EDITORIAL: NATO and the future (03/21/99)

EDITORIAL

NATO and the future

Referring to the admission to NATO of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland, formalized just six weeks before the alliance celebrates its 50th anniversary, Javier Solana, secretary-general of NATO, wrote in The Economist (March 13): "As a geopolitical landmark, its significance can hardly be overstated... It means that in the new Europe, destiny is no longer determined by geography. It signals the return of a Europe of sovereign and self-confident nations, which are no longer the object of other countries' ambitions, but determine their own fate. It means that Europe is growing together, and that this process is now irreversible."

Meanwhile, at the accession ceremony on March 12, Czech Foreign Minister Jan Kavan said that by joining NATO his country is accepting "the guarantee that it will never again become the victim of a foreign invasion," as was the case in 1968. Hungarian Foreign Minister Janos Martonyi said that while Hungarians have often complained of "being abandoned or standing alone," that is in the past." Polish Foreign Minister Bronislaw Geremek said, "today, Poland returns where she belongs."

In Ukraine, the three states' accession was welcomed as "a demonstration of the right of any nation to decide on the means to ensure its own security," and NATO's open-door policy was lauded as "a guarantee of strengthening security and stability in Europe and in the Euro-Atlantic region as a whole." As for the public reaction, NATO expansion was hailed in Kyiv as some 1,000 Ukrainians formed a "live chain" on March 12 connecting the Polish, Czech and Hungarian embassies.

Indeed, the significance of what occurred in Independence, Mo., on March 12 is enormous - and not only for NATO members, but for all of Europe. Although many in this post-Cold-War era argue that Russia is no longer a threat, the new members, and others formerly in the Soviet sphere, certainly would not agree.

And, if anyone doubts that Russia and its minions remain a threat to Ukraine, one needn't look any further than the events of recent weeks, to wit, the vote orchestrated by Chairman Oleksander Tkachenko in the leftist-dominated Verkhovna Rada to join the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly, and the Kyiv visit by Belarusian President Alyaksandr Lukashenka, who advocated his vision of a "Slavic union" that many see as nothing less than restoration of the old Russian/Soviet empire.

The foregoing illustrates why anyone who truly supports Ukraine's independence also appreciates and welcomes NATO's enlargement. As Secretary-General Solana noted, after "40 years of East-West standoff and one post-cold war decade," NATO is now set to play the role of "promoter of security" and "guarantor against aggression." Furthermore, NATO has proclaimed that it will continue its policy of enlargement, and several Central and East European countries are now preparing for NATO membership. It is not inconceivable that Ukraine, too, may seek to join.

Thus, as we greet the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland on their new membership in the alliance, we look toward a future that will encompass even more nations in a shared vision of a peace and security.

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