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MrFun
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of Iowa
Nov 2000
time: 23:19
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NATO Welcomes Russia as Junior Partner
By TOM RAUM
.c The Associated Press
ROME (May 28) - NATO, the alliance set up more than a half century ago for the Cold War containment of Moscow, formally accepted its old enemy as a junior partner Tuesday.
''We have come a long way from confrontation to dialogue, and from confrontation to cooperation,'' Russian President Vladimir Putin said before he and 19 NATO leaders, including President Bush, signed an agreement creating a NATO-Russia Council.
''Two former foes are now joined as partners,'' Bush said.
Under the new arrangement, Russia will have more authority than in an earlier, less formal arrangement set up years ago to try to nudge Moscow closer to the West.
Even so, its involvement will be limited to certain areas. They include crisis management, peacekeeping and such military areas as air defense, search-and-rescue operations and joint exercises.
The 20 leaders sat at a circular table and remained seated as the documents were passed around for them to sign.
''The significance of this meeting is difficult to overestimate,'' Putin said earlier, noting that a few years ago, such a role for Russia ''would have been, simply, unthinkable, whereas today it has become a reality.''
''Being realists, we must remember that relations between Russia and the North Atlantic alliance have been historically far from straightforward,'' Putin said. Even though Russia was not admitted as a full partner and has a limited role, ''we must understand this Rome Declaration ... is only a beginning,'' he said.
Afterward, Secretary of State Colin Powell said he recognizes that Russia opposes a further enlargement of NATO. The alliance is expected to bring in up to seven new full partners in November, including states bordering on Russia.
Even with the new relationship, ''Russia cannot have a veto over who becomes a member or not,'' Powell told reporters
Leader after leader cited Sept. 11, and the lingering terror threat, as a catalyst for new cohesion and determination among NATO members. ''The months since have made clear that by working together against these threats, we multiply our effectiveness,'' Bush said.
Putin agreed, and mentioned a blast during a holiday parade in the Russian region of Dagestan on May 9, killing 41 people. Russia blames Islamic extremists for the attack.
NATO Secretary-General Lord Robertson, who will be chairman of the new council, opened the session, declaring ''this gathering represents the hope of a better, saner future.''
He said he considers the council a real breakthrough and expressed hope that it would ''not just deliberate but take decisive actions. ...There is a common enemy out there.''
Bush, just days after he and Putin signed an agreement slashing their nuclear arsenals by two-thirds over 10 years, hailed the transformation of Russia from Cold War rival to friend.
''Today marks a historic achievement for a great alliance and a great European nation,'' Bush said during his turn in sequential speeches by NATO partners.
''Two former foes are now joined as partners, overcoming 50 years of division and a decade of uncertainty,'' Bush said. ''This partnership takes us even closer to a larger goal, a Europe that is whole, free and at peace for the first time in history.''
The leaders formalized their new arrangement amid the tightest of security at the seaside Pratica di Mare air base. Concerned about terrorist attacks, Italy deployed 15,000 security forces and mounted robust air and sea defenses to protect the 20 world leaders.
Bush, meeting privately with Robertson beforehand, praised the alliance for recognizing that a united Europe is ''more likely to be achieved by welcoming Russia west.''
British Prime Minister Tony Blair also welcomed Russia's new role in a front-page article for Tuesday's Corriere della Sera, the Italian daily.
He said the new arrangement ''shows how the world has evolved in the past 15 years.'' Still, Blair noted that Russia is not a full-fledged NATO member ''and won't have the right of veto.''
Russia's participation comes as NATO looks forward to expanding further in November and as it ponders its role in an age when Russia is no longer an adversary.
Russia's future involvement will be limited to crisis management, peacekeeping and such military areas as air defense, search-and-rescue operations and joint exercises. NATO and Russia will decide only on those issues on which they can find consensus. More contentious issues will be left off their agenda, and NATO will keep a free hand in setting and implementing policy.
Tuesday's gathering brought Putin and Bush together for the second time in a week. Bush spent three days in Russia last week as part of a four-nation European tour, and signed an agreement with Putin to slash their strategic nuclear arsenals to one-third of the present levels over the next decade.
Bush began the day Tuesday with a visit with Italian President Carlo Azeglio Ciampi. After Tuesday's NATO summit, he will go to the Vatican to meet Pope John Paul II before heading home to the United States.
The United States counts Russia as a key ally in the present anti-terrorism war - just as it was a key ally in World War II. In advance of Tuesday's ceremony, NATO opened a military mission in Moscow on Monday.
The new council is to replace a consultative body set up in May 1997 to ease Moscow's alarm over NATO's plans to include some of Russia's Soviet-era allies and neighbors.
The rupture over the NATO bombing campaign in Yugoslavia undermined the earlier effort.
NATO will meet in November in Prague and likely expand by six or seven Eastern European nations.
The last time NATO expanded was in 1999, when Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic joined. That expansion was approved only after long, contentious debate in the U.S. Senate and elsewhere.
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This is great, in my opinion!
Even if Russia is given only a minor role as a member of NATO, this is only the beginning of a new, expanded alliance against terrorism and rogue nations.
I'm happy to hear that Russia has finally joined NATO! 
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28-05-2002 19:36
Our own faithful NATO allies??
sorry, got dragged away!
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