ACCESSION NUMBER:00000
FILE ID:96121802.POL
DATE:12/18/96
TITLE:18-12-96  PERRY SAYS NATO ENLARGEMENT IS NOT A THREAT TO RUSSIA

TEXT:
(Police force should deal with Bosnian war criminals) (690)
By Jacquelyn S. Porth
USIA Security Affairs Writer

Washington -- Defense Secretary Perry, in a December 18 press
conference, sought to alleviate what he called "the broad and deep"
perception by Russia that NATO enlargement, and the alliance itself,
pose a threat to the former Soviet Union.

That perception is wrong, he told reporters in Brussels at the
conclusion of a joint two-day meeting of the sixteen NATO defense
ministers and the Russian defense minister. Perry's remarks were
broadcast to the Pentagon.

NATO and Russian leaders must find a way to correct that
misperception, he said. Russian leaders must convey the facts about
NATO issues to their publics "to allay their fears," he added.

Perry stressed that NATO leaders have offered Russia assurances that
the alliance has no intention, need or plans to deploy nuclear weapons
in the territories of countries that will be joining NATO in the
coming years. These assurances are being called "the three no's" by
the participants at the December 17-18 meeting.

The secretary also noted that the size of the NATO force is declining.
The United States, he said, has eliminated 90 percent of its theater
nuclear force in Europe. In addition, the U.S. contribution of troops
in Europe has decreased substantially from 300,000 to 100,000.

NATO has worked with Russia through the Partnership for Peace (PFP)
program, he pointed out, and the United States and Russia have worked
"shoulder-to-shoulder" in Bosnia.

Invitations to join NATO are expected to be extended this summer. The
target date for expansion is 1999 to coincide with NATO's 50th
anniversary. But Perry said the parliamentary approval process could
take several years since the legislative bodies in each of the 16
nations must agree to proposed members, and those seeking membership
must also seek legislative approval at home. For that reason, the
secretary said the alliance's decision to expand is "complex" and the
membership question "is not a pro forma operation."

He also indicated that the issue of establishing a Russian-NATO
liaison office has yet to be decided and will be discussed as a part
of a broader Russian-NATO charter to be worked out.

The official said important progress on Bosnia-Herzegovina was made at
the just concluded meeting with respect to authorizing the
implementation of NATO's Stabilization Force (SFOR), set to begin its
work December 20.

Perry also said the defense ministers agreed that "a stronger police
force is necessary" in Bosnia "so that the indicted war criminals can
be brought to justice." At the same time, he said, there was consensus
among the group that this should not be an SFOR mission.

But a police force rounding up Bosnian war criminals "could create a
civil disturbance" to which SFOR would have to respond, Perry said.
The ministers made a sharp distinction, he said, between police
functions which would not be legitimate SFOR functions and securing
the environment which would be a legitimate one. Bringing the war
criminals to justice "is going to create a securing problem," he
added, that SFOR must be prepared" to deal with.

"There was a strong agreement among all of the ministers who spoke on
this subject," the secretary said, "that we cannot turn our back on
this problem, that bringing these indicted war criminals to justice is
an important mission."

But capturing war criminals "is not a military function," he stressed,
echoing a similar statement made earlier in the week in Bosnia by
Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman John Shalikashvili. "I think NATO
should, in my judgment, confine itself to the military aspects," the
general said.

Besides Bosnia and the NATO-Russia relationship, the agenda for the
defense ministerial included the specifics for enlarging the NATO
alliance, a discussion of how to enhance PFP and the status of
implementing the Combined Joint Task Force (CJTF) concept.

This was Perry's last scheduled trip to NATO as Defense Secretary.
Retiring Senator William Cohen has been nominated by the Clinton
administration to succeed him in the post.
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