INCLUSION OF RUSSIA, BALTICS IN NATO VITAL TO U.S. SECURITY,
LUGAR TELLS US-SPONSORED INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE

PARIS, France -- American economic and security interests will be markedly enhanced by enlarging the North Atlantic Treaty Organization to include Russia and the former Warsaw Pact countries, Sen. Richard G. Lugar (R-Ind.) told a May 27-28 conference on American-European security and world trade. The conference convened in Paris two days after President Clinton and Russian President Boris Yeltsin met here to sign the historic NATO accord.

Lugar was keynote speaker at the conference, which was sponsored by the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs and the Ecole Nationale d'Administration of France, with the support of the U.S. Embassy and the American-French Senatorial Group.

Instability in Russia and Eastern Europe is a threat to Europe as a whole, and that potential is also a threat to the United States, Lugar said. "It is in the interests of the United States for a democratic Russia to emerge. These changes will benefit the American economy and also extend an unprecedented military security guarantee to North Americans and Western Europeans," he said. "The stated purpose of the NATO enlargement is to enhance stability."

But Lugar warned that Americans "will not allow NATO to be held hostage by Russia" in the latter's resistance to opening NATO to the former USSR's satellite states -- now independent democracies. "I do not believe we should give Russia veto power," he said. "And we should not allow Russia to delay or try to exclude the enlargement of NATO to the Baltics. Russia is not going to dictate the terms of its participation; the Baltics are a priority."

Russia is showing signs of understanding NATO's commitment to the Baltics, Lugar said. The Enlargement Summit in Madrid this July will cement details of the new accord, after which the NATO countries will take the agreement to their national legislatures for approval. In the United States, that will be in 1998, and Lugar expects debate on the issue.

"The debate will center on whether we should reach out, now that we've won the Cold War, or retreat from our responsibilities as an international power," he said. "We may be asked why we even need NATO anymore, and why the United States and Europe are so important to each other's peace and prosperity."

The senator said that the benefits to the United States of the enlarged NATO and expanded European Union must be fully explained to the citizens on both sides of the Atlantic. "Some will say that we should prioritize problems at home over problems abroad -- as if one could be achieved without the other," he commented. "We can't afford to pull back from our role as international leader at this crucial point."

A united Europe will be good for the American economy, Lugar noted. "The European Union, one European currency and the enlargement of NATO may seem to be separate, but they're parallel. They have the same objective: a broader, safer transatlantic community."

The American experience in Europe since World War II has been that economic prosperity and peace are linked, he said. "We have for the first time an opportunity for a more unified Europe, so our policies to promote a unified Europe combine economic and security concerns."

Americans must remember, he said, that Europe is central to the health of the American economy. "Together we produce over half the goods and services of all humanity. Our direct investment in Europe exceeds $250 billion -- greater than any other region."

Lt. Gen. Thomas M. Montgomery, the U.S. representative to the NATO Military Committee, provided a behind-the-scenes glimpse into how the machinery of NATO will change to accommodate the inclusion of Russia. He spoke of joint military operations, a new military command structure and revised European defense identity.

Montgomery said the new command structure will be more efficient and will reduce the number of NATO military headquarters from the current 65 to about 20.

"There will be more practical cooperation at all levels," he said. "The Russian Federation will open a NATO mission in Brussels which will include a military delegation, and NATO will open an information and military liaison office in Moscow." Russia has also been asked to establish military liaison missions in Mons, Belgium, and in Norfolk, Va.

"All of this is unprecedented in NATO history," said Montgomery. "All partners will be involved in the daily activities of the alliance to a degree that couldn't even be envisioned a year ago."

Former adversaries working together on military operations inside a NATO headquarters "will reverse 50 years of enmity and mistrust," which is essential to the survival of the organization's primary collective defense mission, he said.

For more information, contact Vee Kinzer, 812-855-3911, vkinzer@indiana.edu