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Disarmament DocumentationNATO Foreign Ministers' Meeting, May 14'Ministerial Meeting of the North Atlantic Council Held In Reykjavik on 14 May 2002', Final Communiqué, NATO Press Release M-NAC-1(2002)59, May 14. 'Ministerial Meeting of the North Atlantic Council Held In Reykjavik on 14 May 2002', Final Communiqué, NATO Press Release M-NAC-1(2002)59, May 14. 1. Since 11 September, NATO has acted on its core commitments to deter and defend against any threat of aggression against any NATO member state, as provided for in Articles 5 and 6 of the Washington Treaty. Our countries are contributing, as individual Allies, to the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan. The Alliance and its members are playing their full part in the current campaign against terror, confirming NATO's key role in ensuring Euro-Atlantic security, including in the face of new threats. The Alliance, which embodies the transatlantic link that binds North America and Europe in a unique defence and security partnership, must, and will continue to adapt itself, to be better able to perform its fundamental security tasks and to strengthen security right across the Euro-Atlantic area. We will intensify our consultations on this process of adaptation, looking to the meeting of our Heads of State and Government in Prague in November to mark a decisive step forward in achieving this objective. 2. In preparation for the Prague Summit, we have today given guidance on the development of vital new capabilities, on the process of NATO enlargement, on the creation of a new security relationship with Russia, as well as on the development of our relationships with Ukraine and all other Partners. ... 3. We reiterate our determination to combat the threat of terrorism for as long as necessary. There is no justification whatsoever for terrorist actions. In keeping with our obligations under the Washington Treaty we will continue to strengthen our national and collective capacities to protect our populations, territory and forces from any armed attack, including terrorist attack, directed from abroad. We recognised this challenge in the Strategic Concept adopted at the 1999 Washington Summit, where we made clear that any armed attack on the territory of the Allies, from whatever direction, would be covered by Article 5 of the Washington Treaty and where we singled out terrorism as a risk to the security interests of the Alliance. Meeting this challenge is fundamental to our security. Actions taken to meet this challenge will be in accordance with our decisions and in full compliance with all our commitments under international law and relevant provisions of the United Nations Charter and national legislation. 4. Our countries are also working together to deal with the threat posed by possible use of weapons of mass destruction (WMD), including their possible use by terrorists, and the means of their delivery. Disarmament, arms control and non-proliferation make an essential contribution to preventing the use of WMD, along with deterrence and defence. The Alliance is working on proposals to develop critical defences against biological and chemical weapons. We also attach importance to reinforcing the role of the NATO WMD Centre within the International Staff. We will also enhance our ability, through working on all possible options, to provide support, when requested, to national authorities for the protection of civilian populations against the effects of any terrorist attack, and are cooperating with our Partners in this field, taking into account the various proposals and initiatives put forward. We are exploring the scope for enhancing cooperation with the European Union in this field. Together with our Defence colleagues, we are developing a package of proposals to be in place for the Prague Summit, to strengthen these capacities. ... 11. We welcome the decisive and substantial deepening of the NATO-Russia relationship, which marks an historic step towards the Alliance's long-standing goal of building a secure, cooperative and democratic Euro-Atlantic area. We look forward to the approval this afternoon by the NATO-Russia Permanent Joint Council of the document on the creation of the NATO-Russia Council, where NATO member states and Russia will work as equal partners in areas of common interest, while preserving NATO's prerogative to act independently. The document will be adopted and signed at the inaugural session of the Council, to be held at a Summit meeting of Heads of State and Government in Rome on 28 May. We are confident that the creation of the Council will lend new impetus and substance to our partnership with Russia, and make a substantial contribution to our common goal of a stable, peaceful and undivided Europe, as enshrined in the NATO-Russia Founding Act. A NATO-Russia Council meeting at the level of Heads of State and Government in Prague would offer an opportunity to take stock of our new relationship. ... 23. The Alliance's policy of support for arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation will continue to play a major role in the achievement of the Alliance's security objectives. We will continue to work together to adapt the Alliance's comprehensive strategy to meet the threats posed by the proliferation of WMD and their means of delivery, adopting an appropriate mix of political and defence efforts. Our efforts to that end should be consistent with the indivisibility of Allied security. The Alliance stresses the importance of abiding by and strengthening existing multilateral non-proliferation and export control regimes and international arms control and disarmament accords. We will continue to actively contribute to the development of agreements and measures in this field and pursue further arms reductions, transparency and confidence and security building measures. In that context, we welcome the US-Russian agreement to sign a treaty to reduce deployed strategic nuclear warheads to between 1,700 and 2,200. We reaffirm our determination to contribute to the implementation of the conclusions of the 2000 Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty Review Conference and welcome the full discussion of issues at the Preparatory Conference for the 2005 Review Conference in April 2002. We also support ongoing efforts to achieve an International Code of Conduct against Ballistic Missile Proliferation before the end of 2002. Arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation, along with deterrence and defence play an essential role in enhancing security against these new threats and challenges. In this context, the role that missile defence could play is being actively considered as we continue our consultations with the United States on this issue. In this regard, we welcome continued work at NATO on theatre missile defence. 24. Concerning the CFE Treaty, we welcome the Russian Federation's December declaration that it is now within agreed levels of armament and equipment. We encourage Russia to enhance its cooperation with NATO to facilitate our efforts to verify this claim as soon as possible. However, we can envisage ratification of the adapted CFE Treaty only in the context of full compliance by all States Parties with agreed Treaty limits and consistent with the commitments contained in the CFE Final Act. We urge a swift resolution of outstanding issues relating to Istanbul commitments, including on Georgia and Moldova. Recognising the contributions of the CFE Treaty to European security and stability, we recall that the entry into force of the adapted CFE Treaty would permit accession by non-CFE States. We welcome the entry into force of the Open Skies Treaty on 1 January 2002. © 2002 The Acronym Institute. |