Merkel and Sarkozy:"We Europeans Need To Speak With One Voice"

Europe has to strengthen its defense- and security-policy and better coordinate with the United States of America.

Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel and President Nicolas Sarkozy

Over 300 years ago, Leibniz and Voltaire put forward their thoughts on the "best of all worlds". Today, the Munich Security Conference in which we, the Federal Chancellor of Germany and the President of France, are both participating, offers us the opportunity to put forward our thoughts on stability and security. We do this also with an eye to the role that Germany and France are to play as joint hosts to NATO's 60th anniversary summit in Strasbourg and Kehl.

Sicherheitskonferenz: Bundeskanzlerin Angela Merkel mit dem französischen Präsidenten Nicolas Sarkozy

Angela Merkel and Nicolas Sarkozy

(Foto: Foto: AFP)

Over recent months we have seen worrying developments in the world: the war in the Caucasus was the first military confrontation on European soil of the 21st century. At the start of this year, military clashes between Israel and Hamas brought home to us the instability in the Middle East. There has been no progress in the tense dispute over Iran's nuclear programme.

We constantly receive news of acts of terrorism, attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan, violent clashes in Africa, for instance in the Congo and the Sudan. On top of this comes the international crisis in the financial markets and a crisis in the global economy, as well as the challenge of climate change. An internationally agreed security policy "in the broad sense" is urgently needed.

It is clear to us: security policy must be understood in a new and wider sense which embraces not only questions of military security or the global financial architecture but equally energy supplies or migration. If we are to master crises and conflicts we need to adapt our tools accordingly and adopt global, flexible and comprehensive approaches.

To achieve this we more than ever need reliable partnerships. No one country today can solve the world's problems on its own. This makes alliances based on common shared values, such as the EU and NATO, all the more important. The stronger the network of partnerships, and the more comprehensive the integration of our common political, economic, development and military capabilities, the better our chances are of successfully mastering crises and the better this will be for our security.

Our security policy today is based on these convictions. This guides the ever closer cooperation that exists between Germany and France and within the European Union and the North Atlantic Alliance. These three dimensions are mutually reinforcing. European integration and the Atlantic partnership are two sides of the same coin.

Over the last ten years the European Union has achieved considerable progress in its Common Foreign, Security and Defence Policy. We have pointed out to our American partners, who increasingly have come to accept it, that this reinforces the transatlantic security partnership and strengthens NATO. Germany and France firmly believe that, in view of the challenges we face, Europe needs the United States of America and the US needs a strong European partner.

In Western Europe - and today in almost all Europe - we have now enjoyed over 60 years of peace and freedom. For this we have to thank both our own resolve and the United States of America, which supported us both militarily and politically and at all times stood as guarantor of a free and democratic Europe. In view of the risks we face, it remains essential in the 21st century that we continue to develop our cooperation on security and defence policy with our partners across the Atlantic and adapt it to meet the new challenges.

"We Europeans Need To Speak With One Voice"

This means: joint analysis, decision-making and implementation. Unilateral steps would run counter to the spirit of this partnership. But this also means that we in Europe must more than ever speak with one voice on matters of foreign and security policy, something that demands a high level of discipline and cohesion from member states. We must also further pool and extend our capabilities with regard to both civil and military means. The synergy between these two is the hallmark of European security policy. During the recently ended French EU Presidency, also Franco-German commitment allowed us to take a number of steps forward in this area, thanks to which we will in future be an even stronger partner for the US.

Germany and France are to take an important step forward in their military cooperation: The Franco-German Brigade, which was deployed together with our partners in the Balkans and Afghanistan, will in future be stationed in both our countries. France will host a German unit from this brigade on its territory. Anyone who knows our common history will recognize the historic significance of this new step in the Franco-German friendship.

For the first time in the history of NATO, the summit to be held on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Atlantic Alliance, on 3 and 4 April, will be jointly hosted by two countries: Germany and France. We see this as a special Franco-German icon for peace and security but also as a symbol of what is now a Europe, East and West, able to live in peace.

We believe the Alliance should also use this anniversary summit for strategic debate and for mapping out its future direction, thus going well beyond the character of a birthday celebration. This does not mean we should reinvent the foundation of NATO - the Washington Treaty, with its principles of solidarity and shared values within the Alliance. But during the summit we must engage in unblinkered discussion on the sensible transformation and reorientation of the Alliance. This is precisely what NATO achieved with its 1991 and 1999 Strategic Concepts. And today it is once again important that we re-establish how the Alliance is to organize itself in the future in the face of different threats. We expect the summit in Strasbourg and Kehl to signal the start of the process of revising the Strategic Concept. In this context, we see the following areas as central to future strategic demands on the Alliance:

NATO-EU cooperation

We note with regret that, due to continuing differences of opinion between individual member states, the "strategic partnership" between NATO and the EU has not lived up to our expectations. We cannot go on like this. We must, on the basis of the necessary complementarity, achieve genuine cooperation.

Operations of the Alliance

NATO is presently engaged for our common security in several operations outside the Alliance area, in particular in the Balkans and in Afghanistan. Even 60 years after the founding of NATO, the obligation to provide mutual assistance as set out in Article 5 of the Washington Treaty remains the very essence of the Alliance. This has gained added meaning following the terrorist attacks of September 11. The fight against terrorism made necessary NATO intervention in Afghanistan. This demonstrates one of the new forms of threat in the 21st century.

Our troops are presently exposed to the greatest of danger in deployments such as Afghanistan. In addition, men and women who are engaged in other ways in rebuilding that country have already fallen victim to brutal acts of terrorism. Nonetheless, the signal should go out from Strasbourg and Kehl that the Alliance will not hesitate when it comes to accepting responsibility for our security and standing up for our values. Our objective remains: self-sustaining security and reconstruction of the country with an Afghan face, so that transnational terrorism can no longer find a home there. We know that our military engagement must be accompanied by a strengthening of democratic structures. This means that NATO partners also must debate about broader political approaches.

Russia - restoring a partnership

The war in Georgia last summer marked a turning point. The EU was able to bring to an end the spiral of violence and establish the conditions for a process to settle the conflict. However, the recourse by Russia to military force and its unilateral recognition of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, in violation of international law, damaged its standing in the eyes of Europe and the world.

As a neighbour and partner, Russia's vital importance is undiminished. We have not reverted to the time of a Cold War, and anyone who believes that is wrong. The Soviet Union no longer exists. We are ready to develop and restore a relationship of trust with Moscow. Our Alliance is a defence alliance, whose sole purpose is to safeguard our common security, also in the face of new challenges.

"We Europeans Need To Speak With One Voice"

Both we and Russia are bound by the same rules we put in place together: the Helsinki Final Act of 1975, the Charter of Paris of 1990, and principles such as territorial integrity, the inviolability of frontiers, and mutual respect within the Euro-Atlantic area.

Those principles form the basis on which the vast majority of European countries wish to join NATO and the EU. Enlargement is a central element in the security and stability of the continent, and - admittedly without euphoria - Russia has for a long time constructively gone along with this process.

The NATO summit in Strasbourg/Kehl will provide a new opportunity to discuss this issue. By virtue of the principle of self-determination, all European democracies have the right to join NATO. We see this desire for membership as an expression of trust in the Alliance, and we must live up to that trust.

At the same time we are aware that membership of NATO is bound to certain criteria and involves the acceptance of great responsibility. Members must make a real contribution to preserving the security of the Alliance. NATO enlargement helps increase stability and security in our continent, from which Russia also benefits. In this context, cooperation in the NATO-Russia Council has a central role to play.

Last summer President Medvedev put forward proposals on reshaping European security. We are ready to discuss these proposals with our allies and European partners, taking into account the viewpoints of all parties. By doing so we shall reiterate our confidence and commitment to the principles of cooperation in the EU, NATO and the OSCE, to the tried and tested European security policy standards based on arms control and disarmament regimes, as well as the principle of transatlantic cooperation.

We also advocate enhanced cooperation in the NATO-Russia Council and wherever possible between Russia and the European Union. We would like to see a dialogue on security policy between the EU and Russia conducted in a spirit of partnership, through which Moscow can be more involved in the Euro-Atlantic security area. The resumption of the strategic dialogue between America and Russia, which we welcome, should also help achieve this.

Military capabilities, disarmament, arms control

The military nature of the Alliance must ensure that its military capabilities correspond to its members' security and operational requirements. The Strasbourg/Kehl summit will also address this issue. There is a need in Europe for more modern and efficient military capabilities to permit more comprehensive cooperation between its partners.

In Strasbourg/Kehl we will also discuss matters relating to our defence against the threat of ballistic missiles from the Middle East. We advocate that Russia should participate in these endeavours, in a spirit of transparency and cooperation, as has been proposed by the US. This dialogue should also be continued within the NATO-Russia Council.

Germany and France are proponents of arms control, and as members of the Non-Proliferation Treaty support global efforts towards non-proliferation and disarmament. Last year, at our initiative, the European Union adopted ambitious plans to oppose the proliferation of nuclear weapons and to promote global nuclear disarmament.

We remain convinced that within the framework of a responsible security policy which carefully weighs future risks, we must for the foreseeable future adhere to the principle of nuclear deterrence. At the same time, however, the need no longer exists for massive arsenals of nuclear weapons; only for that which is absolutely necessary to the essential purpose of pure defence and the prevention of war.

We support the resumption of talks between the US and Russia on reducing their strategic nuclear potential (START) and hope to see tangible results in the very near future.

We also welcome the US considerations to a ratification of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty and to the start of negotiations concerning a ban on the production of fissile material for nuclear weapons. We also welcome efforts to salvage the regime for the limitation of conventional forces in Europe. The CFE Treaty remains a cornerstone of European security, and we hope that through dialogue with Russia the conditions for ratification of the modified CFE Treaty can be created. If the will is there, a rapid solution can be found to the Trans-Dniester problem, thus improving the negotiation climate. Within a short space of time we would then have taken an important step forward towards the entry of force of a regime of conventional arms limitation in Europe, guaranteed by the Alliance - a regime which would bring greater security for all of us, including Russia.

The greatest challenge to the non-proliferation regime is the Iranian nuclear programme. Tehran openly speculates on the passive international response to its actions. We will not permit Iran to possess a nuclear bomb, since that would present a threat to world peace. We are determined to see a diplomatic solution. And in line with the anticipated commitment from the new American Administration, we are prepared to put a stop to the Iranian threat through broader dialogue - but also, should it prove necessary, through new and very resolute sanctions.

Two weeks ago, President Barack Obama took office as the 44th President of the United States. Barack Obama's Administration will set new marks in foreign and security policy. Many Europeans have high expectations of the new Administration, and Barack Obama certainly expects much of us as well. We greatly look forward to working with him. We are convinced that we in the Euro-Atlantic security partnership have a great opportunity to successfully counter the risks and dangers faced by all of us. By going forward together in a spirit of trust and commitment, we may not create the "best of all worlds", but we can create a world in which people can live together in greater peace and security.

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