- Title: FRANCE: WEU ASSEMBLY MEETS IN PARIS TO DISCUSS EUROPEAN DEFENCE MECHANISMS
- Date: 3rd June 1996
- Summary: PARIS, FRANCE (JUNE 3, 1996) (RTV - ACCESS ALL) 1. GV EXT CONSEIL ECONOMIQUE ET SOCIAL BUILDING 0.05 2. LV ZOOM DELEGATES READING NEWSPAPERS AT WESTERN EUROPEAN UNION ASSEMBLY IN SESSION, PAN/ZOOM MICHAEL PORTILLO AT PODIUM 0.21 3. MV BRITISH DEFENCE MINISTER MICHAEL PORTILLO ADDRESSING DELEGATES ABOUT NATO (ENGLISH) 1.34 4. GV AUDITORIUM 1.37 TRANSCRIPT SEQ. 3 PORTILLO, "HOWEVER PROFICIENT WE THE EUROPEANS BECOME, SEPARATELY OR COLLECTIVELY IT WILL REMAIN THE CASE THAT THE BEST AND MOST LASTING SOLUTIONS ARE GOING TO BE THOSE THAT COMBINE THE EFFORTS OF THOSE ON BOTH SIDES OF THE ATLANTIC. WHEN THE NORTH AMERICAN, EUROPEAN AXIS IS STRONG WE CAN TURN EVENTS AROUND IT, WHEN THE NORTH AMERICAN AXIS IS WEAK THEN WE CAN NOT. IN BOSNIA A EUROPEAN SOLUTION TO A EUROPEAN PROBLEM WAS NEVER A REALISTIC OPTION, AS EVENTS SINCE DAYTON HAVE SHOWN THE TRANSATLANTIC PARTNERSHIP IS THE KEY TO SUCCESS. THE FOUNDATION OF THAT PARTNERSHIP AND OF THAT SUCCESS IS OF COURSE NATO, A POLITICAL ORGANISATION WRAPPED AROUND AN INTEGRATED MILITARY STRUCTURE THAT PROVIDES THE PLANNING CAPABILITIES, THE HEADQUARTERS, THE HABITS OF COOPERATION WITHIN A COMMON SET OF RULES AND PROCEDURES, THE ESSENTIAL INTER-OPERABILITY UNDERPINNED BY PRACTICE AND BY EXERCISE." Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 18th June 1996 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: PARIS, FRANCE
- City:
- Country: France
- Reuters ID: LVA7RZ2FWOZGBZ6WIG4L13NUY628
- Story Text: - INTRO: The Western European Union parliamentarians opened a four day meeting in Paris on Monday to discuss European Defence mechanisms.
------------------------------------------------- Britain's Secretary of State for Defence Michael Portillo addressed the WEU Assembly in Paris on Monday (June 3) at the end of a six month British Presidency of the Union.
Portillo said that however proficient Europeans became, the best and most lasting solutions to defence would combine the efforts of those on both sides of the Atlantic.
"When the US-European axis is strong, we can turn events around it, but when the axis is weak we cannot," said Portillo.
The British minister said a European solution to a European problem was never a realistic option in Bosnia and that the transatlantic partnership was the key to success, with the foundation of that success being NATO's practical capability to mount big combined operations.
Portillo said to support the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) was not to deny the possibility of a coherent European contribution to security in Europe or the ability of Europeans to carry a greater burden of security in Europe.
He paid tribute to French policy changes and the French recognition of the magnitude of change in NATO and their willingness to join in its adaptation. He said the French would make a great contribution to the weight of the Alliance and its capacity for action under the WEU.
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