12 June 2003
NATO Defense Planning Committee, Nuclear Planning Group Meet
(Discussion centers on North Korean nuclear weapons) (1793)
NATO's Defense Planning Committee (DPC) and Nuclear Planning Group
(NPG) met in Brussels June 12 and expressed concern over recent
pronouncements by North Korea that it possesses nuclear weapons and
has withdrawn from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty.
"We strongly urged [North Korea] to dismantle immediately any nuclear
weapons programme in a verifiable, transparent and irreversible
manner," said a 15-point final communiqué issued at the end of the
meeting. "We urge all nations to continue to work together to stop the
proliferation of nuclear weapons."
Members of the DPC and NPG were joined by the seven countries invited
to join NATO -- Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania,
Slovakia and Slovenia. They discussed measures to transform the
alliance to meet new security threats, including advanced force
capabilities, a new NATO Response Force, and a streamlined command
structure.
"We noted with satisfaction that most Allies are continuing to
restructure their forces to make them smaller, more flexible, more
modern and more effective for the full range of Alliance missions,"
the communique said, acknowledging, however, that "shortfalls" exist
in a number of critical areas, particularly in the balance between
combat and support units.
Following is the communiqué, which dealt with a range of issues:
(begin text)
NATO Press Release
12 June 2003
MINISTERIAL MEETING OF THE DEFENCE PLANNING COMMITTEE AND THE NUCLEAR
PLANNING GROUP HELD IN BRUSSELS ON THURSDAY, 12 JUNE 2003
Final Communiqué
1. The Defence Planning Committee and Nuclear Planning Group of the
North Atlantic Treaty Organisation met in Ministerial Session in
Brussels on 12 June 2003. Our colleagues from the seven countries
invited to join the Alliance took part in our discussions in the
Defence Planning Committee.
2. Effective military forces, able to deploy to wherever the Alliance
decides, are essential to the Alliance's ability to achieve its wider
security objectives as well as its core function of collective
defence. Our forces must have the advanced capabilities necessary to
conduct the full range of Alliance missions, including the ability to
move quickly to a crisis area and sustain operations over time.
Ensuring these capabilities is the central focus of NATO's collective
defence planning process, and of the transformation of the Alliance,
on which we exchanged views today.
3. We approved new Ministerial Guidance to provide a framework for
NATO and nations' defence planning until 2010 and beyond. This
guidance addresses the need to overcome the shortcomings identified in
our review of national plans. We emphasised the need to pursue quality
rather than quantity in adapting our force structures, and to focus
resources on deployable forces and capabilities. We also emphasised
the need to provide sufficient resources for these capabilities by
aiming to increase defence spending in real terms and to spend
available funds more effectively, bearing in mind that NATO's
requirement for non-deployable forces is very limited.
4. We reviewed progress made in the development of the NATO Response
Force. We approved the comprehensive concept for the Force and look
forward to successful completion of the further work required.
Establishment of this force will be a significant step in providing
NATO with a capability for rapid action and a catalyst for the
development of advanced capabilities. Because nations have only a
single set of forces, work on the NATO Response Force should be
mutually reinforcing with related work in the EU.
5. We have also agreed NATO's new streamlined command arrangements.
They will provide robust capabilities to plan and execute operations,
promote the further modernisation and interoperability of Alliance
forces, and enhance the transatlantic link. There will be two commands
at the strategic level, one to conduct all Alliance operations and one
to guide and encourage the transformation of forces and other
capabilities. The second, operational, level will consist of two
standing Joint Force Commands that can provide one land-based Combined
Joint Task Force (CJTF) headquarters, and a robust but more limited
standing Joint Headquarters from which one sea-based CJTF headquarters
capability can be drawn. At the third, component or tactical, level, a
limited number of Joint Force Component Commands and Combined Air
Operations Centres (some of them deployable) will provide
service-specific expertise to the second level. These new command
arrangements build on and take full account of the command
capabilities within NATO's new Force Structure, within which all of
the envisaged high readiness corps and maritime headquarters have now
been certified as having reached full operational capability. In the
new Alliance Command Transformation structure, there will, in
addition, be a NATO Joint Warfare Centre, with a subordinate Joint
Force Training Centre and a Joint Analysis and Lessons Learned Centre,
and a number of nationally- or multi-nationally sponsored Centres of
Excellence, which will provide opportunities to enhance training,
improve interoperability, test and develop doctrines, and conduct
experiments to assess new concepts. The streamlined structure will be
more effective, and is expected to yield cost and manpower savings
which can be channelled to addressing existing Alliance shortfalls.
Achieving rapid implementation of the new command structure is
essential to ensure continuity of the command arrangements and
momentum in the transformation process. We therefore direct that the
new structure be implemented as rapidly as possible, and request the
NATO Military Authorities to report to us on progress made at our
meeting in December.
6. In discharging our responsibilities for collective defence planning
in the Alliance, we reviewed the force plans of Allies and of invited
countries.
7. We noted with satisfaction that most Allies are continuing to
restructure their forces to make them smaller, more flexible, more
modern and more effective for the full range of Alliance missions. The
implementation of current plans, including the commitments undertaken
as part of the Prague Capabilities Commitment, will bring about
important improvements. Shortfalls in a number of critical capability
areas will nevertheless continue to exist, particularly in the number
of fully deployable units and formations with the necessary support
units able to operate where little or no host nation support exists.
Further efforts are therefore needed to overcome these deficiencies,
especially correcting the balance between combat and support units.
8. We applaud the steps taken so far by the invited nations to adapt
their forces to participate in Alliance structures and look forward to
welcoming these countries as members next year. We and our
counterparts from these countries recognise, however, that much more
remains to be done, including through recently-launched defence
reviews, to re-orient force structures for the full range of Alliance
missions. This will be a long-term process and will require sustained
efforts.
9. At Prague, our Heads of State and Government noted the importance
of transforming our military capabilities. Since the defence planning
process will play a major role in this effort and remains the
cornerstone of NATO's ability to provide for the defence and security
of its members, we tasked the Defence Review Committee, taking account
of the advice of NATO's Military Authorities, to review and further
adapt where appropriate the process so that it is better able to
assist the transformation of our military capabilities. It must be
flexible, responsive and more focussed on capabilities for the full
range of Alliance missions. It should take into account national
planning cycles and also consider the evolving NATO-EU relationship.
The Allied Command Transformation will play a major role in this
review and the subsequent work to develop capabilities. We look
forward to reviewing progress in this work at our meeting in December
2003 where we will, if necessary, issue additional guidance, and to
receiving a final report, with recommendations, at our Spring meeting
in 2004.
10. At this, our first meeting as Nuclear Planning Group after the
Prague Summit, we reviewed the status of NATO's nuclear forces and
addressed related issues and activities. We reaffirmed the principles
underpinning NATO's nuclear forces as set out in the Alliance's
Strategic Concept. We continue to place great value on the nuclear
forces based in Europe and committed to NATO, which provide an
essential political and military linkage between the European and the
North American members of the Alliance.
11. We welcomed the recent entry into force of the May 2002 Moscow
Treaty between the United States and Russia on Strategic Offensive
Reductions. We agreed that this Treaty represents an important step in
establishing more favourable conditions for actively promoting
security and cooperation, and enhancing international stability.
12. The Alliance's goal to enhance global security will continue to be
strengthened through our support for arms control and
non-proliferation. In this regard, we expressed concern over
violations of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty regime and, in
particular, over recent pronouncements by the Democratic Peoples'
Republic of Korea that it had withdrawn from the Treaty and that it
was in possession of nuclear weapons. We strongly urged it to
dismantle immediately any nuclear weapons programme in a verifiable,
transparent and irreversible manner. We urge all nations to continue
to work together to stop the proliferation of nuclear weapons. We
reaffirmed our determination to contribute to the implementation of
the conclusions of the 2000 NPT Review Conference and welcomed the
accession of Cuba and East Timor to the Treaty.
13. We welcome the invitation extended to Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia,
Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia and look forward to meeting
them in this forum as full Alliance members. We endorsed a time-phased
programme to inform them about Alliance nuclear issues, designed
specifically to prepare them to participate effectively in discussions
of Alliance nuclear policy when they are members. Given their full
support of NATO's Strategic Concept, including the essential role that
nuclear forces play in the Alliance's strategy of preservation of
peace and prevention of war or any kind of coercion, the new members
will strengthen security for all in the Euro-Atlantic area.
14. We noted with satisfaction that, based on our guidance issued in
June last year, NATO's dual-capable aircraft posture has been further
adapted and readiness requirements for these aircraft have been
further relaxed. We welcome the ongoing work of the High Level Group
as it continues to discuss deterrence requirements in the new security
environment and to provide advice to Ministers as appropriate.
15. We welcomed the agreement with the Russian Federation on a Work
Plan for nuclear experts' consultations under the auspices of the
NATO-Russia Council. We agree with the plan to focus in the near term
on nuclear weapons safety and security, but we also expressed our
strong view that the nuclear Confidence and Security Building Measures
proposed by NATO in December 2000 should be addressed in these
consultations. We look forward to the next practical steps to further
implement this important Work Plan.
(end text)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
