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Firstly,
I would like to express my congratulations to Colonel RADU,
the new MAG Chairperson, and wish him every success in this
important role
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I would like to express my appreciation for your invitation
to attend the 10th meeting of MAG here in Zagreb. As a matter
of fact, I consider this event as an important part of preparation
of the upcoming Stability Pact Regional Table /Working Table
III meetings in Skopje on 18 - 19 November 2004.
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In
this context, I would like to reiterate the continued Stability
Pact support for RACVIAC. This was again confirmed at the
last WT III meeting in Portoroz¹ where RACVIAC's central role
as a facilitator of regional cooperation on politico-military
issues was again highlighted, as well as during the visit
of the Special Coordinator dr. Busek to Zagreb last week.
Let me assure you that dr.Busek will not forget to mention
RACVIAC's contribution to the stabilization of South Eastern
Europe during his meeting with the Secretary General of NATO
in mid of this week.
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Today, RACVIAC is a broadly recognized “institution”
in the SEE region. This is, inter alia, a direct result of
the excellent job done by Gen. Johann Pucher and his staff
during the last two years. We should now do everything in
order to keep the positive momentum.
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In this connection I would like to remind you that my country
will take over the OSCE Chairmanship as of 1 January 2005.
It is now a timely moment to think how to use this opportunity
to deepen existing ties and cooperation between OSCE and RACVIAC.
The WT III Director Pieter Verbeek and his expert Jiri Kalasnikov
did already have consultations on this issue with the Director
of the OSCE Conflict Prevention Center Ambassador Zannier
in Vienna last week. We are happy to be able to say that the
OSCE Secretariat and its Conflict Prevention Centre are fully
aware of RACVIAC’s role and are fully ready to cooperate.
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We also actively took part in the process of consultation
regarding the post of the new MAG Chairperson and, especially,
the post of RACVIAC Director. The Special Coordinator has
also closely followed the issue.
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As you are aware, we have been discussing “personnel
issues” for a relatively long time. Now, there is an
urgent need to take a decision, in order to consolidate the
“internal” situation and concentrate on more substantive
issues.
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It is equally important to take a decision on “legal
issues”, i.e. the MAG Terms of Reference / Agreement.
In this context I would like to mention that I appreciate
the efforts of our legal experts; my special thanks to Amb.
Ehrlich and Amb. Gislesen.
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Let me once again repeat that - from my point of view - the
role of the Chairperson of the MAG needs to be further strengthened.
In Ankara I said that one of the possible ways on how to support
him, would be to identify "friends of the MAG Chair"
and to establish an open-ended meeting of Group of the Chair
Friends. “The friends” could e.g. assist the MAG
Chair in reaching consensus where necessary or appropriate.
I do not like to insist, but let us try to think about this
option.
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At
this occasion, I am looking forward to hear from Col. Radu
as well from Gen. Papotis about their visions on how to develop
RACVIAC. I am open to any kind of consultations with both
of them.
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As regards RACVIAC's 2005 activities, I would like to stress
that I appreciate that some of our ideas regarding the future
“RACVIAC mission” (i.e. defence conversion, SALW,
border management and security, democratic control of armed
forces) are embodied in the RACVIAC Draft Programme for 2005.
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In
this context, I would also like to inform you that together
with the WT III team, I will go to Sofia in two weeks from
now, in order to discuss with the Bulgarian National Coordinator
on how to “revitalise” the Bulgaria-led Budget
Transparency Initiative which deals with transparency of military
budgets and related proceedings in SEE. In fact, the BTI project
could be seen as a part of the process of democratic control
of armed forces. I would appreciate if in our today's meeting
we would discuss whether and how RACVIAC could assist in this
endeavour.
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Any discussion on the future role of RACVIAC needs to take
place in the context of the new security challenges the international
community is facing today. Here, I would just like to point
out 2 issues:
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The
shocking events in Beslan 2 weeks ago were a cruel reminder
that international terrorism has in fact reached new,
so far unknown dimensions. In order to find answers to
this phenomenon, one needs both to address the root causes
of terrorism, as well as to develop regional and international
cooperation. Our today's meeting provides us with the
opportunity to discuss this new threat.
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Another
priority item is regional defence and military cooperation.
Here, RACVIAC serves as an excellent platform for discussion
on these issues; moreover, the Serbian-Montenegrin “shopping
list” paper distributed in Portoroz¹ could be mentioned
in this context.
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We should also think about how to develop our future cooperation
with South Eastern European Defence Ministerial (SEDM). In
this respect, I am happy to report that the Stability Pact
has been invited to participate in the SEDM meeting in Slovenia
on 5 November this year
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With these introductory words in mind, I would now like to
continue with the next agenda item. I thank you for your attention
and am looking forward to a results-oriented discussion today.
Thank you.
