ACCESSION NUMBER:381520
FILE ID:EUR408
DATE:03/02/95
TITLE:KORNBLUM DISCUSSES EUROPEAN SECURITY ARCHITECTURE (03/02/95)
TEXT:*95030201.GWE
*EUR408   03/02/95
KORNBLUM DISCUSSES EUROPEAN SECURITY ARCHITECTURE
(EUROSEC: NATO role) (510)
By David Pitts
USIA Staff Writer
Washington -- John Kornblum, deputy assistant secretary of state for
European and Canadian affairs, said March 2 that the development of a
European security architecture (EUROSEC) "is a work in progress."  The
structure is not yet fully evolved, he added.

Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS),
Kornblum said that the situation in Europe since the end of the Cold War is
mixed.  There has been "more tumult" in Europe since the end of the Cold
War than there was during the Cold War, but democratic systems also "are
being established in most parts of the former Soviet Union," and Central
Europe, he noted.

The definition of security in Europe has changed from "avoiding large-scale
conflict," to consolidating democracy and enhancing integration, Kornblum
said.

There is "a continued and very energetic focus on structures" to maximize
security in the post-Cold War situation, Kornblum said.  "The new European
security architecture, which is hopefully going to emerge in the next five
to ten years, is undoubtedly going to be based on existing Western
structures," he added.  However, those structures will "have to be enlarged
and strengthened," he said.

Kornblum mentioned the European Union (EU), the Organization for Security
and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and NATO (North Atlantic Treaty
Organization) by name.

As far as enlargement of NATO is concerned, Kornblum said enlargement is not
just a question of adding new members, but also a question "of coverage,"
what the enlarged organization does.  He said he doubted whether NATO would
ever become a 53-member organization such as OSCE.

The process of expanding NATO will be completed according "to the internal
requirements of the Alliance" and other processes, such as expanding
general cooperation, Kornblum said.

That cooperation will include a "continuing and deepening dialogue" with
Russia and Ukraine, he indicated.

1eferring to recent Russian actions, Kornblum said there is no effort on the
administration's part "to overlook this behavior," but he said "these
differences cannot be allowed to break off dialogue."

Ambassador Gebhardt von Moltke, assistant secretary general for political
affairs at NATO, said NATO is doing an effective job in the post-Cold War
world.  The organization stands "at the very crossroads of Europe's
future," he said.  He outlined the challenges he sees ahead:

-- "to extend security eastward" by integrating some countries into NATO and
offering others "a cooperative framework";

-- to participate in peacekeeping and the containing of local conflicts;
-- to counter the threat from weapons of mass destruction; and
-- to extend security to the Mediterranean area and to the Middle East.
Von Moltke defended NATO's performance in Bosnia, saying its role there "has
been executed swiftly and effectively."  He said NATO has helped stop the
conflict from spreading, stopped the use of air space for hostile actions
by the combatants, helped enforce the embargo against Serbia, and helped
preserve "safe areas."

On Russia, Von Moltke called for a "constructive, cooperative relationship.
That is "within our grasp," he added.

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