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Notes for the NATO WORKSHOP

English Pages, 23. 6. 1997

1. We appreciate that the NATO Workshop - with participation of so many important personalities from so many countries - is taking place in Prague and is taking place just before the historic Madrid Summit.

2. I am sure it has been stressed many times that the Czech Republic considers entry into NATO as one of the main pillars of its foreign policy. It is a logical outcome of the whole post-November development in this country. The entry into NATO has for us no alternative.

3. The Czech Republic has made many steps forward in the last seven years of our radical transformation to make such a historic move possible - both in the field of the broader political, social, and economic development and in the narrower field of army and defense.

4. We all know that NATO enlargement is not an isolated event. It is an integral part of the whole post-communist era.

5. We have to put the enlargement of NATO into broader perspective.

The whole post-communist world has made a visible movement forward. But we have to continue. To think that the collapse of communism and its probable definitive end is a final victory, the „end of history“, would be very costly.  We all see around us new dangers, new blind alleys, new attempts to create „brave new worlds“ based on very promising rhetoric, on more sincere or less sincere intentions but on wrong ambitions and false assumptions about human behavior. I hope we are all aware of that. And we know that no one can go ahead alone. We need international cooperation, we need transatlantic cooperation. In many fields, in security field especially.

The idea of transatlantic cooperation between Europe and North America was born at the end of World War II. The tragic experience of our fathers and grandfathers with fascist dictatorships, with communism and with the devastating war and their resolution not to go through it again led to many post-war activities and to the formation of several international organizations, especially the NATO.

The transatlantic cooperation was - for decades - kept together by an imminent communist threat and some of us, subconsciously, accepted the idea that NATO is an anticommunist block and nothing else. With the end of communism the common enemy disappeared and some of us seemed to be at a loss what to fight for. I do not have such a problem.

For me, the transatlantic community was never connected solely with one past enemy. It had deeper roots and stronger basis. It was based on ideas, not on enemies. It was connected with the tradition of freedom, democracy and market economy. This was and is our common cultural heritage which we are obliged to keep alive for future generations on both sides of the Atlantic ocean. I hope this is our starting point.

6. Especially in this respect, Madrid Summit will be a historic turning-point. The international setting before this summit and after it will not be the same. The old split between East and West, which has been reduced or weakened by the collapse of communism in 1989 and by the dissolution of the Warsaw Pact, will be overcome definitely. We are looking forward to it.

7. We appreciate as well that the agreement between NATO and Russia was signed before the Madrid Summit. On the one hand, we are convinced that the NATO enlargement is exclusively an issue between NATO and potential new members. On the other hand, we know that NATO-Russia Agreement is a way how to facilitate the enlargement process.

8. The Czech Republic was pleased by the words of various world politicians in the last period, especially by the words of the President of the United States of America, which indicated that the Czech Republic has a good chance to be among the first candidates for the NATO enlargement. We take it as an appreciation of our post-November 1989 development, of our political and economic stability.

9. We are aware of all the consequences of our future membership in the Alliance. We know that we have to accelerate our preparations in many fields before the entry. We do not want to be „free-riders“, we want to be full members, equal partners, we do not want to get only, we want to give as well. We are prepared to complete the transformation of the Czech army, and to guarantee its future development.

10. I am convinced that there is a strong support for our NATO membership in all groups of the Czech society. There is, of course, a standard political dispute between the Government coalition and the opposition. As you know, in all democracies, in all free countries the opposition always tries to complicate the situation for the Government and to get some political advantages but I know that there is no real opposition to the entry into NATO in this country. For most Czechs, the entry into NATO represents the final step from the past into the future. We are looking into the future with optimism and with confidence. We are looking forward to our future cooperation.

Václav Klaus, Prague, 23 June 1997