a-weu/GENERAL/weusim94.3 Opening remarks by Sir Dudley SMITH, MP, President of the Western European Union Assembly at the Seminar organised by the Polish Sejm on "Point of view of the WEU on the security of Central and Eastern European countries" Warsaw, 11th and 12th February 1994 -------------- Thank you Marshal for your introduction and opening remarks for this very important gathering. To begin with I must say a particular word of thanks to the Polish authorities for inviting us to Warsaw and especially to the Marshal of the Sejm whose staff have made such excellent arrangements to receive us. The idea for this meeting originated from Mr. Andrzej WIELOWIEYSKI and we must also congratulate him for persevering with his proposal. In fact this meeting is extremely timely - coming as it does exactly a month after the NATO Summit about which I shall elaborate in a moment. It is a great pleasure to be back in Warsaw, a city which a number of us present discovered for the first time in July 1992. I was then Chairman of the WEU Assembly's Defence Committee and we had been invited to visit the Polish armed forces. Prior to that however there had been numerous contacts: we had become very well acquainted with the former Foreign Affairs and Defence Ministers and numerous parliamentarians not only in Poland but in many others of the Central European states represented here today. In addition, contacts were developed and strengthened through your delegations to the Council of Europe and North Atlantic Assemblies. In 1991 Jean-Marie CARO elaborated his report and recommendations on "Consequences of developments in Central and Eastern Europe for European security". I know that he will make particular reference to that report later this afternoon and to the follow up, produced in 1992, on "A new security order in Europe". My British colleague, Tom COX, was Rapporteur in 1992 on the Defence aspects of security in Central Europe, building on the pioneering colloquy we organised in the Berlin Reichstag at the end of March that year. Since then there have been considerable numbers of committee and rapporteur visits to the Central European countries as with you we have sought to build the foundations for a new relationship. In terms of practical co-operation the WEU has developed an essentially pragmatic arrangement with Central Europe and has avoided duplicating what is being done in the wider context of the NACC. We have recently given a parliamentary dimension to the WEU Forum of Consultation through the adoption of a status of Permanent Observer in the Assembly. One tangible result was the very frank meeting held in December involving the Permanent Observers and the Assembly's Standing Committee - an experience we hope to repeat in the future. In passing, I should stress that in the WEU Assembly we have been very careful not to give priority treatment to any particular Central European country or group of countries within the WEU Forum. I know some find such an attitude disappointing but I believe very strongly that we must co- operate in Europe on as equal a footing as possible: showing solidarity rather than creating new divisions. For that reason I am doubly grateful to our Polish friends for including all Forum member countries in their invitation. I mentioned a moment ago that we were reluctant to duplicate in the Forum anything which was being done already in the NACC. On the other hand certain co-operation has flourished amongst the European members. For example the agreements signed between the WEU and three Forum countries, Bulgaria, Hungary and Romania, on policing the Danube mark a step change in our practical relationship. Another development which is likely to prove very positive is the announcement by the Baltic States and Romania that they will create special battalions for international peacekeeping. They will be joining other Forum members who have made and are making specific contributions in a number of conflict areas. It is this sort of contribution to the international effort which is creating bonds between us. NATO's Partnership for Peace is also designed to create a climate of mutual understanding and confidence although I know that a number of countries represented here were rather disappointed that last month's NATO Summit did not go further. The Partnership is open also to a range of CSCE member nations which implies a coming together with NATO. In addition the Balladur idea for a pact for stability in Europe, which is being pursued by European Union, possesses a number of complementary features which should reinforce the whole. The most positive aspect of the NATO Summit as far as we are concerned was the recognition of WEU, by NATO in general and the United States in particular, as the European pillar and as a legitimate part of the transatlantic partnership - the first time in the history of WEU! In addition, the European Defence Identity is recognised as an acceptable aspiration although much remains to be done in practical terms to develop such an idea (assuming that we know what we want - which I believe to be a false premise, at least at present!). The operational dimension is also interesting in that NATO has now proposed making its infrastructure available for WEU - another step in the right direction and one also designed to avoid charges of duplication. Our Planning Cell in Brussels is looking at the ways these decisions should be implemented and we may quiz the Secretary-General, Mr. Willem van EEKELEN, on progress tomorrow. Some have attributed these changes to a lessening of the US commitment to Europe. It is true that the US presence is shrinking and will probably continue to do so for some time to come as the US tries to balance its books, but it is also still true that European security equals US security. We all realise that a number of frightening uncertainties threaten our peace and security, ranging from the terrible civil war being waged in Bosnia to the obvious danger of the wrong type of blatant nationalism rearing its ugly head in other parts of our continent... Which brings me to the final part of my opening remarks. It was on Friday 12th November last year, here in Warsaw, that the French and German Foreign Ministers, Messrs JUPPE and KINKEL, called for an association between WEU and those states which had achieved or were likely to achieve association agreements with the European Union. I used the term "association" myself when addressing the press in Budapest on the same day at the end of an official visit to Hungary and I developed the theme a week or so later in Romania. The result is that the proposal is now being actively discussed by the WEU Council which will report to ministers at the next ministerial meeting scheduled for 9th and 10th May in Luxembourg. Our Assembly, when adopting Pierre WINTGENS' report on "WEU's relations with Central and Eastern European countries" at the December session, gave the necessary political impulse to the idea. We are optimistic therefore that a new status will be forthcoming very soon, and I invite Ambassador Roger LINSTER, representing the Luxembourg Presidency, to give us a progress report tomorrow. I am convinced that the best way forward for the countries of Central Europe is through European Union which offers more comprehensive and relevant arrangements than any other entity. WEU will be developed as the operational arm of European Union and we look forward therefore to working ever more closely with you and your colleagues over the years to come. However, I should now put on my Chairman's hat and open up to others. First of all, to begin the discussion I have much pleasure in giving the floor to an eminent member of the "home team" - Foreign Minister OLECHOWSKI. A FRENCH TRANSLATION OF THIS TEXT IS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST ------- For information, please contact: Yves ROBINS, Press Counsellor _/ _/ _/_/_/_/ _/ _/ | ASSEMBLY OF WESTERN EUROPEAN UNION _/ _/ _/ _/ _/ | 43, avenue du President Wilson _/ _/ _/ _/_/_/ _/ _/ | F-75775 Paris cedex 16 France _/_/_/_/ _/ _/ _/ | Tel 331-47235432; Fax 331-47204543 _/ _/ _/_/_/_/ _/_/_/ | E-mail: 100315.240@Compuserve.com