HL Deb 03 February 1997 vol 577 cc128-9WA
Lord Kennet

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether, if it is proposed that the new members of NATO be given "the same security guarantees as have been enjoyed by NATO's original members throughout the organisation's existence" without the creation of new dividing lines in Europe, as stated by Baroness Chalker of Wallasey on 30th October 1996 (WA 21–22), the broad security architecture by means of which such lines are to be "transcended" and "rendered obsolete" is that governed by the OSCE; and

Whether the enlargement of NATO without alteration of its "current nuclear posture", as described by Baroness Chalker of Wallasey on 22nd January 1997 (WA 58), is compatible with confidence building measures to which they have subscribed in the OSCE; and whether it is their intention to adopt as a code of conduct the Stockholm Declaration adopted by the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly in July 1996; and

Whether, in any negotiations for the expansion eastwards of NATO they will have particular regard to paragraph 20 of the Stockholm Declaration, "that no participating State will strengthen its security at the expense of the security of other states…", and of paragraph 26t requiring "full recognition that the enlargement of security organisations cannot be considered in isolation but only as part of a wider process in which OSCE, a wide-ranging partnership among NATO, Russia and Ukraine, an enlarged NATO, and an active Partnership for Peace and the WEU form complementary parts of a broad, inclusive European security architecture based on mutual confidence and supporting the objective of an undivided Europe".

Baroness Chalker of Wallasey

NATO is a defensive alliance. Its enlargement does not threaten the security of any other state and is compatible with OSCE confidence building measures. NATO enlargement will be a further step towards the Alliance's basic goal of enhancing security and stability throughout the Euro-Atlantic area, within the context of a broad European security architecture, referred to in my answer of 30th October (WA 22), This comprises all the organisations and activities in Europe with a security role, including NATO, the WEU, the EU, Partnership for Peace, the North Atlantic Cooperation Council and the OSCE as reflected in paragraph 26t of the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly's Stockholm Declaration of July 1996. It is not the Government's intention to adopt the "Stockholm Declaration" as a code of conduct.