CONTENT= // ACTUALITIES IN AUDIO SERVICES //

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) NNNN

Source: Voice of America .