USIA - TRANSCRIPT: PERRY ADDRESS TO FYROM PARLIAMENT (96-06-12)

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TRANSCRIPT: PERRY 6/12 ADDRESS TO FYROM PARLIAMENT

(Speaks of free, peaceful Europe from Atlantic to Urals) (1960)

Speaking to the parliament of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM) June 12, Perry cited rapid progress toward democratic, market-oriented reforms in former Soviet bloc nations, the broadening and deepening of military cooperation between these nations and members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in the Partnership for Peace, and the broad-based international peace implementation effort in Bosnia as evidence of movement toward fulfillment of Marshall's dream.

Following is a transcript of Perry's remarks to the parliament:

(Begin transcript)

Then, at Pervomaysk, also in Ukraine, I joined the defense ministers of Russia and Ukraine in planting sunflowers on what used to be the largest nuclear missile field of the Soviet empire. The Pervomaysk missile field is now a commercial sunflower field, and Ukraine is nuclear weapons free.

And finally, in Germany at a school aptly named the Marshall Center, I spoke at the graduation ceremony of 70 officers from your country and former Soviet bloc countries, who will carry back to their home countries a new understanding of how armed forces operate in democracies.

These events made a deep impression upon me, because they are all tied together as part of our efforts to build a new Europe, a new Europe that I like to call "Marshall's Europe," after the American soldier and statesman, George C. Marshall. Marshall's vision was of a Europe which from the Atlantic to the Urals was united in peace, freedom and democracy.

As you know, Marshall not only had this vision, he also had a plan to make this vision a reality in post-war Europe. The Marshall Plan offered Europe a new passage toward reconstruction and renewal. Half of Europe took this passage, and opened the door to prosperity and freedom. Half of Europe was denied this passage when Joseph Stalin slammed the door on Marshall's offer.

Today, we have a second chance to make Marshall's vision a reality for all of Europe, to build a Europe united in peace, freedom and democracy. I have come to Skopje because the United States wants very much to see your country become part of Marshall's Europe.

Today, the primary path to Marshall's Europe lies in NATO's (North Atlantic Treaty Organization's) Partnership for Peace. Through Partnership for Peace (PFP), NATO is reaching out to the nations of Eastern and Central Europe, Russia and the Newly Independent States, and truly integrating them into the security architecture of Europe as a whole.

Since its inception two-and-a-half years ago, PFP has welcomed 27 partner nations who are committed to democratic market economies, and professional militaries under civilian authority. These partner nations have joined with the 16 NATO nations, conducting dozens of joint humanitarian and peacekeeping exercises around the world, and building new bonds of trust and cooperation.

Nowhere are these bonds of cooperation more evident than in Bosnia. Indeed, Bosnia is turning out to be the crucible for the creation of Marshall's Europe. It is in Bosnia where Europe is seeing that NATO remains the bedrock on which the future security and stability of the continent will be built.

It is in Bosnia where NATO and our new peace partners are first reaping the benefits of our joint peacekeeping training. It is in Bosnia where future NATO members are showing themselves ready and able to shoulder the burdens of membership. And it is in Bosnia where NATO forces and Russian forces are getting hands-on experience in working together.

Clearly, success in Bosnia is a direct result of unprecedented cooperation among nations. Nowhere is this more evident than here. You have done everything possible to support the peacekeeping forces from the United States and the Nordic countries, and you have helped pull the Balkans back from the brink of a wider war and helped put the region on the path to peace and stability.

I have traveled to Bosnia twice since IFOR's arrival in December, and both times I was struck by the stark contrast between the devastation and suffering I saw in Sarajevo, and the rebirth and renewal I have seen in the other capitals of Central and Eastern Europe -- including Skopje, Tirana and Sofia: Bosnia is what happens when people choose to focus on old hatreds instead of new challenges. Fortunately, most of the newly free nations of this region have chosen to focus on the new challenges of political, economic and military reform.

That was the purpose of the Balkan ministerial in Tirana last April: to help meet the challenges of reform by building on the lessons of Partnership for Peace. Our premise was that while the Balkans as a region contain some of the biggest obstacles to building Marshall's Europe, it also contains some of the biggest opportunities. The ministerial was taking advantage of these opportunities and ensuring that this region is included in Marshall's Europe. More specifically, we sought to begin to identify steps that defense establishments could take to bring us closer to this reality.

The first step we explored was the need for more defense cooperation: from high-level visits, to military exchanges, to joint peacetime exercises and operations. These joint activities provide an effective way for defense officials and military forces to get hands-on training and experience. They allow us to learn from each other, about one another and how to perform better with one another. And they provide an opportunity for the nations of the region to gain insights into the intentions of their neighbors which is key to fostering regional confidence.

Most of the attendees to the ministerial were already very active in Partnership for Peace. We talked about the importance of every partner nation becoming involved in NATO committees and the planning and review process. This will contribute greatly to an understanding of the alliance and lead to increased interoperability with NATO.

Just last week, the Macedonian parliament quickly ratified the NATO Status of Forces Agreement which paves the way for closer security ties with all NATO nations.

Equally important to cooperation are military-to-military contacts with neighbors -- the kind your ministry of defense is working hard at developing. I suggested to the attendees of the ministerial that it would be a great idea to host a regional PFP exercise based on a natural disaster scenario. Such an exercise could build a foundation for a regional rapid response unit that would work together in the areas of search and rescue, civilian emergencies and disaster relief.

I was happy and proud to learn that your country stepped forward to embrace this idea; and this fall it will host its first-ever PFP exercise. Both NATO and partner nations from the region will be invited to attend this emergency planning exercise built on an earthquake scenario. This exercise will increase your exposure to NATO, and build trust among neighbors. And it is a case where good neighborliness will not only increase confidence and trust -- it will also save lives.

Another area we explored at the Balkan ministerial was confidence-building measures. A key to building confidence is openness about defense budgets, plans and policies. Openness is an unusual concept when it comes to defense. The art of war involves secrecy and surprise. But the art of peace involves exactly the opposite -- openness and trust. No country in the region should have to guess about the capabilities or intentions of its neighbor.

The OSCE (Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe) conventions require that nations share certain data as a confidence-building measure. But going beyond the requirements of the conventions -- for example, sharing census data on ethnic minorities would build even more confidence. And for countries not yet in the habit of regularized data exchanges, exchanging information in connection with Partnership for Peace exercises is a good place to start. Simply put, these measures decrease the chance that nations will arm or act out of suspicion or misinformation, and they increase the chance for peaceful resolution of disputes.

In this spirit, I would like to symbolically demonstrate the United States' commitment to openness by leaving with you a copy of my annual report to the American Congress. This is the U.S. Defense Department's official statement of the plans, programs and policies of our armed forces. It lays out what kind of military forces we are building, why we are building them and how much we plan to spend on them.

Developing defense plans and policies requires strong military relations -- the final topic of exploration at the ministerial. We talked about the importance of cooperation between civilian and military staffs to develop the annual defense budget, and the importance of legislative oversight of that process.

We also talked about the importance of having a national security strategy from the head of state, published and submitted to parliament, and of having a national military strategy drafted by the defense ministry in close cooperation with the general staff.

And, finally, we talked about the importance of having a professional military under democratic civilian authority. Later today, I will help dedicate the Joseph Kruzel Defense Education and Training Center; by opening this center, you will be taking an important step toward developing a professional defense establishment. Dr. Kruzel was one of our best professionals working in defense. And he would be proud to know that this center will work to train people to serve your nation's defense, just as he served America's.

Joe also would have been proud of the results of the South Balkan ministerial last April. He would have been proud that it was a meeting that was not about argument, but about agreement. We agreed that security depends on building bonds between our nations through Partnership for Peace exercises. We agreed that security requires strong, healthy civil-military relations. We agreed that disputes should be resolved through peaceful negotiation and not armed confrontation. And we agreed that security in this region is "indivisible" -- that is, the security of each nation depends upon the security all nations.

Just a few years ago, none of us could have imagined the nations of the South Balkans agreeing to these security principles. Today, it is our obligation to history to take advantage of this unique moment in time, where the unimaginable ideas of yesterday are the practical ideas of today. In 1963, at the height of the Cold War, President John Kennedy said, "let it not be said of this ... generation that have left (our) ideals and visions to the past; we have come too far, we have sacrificed too much, to disdain the future now."

Today, as the Cold War recedes into our memory, and as we build Marshall's Europe, let it not be said that we left our ideals and visions to the past. Let it be said instead that this new generation of Balkan leaders and Macedonian leaders understood that democracy is the basis for security, and let it be said that your nation began the process of making the Balkans a region that is known not for its problems, but for its promise.

(End transcript)

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