The Prague Conference on the Future of European Security [antikvár]

PREFACE BY THE MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS OF THE CZECH AND SLOVAK FEDERAL REPUBLIC AND THE SECRETARY GENERAL OF THE NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY ORGANISATION In deciding to co-sponsorthis Conference, atthis time, we wanted more than simply another symbol of the deepening coopération which is taking place in Europe and which, under our different responsibilities, we are seeking to promote. It is our joint belief that the Conference has achieved much more than that. First it has reflected the intensity of the political and intellectual thinking on the vital questions of Europe's future. It has drawn attention to the ever more apparent truth that the way forward lies in harmonious interaction between key institutions and between sovereign states. And it has illustrated the strength of feeling in the Western as well as Central and Eastern European countries, that the transatlantic link with Canada and the United States has to be maintained. The Atlantic Alliance was seen as indispensable not oniy as an important factor of stability but as the only effective and functioning instrument ofsecurity in Europe with the characteristics as well as the potential to prevent any recourse to military solutions to political problems. The Conference has left no doubt that the members of the Atlantic Alliance understand the needs of the new democracies and want to cater to them as much as possible. Equally, it has strengthened the conviction that a reinforced CSCE, buttressed by the Alliance, can provide the overarching structure which the whole continent of Europe requires. The Conference was an unprecedented event. lts purpose was not to take décisions but to further the understanding of the future security équation from the perspective of Central, Eastern and Western Europe as well as of North America. It did this admirably. It did not erase all the