challenger.
We should strive for the best security we can assure, at the lowest level of armaments, both conventional and nuclear. Obviously this aim can only be achieved by a step by step and reciprocal approach, together with all other geopolitical players. President Obama set a long term goal of a world, one day free of nuclear weapons. We subscribe to this vision. But I also recognize the contribution to deterrence that the nuclear powers in our Alliance make as long as there are nuclear weapons in the world. Yet a safer world at a lower level of armaments will not come about by inaction on our part. We must be a promoter of this visionary goal.
Security is best assured when the profound reasons for instability and violence are addressed. To do so successfully, soft power is an indispensable complement to hard power. The UN provides both the legal framework and some of the concrete means. NATO needs to partner with the UN as it needs to partner with the EU.
Nous connaissons tous les difficultés auxquelles fait face la relation stratégique entre l’OTAN et l’Union européenne. Notre ambition commune est de faire davantage et de mieux le faire. Mais je crois que nous sommes tous conscients du fait qu’un jour, il faut résoudre les problèmes fondamentaux de deux Alliés au sein de l’OTAN et de l’UE.