Statement by the President: Outcome of NATO's Foreign Ministers Meeting in Brussels (12/19/00)
                              THE WHITE HOUSE

                       Office of the Press Secretary

___________________________________________________________________________
___
For Immediate Release
December 19, 2000


                        STATEMENT BY THE PRESIDENT

    I am very pleased with the outcome of NATO's foreign ministers meeting
in Brussels last week.  Secretary Albright and her NATO colleagues
reaffirmed the Alliance's commitment to peace, democracy, and respect for
human rights throughout Southeast Europe.  They also reviewed the important
progress we have made towards meeting our April 1999 Washington Summit
commitments - including improving our defense capabilities, increasing
efforts against weapons of mass destruction, and reviewing the enlargement
process at our next summit, to take place no later than 2002.  I applaud
the selection of Prague as the site for the next NATO Summit.  The Czech
Republic under President Havel has been a driving force in the continued
integration of Europe.

    Working closely with the EU, NATO also has advanced the goals we set at
the Washington Summit for strengthening European defense capabilities.  I
welcome the agreement at the EU?s Nice Summit to improve Europe's ability
to act in times of crises and to put arrangements in place for close
collaboration with NATO.  NATO Defense and Foreign Ministers also acted to
establish a strategic partnership with the EU.  These efforts will
strengthen NATO?s European pillar, promote the EU?s ability to manage
crises where NATO is not engaged, and reinforce our trans-Atlantic ties.

    We still have work to do to implement these arrangements and strengthen
the habits of cooperation that have been NATO's hallmark since the end of
the Cold War.  The United States looks forward to working with our European
Allies and partners to enhance our partnership and advance our common
goals.

                                 30-30-30


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