ACCESSION NUMBER:00000
FILE ID:96090602.txt
DATE:09/06/96
TITLE:06-09-96  TEXT:  CLINTON STATEMENT ON NATO ENLARGEMENT AND RUSSIA

TEXT:
(Calls for broad, deep NATO-Russian partnership)  (700)

Washington -- The Atlantic Alliance should create "a broad and deep
partnership" with the Russian Federation as NATO membership expands,
President Clinton says.

Calling for a NATO summit next year "to take the next decisive steps"
toward bringing Central and Eastern European democracies under the
alliance umbrella, Clinton said NATO is already "intensifying efforts
to build a strong partnership between NATO and Russia."

The summit session, he said September 6, "would invite the first
group" of nations seeking to join NATO "to begin accession talks." New
members would come from the Partnership for Peace, an association
created to standardize the military policies and equipment of nations
seeking to join the Alliance. Clinton said he hoped the summit would
"confirm establishment of a broad and deep NATO-Russian partnership
for the long term."

In a written statement, the president expressed satisfaction with
development of the Partnership, which he proposed at the 1994 NATO
summit in Brussels. The statement, issued as Clinton was campaigning
in Florida, said the Partnership "has created unprecedented links
between NATO and the nations of Central and Eastern Europe and the
former Soviet Union."

The official text of the president's statement, which was made
available at the White House in Washington, follows:

(begin text)

The White House
Office of the Press Secretary
(Orlando, Florida)

September 6, 1996

STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

Today, at my request, Secretary of State Christopher called for a NATO
Summit next year to take the next steps on adapting and enlarging the
NATO Alliance and preparing it for the 21st Century.

At the last NATO Summit in Brussels in January 1994, my fellow NATO
heads of government and I set out an ambitious agenda to adapt NATO to
the opportunities and challenges of the new century. We agreed that
NATO would take on new roles and missions in pursuit of peace. We
agreed to strengthen the European pillar of the Alliance to promote
greater European responsibility and burdensharing. And we agreed to
reach out to Europe's new and emerging democracies through creation of
the Partnership for Peace and by moving, steadily and deliberately, to
add new members to the Alliance. We were determined to end the Cold
War division of Europe and create, for the first time in history, a
Europe united in peace, democracy and free market prosperity.

The results are impressive: NATO already has taken on new roles and
missions. The Alliance's successful IFOR operation in Bosnia,
undertaken with broad participation by non-NATO members, has brought
peace to that beleaguered country. NATO is reshaping its military side
to make it better able to take on new missions while strengthening the
European defense role within the Alliance. We are continuing to deepen
and enhance the Partnership for Peace, which has created unprecedented
links between NATO and the nations of Central and Eastern Europe and
the former Soviet Union. And we are intensifying our efforts to build
a strong partnership between NATO and Russia. NATO has also been
making great strides in its preparations for enlargement, holding
intensive consultations on the requirements and responsibilities of
membership with many of Europe's emerging new democracies.

I believe that NATO heads of government should meet in the spring or
early summer of next year to take the next decisive steps. This summit
would invite the first group of aspiring NATO members to begin
accession talks to bring them into the Alliance. It would announce a
major enhancement of the Partnership for Peace. It would also finalize
work in adapting the NATO military structure to provide a more
distinctive European role with full Allied participation. Finally, the
summit would, we hope, confirm establishment of a broad and deep
NATO-Russia partnership for the long term.

I call on my fellow NATO heads of government to join with me in this
endeavor. Together, we can make this summit the most historic and
forward-looking in the history of our NATO Alliance, furthering our
vision of an undivided Europe, and building a bridge of peace and
security, democracy, and prosperity to the 21st Century.

(end text)
NNNN

.