11 April 2002

U.S. Ambassador Burns Encouraged by NATO Applicants

Washington -- Ambassador Nicholas Burns, the U.S. permanent representative to NATO, says he was "very, very encouraged" during recent visits to nine of the nations seeking admission to the 19-member security alliance at the Prague summit in November.

"We've always enlarged," Burns said April 11 during remarks at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies. "In 1952, Greece and Turkey. In 1955, Germany. In 1982, Spain. In 1997, the three Central European new members. So, it's just part of the evolution of the institution."

Burns said NATO has a choice this year of nine countries: Albania, Macedonia, Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Slovenia and Slovakia. Burns visited the nine countries in eight days and held 48 meetings with presidents, prime ministers, foreign and defense ministers, and parliamentary chiefs, "and we were very, very encouraged by what we saw," he said.

"There are benefits to enlargement, but there are also responsibilities," Burns said, referring to remarks by President Bush to NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson during his recent visit to Washington. "We have very high standards. And each new prospective member must meet those standards."

Burns said Bush told Lord Robertson that the United States wants to see NATO enlarged "from the Baltic Sea to the Black Sea." He said the Bush administration wants NATO to take in the new democracies of Central Europe so that democracy can be sustained and consolidated in Central and Eastern Europe.

However, he said no decision on NATO enlargement will be made before the Prague summit November 21-22, so that prospective members will continue working toward the goals that have to be met for admission.

Two critical questions will be important for the new members, Burns said: will a new country strengthen or weaken NATO, and will it be fundamentally dedicated to democracy and be democratic and not authoritarian in the future, he said.

Among other priorities facing NATO in the near future are its ability to fight any foe, further development of a new NATO-Russia relationship, continued NATO peacekeeping operations in the Balkans, and improved cooperation among member nations of the 53-year-old alliance.