DATE=1/30/97

TYPE=CLOSE-UP

NUMBER=4-09579

TITLE=NATO: WHAT ABOUT THE COUNTRIES NOT INVITED TO JOIN?

BYLINE=FRANCIS RONALDS

TELEPHONE=619-3937

DATELINE=WASH

EDITOR=NANCY SMART

INTRO: A FEW EASTERN EUROPEAN COUNTRIES WILL BE OFFERED

MEMBERSHIP IN NATO -- THE NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY

ORGANIZATION -- AT ITS SUMMIT MEETING IN MADRID THIS

JULY. IT IS GENERALLY EXPECTED THAT THE CZECH REPUBLIC,

HUNGARY AND POLAND WILL BE INVITED TO JOIN, ALTHOUGH

FINAL DECISIONS HAVE NOT YET BEEN MADE. BUT WHAT ABOUT

THE OTHER NATIONS OF EAST-CENTRAL EUROPE THAT WOULD LIKE

TO JOIN NATO? THIS WAS THE SUBJECT OF A CONFERENCE

WHICH JUST TOOK PLACE AT THE CENTER FOR STRATEGIC AND

INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, IN WASHINGTON. VOA'S FRANK

RONALDS WAS THERE, AND HAS THIS REPORT.

HOST: THE CONSENSUS OF THE EXPERTS WHO ATTENDED THE C-S-I-S

CONFERENCE WAS SUMMED UP BY STEPHEN BLANK, PROFESSOR OF

RESEARCH AT THE STRATEGIC INSTITUTE OF THE U-S ARMY WAR

COLLEGE. IN PRESENTING THIS SUMMATION OF OPINIONS

EXPRESSED AT THE CONFERENCE, PROFESSOR BLANK STRESSES

THAT HE IS NOT ATTEMPTING TO EXPRESS THE OFFICIAL VIEW

OF THE U-S GOVERNMENT A SPECIALIST ON THE NATIONALITIES

OF THE FORMER SOVIET UNION, PROFESSOR BLANK EMPHASIZES

THAT EFFORTS ARE BEING MADE TO ASSURE THOSE COUNTRIES

NOT INVITED IN THE FIRST ROUND THAT THEIR ENTRY INTO

NATO WILL BE DULY CONSIDERED IN THE NEAR FUTURE:

TAPE: CUT ONE -- BLANK

"WE SHOULD FIRST OF ALL STATE THAT NATO ENLARGMENT IS

NOT A ONE-TIME OPTION: NOBODY WILL BE DISCRIMINATED

AGAINST IN PRINCIPLE, AND THE DOOR WILL REMAIN OPEN TO

THOSE WHO CAN QUALIFY WITH THE ALLIANCE'S STANDARDS. WE

NEED TO ENCOURAGE THEM TO CONTINUE DEMOCRATIZATION,

CIVILIAN CONTROL OF THE MILITARY, AND TO CREATE PUBLIC

SUPPORT TOR THEIR COUNTRIES' ADHESION TO NATO. WE ARE

ENLARGING THE PARTNERSHIP FOR PEACE. THERE IS GOING TO

BE A KIND OF SUPER-P-F-P NOW, WHERE MEMBERS HAVE MORE

INPUT INTO WHAT IS DECIDED AND WHAT ACTIVITIES THEY

UNDERTAKE. THERE WILL BE A POLITICAL DIMENSION IN THE

ATLANTIC PARTNERSHIP COUNCIL. THERE ARE PROPOSALS FOR

SUB-REGIONAL PLANS THAT PERTAIN EITHER TO THE BALTIC OR

TO THE BALKAN STATES. (BEGIN OPT) SIMILARLY, FOR

ORGANIZATIONS LIKE THE BLACK SEA ECONOMIC COUNCIL, WHICH

IS COMPOSED OF THE LITTORAL (COASTAL) STATES OF THE

BLACK SEA, WHICH PROVIDE A VENUE FOR BOTH SHARED

PROBLAMS THAT THE LITTORAL STATES OF THE BLACK SEA HAVE,

AND BILATERAL ISSUES THAT MIGHT ARISE. THESE ARE THE

KINDS OF PROCESSES THAT ARE PART OF THE FABRIC OF

INTEGRATION IN EUROPE. (END OPT)"

HOST: PROFESSOR BLANK POINTS OUT THAT COOPERATION AND

DEMOCRATIZATION HAS BEEN AN AIM OF NATO SINCE ITS

INCEPTION IN 1949. HE POINTS TO RECENT AGREEMENTS

DEALING WITH THE PROBLEM OF HUNGARIAN MINORITIES IN

ROMANIA AND SLOVAKIA, AND ANOTHER TO OVERCOME THE BITTER

LEGACY OF THE NAZI OCCUPATION OF CZECHOSLOVAKIA AND THE

EXPULSION OF THE SUDENTEN GERMANS FROM CZECHOSLOVAKIA AT

THE END OF THE WAR. THESE AGREEMENTS, PROFESSOR BLANK

SAYS, ARE EXAMPLES OF THE PROCESS BY WHICH NATO HAS BEEN

HEALING OLD WOUNDS:

TAPE: CUT TWO -- BLANK

"THERE IS NO DOUBT THAT A FUNCTION OF NATO FROM THE

BEGINNING, AND CERTAINLY A FUNCTION NOW, IS TO EXPAND

THE RANGE OF THE DEMOCRATIC COMMUNITY IN EUROPE, AND BY

DOING SO, TO CREATE WHAT WE BELIEVE IS A STABLER AND

MORE DURABLE PEACE IN EUROPE. NATO'S RECORD OVER THE

YEARS, AND ITS RECENT RECORD, AS STATES JOIN TO QUEUE TO

JOIN NATO, HAS BEEN ONE THAT HAS FOSTERED A GREAT DEAL

OF PROGRESS. THE ROMANIAN-HUNGARIAN TREATY IN SEPTEMBER

IS AN EXAMPLE. NATO'S CONTRIBUTION TO STABLIZING THE

PEACE IN YUGOSLAVIA, ALTHOUGH IT WAS BELATED, IS CLEARLY

TANGIBLE AND MILITARILY SUCCESSFUL. THE DEMOCRATIZATION

OF GERMANY, SUPPORT FOR THE DEMOCRATIZATION OF SPAIN,

PORTUGAL AND GREECE, KEEPING A LID ON GREEKO-TURKISH

TENSIONS: I THINK ALL THESE ARE EXTREMELY CONSTRUCTIVE

AND POSITIVE DEVELOPMENTS THAT COULD NOT QUITE HAVE

HAPPENED THE WAY THEY DID WITHOUT NATO."

HOST: THERE IS NO DOUBT, PROFESSOR BLANK SAYS, THAT STABILITY

IN UKRAINE IS ABSOLUTELY ESSENTIAL FOR STABILITY

THROUGHOUT EAST/CENTRAL EUROPE. BUT POLITICAL AND

ECONOMIC REFORM THERE HAVE SO FAR NOT MET THE STANDARDS

SET FOR ENTRY INTO NATO. DOMESTIC DEVELOPMENTS IN

SLOVAKIA MAY ALSO PREVENT THAT COUNTRY FROM JOINING NATO

IN THE FIRST ROUND:

TAPE: CUT THREE -- BLANK

"THE PROBLEMS IN UKRAINE HAVE TO DO WITH POLITICAL AND

ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENTS WHICH ARE HOLDING IT BACK FROM

REFORM AND FROM MAXIMIZING ITS POTENTIAL. ALSO, I WOULD

ARGUE THAT THERE IS AN ATTEMPT BY MOSCOW, NOW AND THEN,

TO PUT PRESSURE ON UKRAINE AND THAT MOSCOW STILL HAS NOT

FULLY COME TO TERMS WITH THE REALITIES OF UKRAINIAN

INDEPENDENCE AND ITS SOVEREIGNTY. THE LACK OF DEMOCRACY

IN SLOVAKIA: IT'S QUITE CLEAR THAT THERE IS A

GOVERNMENT THAT IS TRYING TO WEAKEN CONSTITUTIONAL

PROVISIONS OF SEPARATION OF POWERS, OF RULE OF LAW AND

CIVILIAN CONTROL OVER THE POLICE AND THE MILITARY."

HOST: A NUMBER OF MAJOR POLITICAL FIGURES IN THE WEST,

INCLUDING FORMER U-S SECRETARY OF STATE HENRY KISSINGER,

HAVE SUGGESTED WAYS TO AT LEAST PARTLY MEET RUSSIAN

OBJECTIONS TO NATO ENLARGEMENTS. THEY SUGGEST THAT THE

NATO SUMMIT AGREE ON THE SAME RESTRICTIONS IN CENTRAL

EUROPE AS THOSE WHICH WERE AGREED UPON FOR EAST GERMANY

WHEN IT BECAME A PART OF A UNIFIED GERMANY. THESE ARE

THAT THERE WOULD BE NO DEPLOYMENT OF NUCLEAR WEAPONS AND

NO PERMANENT STATIONING OF FOREIGN TROOPS IN THE NEW

NATO STATES. BUT PROFESSOR BLANK SAYS THAT MOSCOW

SPEAKS OF "REINTEGRATING" THE COUNTRIES OF THE C-I-S --

THE COMMONWEALTH OF INDEPENDENT STATES, WHICH INCLUDES

MOST OF THE REPUBLICS OF THE FORMER SOVIET UNION. AND,

HE SAYS, RUSSIA IS DEMANDING A VETO ON NATO ACTIONS

WHICH THAT ORGANIZATION CANNOT POSSIBLY ACCEPT:

TAPE: CUT FOUR -- BLANK

"MOSCOW WANTS TO REUNIFY THE C-I-S UNDER ITS AUSPICES.

SO WHAT THEY WANT IS UNEQUAL SECURITY. ON THE ONE HAND,

THEY WANT EQUALITY WITH NATO, BUT THEY WANT A FREE HAND

TO DO WHAT THEY PLEASE IN THE C-I-S. AND THIS IS NOT A

PROPOSAL THAT IS GOING TO GET ANY SUPPORT ANYWHERE."

HOST: A SUMMARY OF A CONFERENCE AT WASHINGTON'S CENTER FOR

STRATEGIC AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES, CALLED TO CONSIDER

THE FUTURE OF THOSE COUNTRIES IN EAST/CENTRAL EUROPE WHO

ARE NOT INVITED TO JOIN NATO AT THE ORGANIZATION'S

SUMMIT MEETING IN MADRID NEXT JULY. (SIGNED)

NEB/FSR/NES

30-Jan-97 7:18 AM EST (1218 UTC)

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Source: Voice of America