20 June 2003
Robertson Calls New NATO a "Network"
(Press conference after Allied Command Transformation ceremony) (1910)
The new NATO was the main topic of a press conference following a
ceremony in Norfolk, Virginia, June 19 establishing NATO's new Allied
Command Transformation (ACT) and decommissioning its former Allied
Command Atlantic.
Responding to questions from the press were NATO Secretary General
Lord Robertson; Admiral Edmund Giambastiani, NATO's first Supreme
Allied Commander Transformation; and Supreme Allied Commander, Europe
(SACEUR) General James L. Jones.
Robertson described the new NATO as "a network that involves the
European Union, the partner nations, possibly even Russia, to make
sure that the freedom loving people of the world are on top of the
capabilities that are going to be required to deal with some very new
challenges in the future."
Giambastiani said that his job as Supreme Allied Commander
Transformation is "to support the operational command." Jones added
that the "very, very strong and robust and cohesive relationship"
between the two commands "will enable us to continue the
transformation of the military capabilities that we all know we need
for the 21st century challenges that face us all in common around the
globe."
"These organizations are going to work hard on the NATO response
force," Giambastiani explained. And Robertson said, "This is a
retooled, re-engineered, re-invented NATO, ready to deal with the
threats that we all know are out there but also ready to deal with
some of the threats that we don't know are out there."
While the Secretary General said that NATO "has transformed itself,"
he also noted a significant remaining challenge: "The missing link at
the moment still is sufficient progress on getting the European
capabilities up to the standard and the quantity and quality of the
American ones."
Following is a transcript of the press conference:
(begin transcript)
NATO Speeches
19 June 2003
Norfolk, Virginia
MEDIA OPPORTUNITY
WITH LORD ROBERTSON, ADMIRAL GIAMBASTIANI, AND GENERAL JONES AT THE
ALLIED COMMAND TRANSFORMATION ACTIVATION CEREMONY AND CHANGE OF
COMMAND
QUESTION inaudible.
LORD ROBERTSON: The key thing here is that this is something
completely new and completely different that's quite revolutionary.
NATO has transformed itself. This is a new NATO. This command is
absolutely critical to the way in which we develop and are able to
deal with the new threats and challenges. And what makes it so
different and distinctive is that it's not just simply going to be
about keeping the United States inter-operable with the allies but
it's with a much wider family and constituency than that. We see it as
being a network that involves the European Union, the partner nations,
possibly even Russia, to make sure that the freedom loving people of
the world are on top of the capabilities that are going to be required
to deal with some very new challenges in the future. So we've gone
from what was a traditional, old, essentially Cold War command, in
charge of the Atlantic with all the submarine threats that are
involved there, now to dealing with these unconventional,
unpredictable threats of the future. So this is an article of faith by
the alliance in the future. And linking it so clearly to the U.S.
Joint Forces Command means that the United States will never be alone
in the future and that the allies will always know that in times of
trouble they'll be able to act with the United States in the interest
of international law and order.
QUESTION: Lord Robertson, what place will the new allies, like
Romania, have in the new set up?
LORD ROBERTSON: Well transformation means that the new allies will
have a critical new role to play. They will add value to the alliance,
and this command will make sure that they fit in with the total power
that we can deploy in the rest of the world. So the nation capability,
the specializations that can be brought in by the newer countries will
not simply be bolted on, they will an integral part of a new, whole
concept for making sure that our armed forces are sharp, they're
deployable and they're powerful and effective, acting as both a
deterrent and as a high integrity war fighting group. As and when
required.
QUESTION: General, you as the operator and Admiral, you as the
transformer are going to have to work closely together I would
imagine. Are you already planning any kind of exercises or experiments
for the NATO forces (rest of question inaudible)?
ADMIRAL GIAMBASTIANI: What I would say is that, first of all, General
Jones and I are old personal friends, professional friends, which, I
think, helps that there's going to be a very strong relationship
between the two of us. There already is, and I think in our commands.
As a matter of fact just walking over here we were re-emphasizing some
of those relationships and partnerships. I would describe it as a
very, very robust and a very enthusiastic partnership on both sides.
My job, and our job, as Supreme Allied Commander Transformation is,
frankly, to support the operational command, just as Joint Forces
Command supports the other combatant commanders inside the United
States. We do that with the direction of the NATO Allied Council. We
do that through the military council but the bottom line is that our
job is day to day to support the operations of the allied command
operations. Jim.
GENERAL JONES: You underscored what Admiral Forbes and now Admiral
Giambastiani - we have been working on the modalities of defining this
relationship for quite a few months. And it really is going to be
very, very strong and robust and cohesive relationship that will
enable us to continue the transformation of the military capabilities
that we all know we need for the 21st century challenges that face us
all in common around the globe.
QUESTION: Do you have any specific exercises for experimenting...
ADMIRAL GIAMBASTIANI: Maybe we could say that frankly that these
organizations are going to work hard on the NATO response force.
That's about as important as you can get.
GENERAL JONES: That's really the prime vehicle for transformation as
well. It not only generates the capability but it's the vehicle by
which we achieve that transformation.
LORD ROBERTSON: This has been a remarkable month for NATO. When you
consider not only did last week the alliance, indeed, get a whole new
command structure. This is one critically important part of it that
we've got a slimmed down, highly effective, very efficient new command
structure agreed in about 8 1/2 months. The last command structure
took 10 years to put in place. So we have a command structure, we've
got the NATO response force and its concept of operations now defined,
and today we've got Allied Command Transformation. So this is a
retooled, re-engineered, re-invented NATO, ready to deal with the
threats that we all know are out there but also ready to deal with
some of the threats that we don't know are out there.
QUESTION: Can you address the urgency in which you need to get the
force ready? Is there an urgency to make it happen tomorrow as opposed
to several years from now?
GENERAL JONES: I personally think that there's, certainly
operationally, if you're looking at all the operations that are facing
NATO that this is no longer an alliance that is content to wait for
something to happen in its own back yard. We're preparing a force -- a
sizable force -- to go to Afghanistan. We're preparing to deploy one
of our member nations as a framework mission to Iraq. We're running a
very successful Mediterranean naval operation -- Active Endeavor --
that has resulted in a 50 percent decrease in illegal immigration, and
a substantial decrease in the commercial insurance rates for
commercial shipping in the Mediterranean. So we've completed a
deployment to and from Turkey. And, we never forget the ongoing
operations in the Balkans, which are yielding unparalleled success in
apprehending indicted war criminals -- 100 out of the 120 named so
far. So we are responding to the real challenges that face NATO. So
there is some sense [of] urgency with the arrival of ACT, the
relationship with Allied Command Transformation and the Allied Command
for Operations is going to hasten the delivery of the NATO response
force, which is really going to be a terrific and incredible response
to all of these challenges.
LORD ROBERTSON: The missing link at the moment still is sufficient
progress on getting the European capabilities up to the standard and
the quantity and quality of the American ones. But again the NATO
defense ministers last week made serious progress in that as well. So
there is a growing realization of the threat, the danger, how it can
be tackled and also what it needs to make sure that we are going to
ensure safety and security. So this is an old headquarters building
that is housing now one of the most modern military concepts in the
world. And as the general and the admiral have said, this is not
theory; this is theory put into practice. And every day there are
people in uniform out there doing a remarkable job of work. This
command is going to help them to make sure they do it well in the
future.
ADMIRAL GIAMBASTIANI: I might add that the secretary general has said
three important words "capabilities, capabilities, capabilities." I
would add three very important words to what Allied Command
Transformation has to bring those capabilities about and that is
"product, product, and product." I mean that because we've done that
within the United States Joint Forces Command. The product happens to
be an intellectual capital transfer, it happens to be doctrine and
organizations, it happens to be what we can do to help bring about
changes across that entire spectrum that will foster those additional
capabilities for NATO. Lessons learned, not lessons noted. Lessons
implemented. Those are all important. They're all part of an overall
package.
QUESTION: Lord Robertson, in terms of transformation of Eastern
European militaries is there any sort of plan for financing or some
way to get those countries that don't have the budget up to speed
militarily?
LORD ROBERTSON: Well in many ways these countries are spending more of
their national wealth on defense than the majority of NATO countries
at the moment. So they've had to make serious progress as far as their
application to be members of the alliance. And we will be expected to
make the contributions that are required. But of course to be a member
of NATO means that you can do it more cost effectively because you are
part of collective security and collective defense. There are common
funding programs that NATO has and it is part of NATO's role that the
common funding programs will assist and help them as well. But NATO is
not some sort of charity. It's not some benevolent body. It is a
collective security alliance whereby you make your contribution and
you add value to the collective whole. So those countries -- the new
countries as well as the old countries -- are expected to pay their
share of the burdens because at the end of the day they expect their
share of the security as well.
CAPTAIN CARMAN: Very good. Thank you Secretary.
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S.
Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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