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BRATISLAVA, Nov 22: US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said on Friday that seven former communist states invited to join NATO must make reforms to fight corruption and ensure the protection of the alliance’s military secrets.
Rumsfeld flew to the Slovak capital and met government leaders a day after NATO extended an invitation to Slovakia and six other East European states to become members in 2004.
Their membership will extend NATO’s footprint deep into the former Soviet bloc, which the West believes will bolster stability in the region and increase support in its global fight against attacks on Western targets.
But the ex-Soviet states have also been quietly chided by diplomats for dragging their feet on tasks such as eliminating graft and cracking down on illicit weapons deals with NATO foes. Concerns remain that, despite vetting, Soviet-era spies may still be lurking close at hand trying to see NATO secrets.
“Over time, they have to manage their affairs in a way that they can manage classified information,” Rumsfeld told reporters flying with him. “The (invitee training) programme that NATO has established is a rigorous one.”
“Most of them are embarked on a rather substantial programme of reforming their militaries. One element of that is structures and procedures and regulations and checks to make sure that you have the best possible way of managing your affairs, so that what ought to be kept private is kept private,” he added.
Rumsfeld, who has expressed concern over information in media or other leaks of military plans that could help extremists plan attacks or hurt US troops, said he came away from a NATO summit in Prague confident the invitees would bring “energy, enthusiasm, and value” to an enlarged alliance.
He said the newcomers, which will also include Bulgaria, Latvia, Estonia, Lithuania, Slovenia, and Romania, did not have large militaries, but could supply “niche” capabilities — from special forces and expertise in chemical and biological warfare.
FIGHT AGAINST CORRUPTION: NATO excluded Slovakia, a state of 5.3 million people, last time it chose to enlarge in 1997, after accusing then Prime Minister Vladimir Meciar of corrupt, xenophobic, and chauvinistic acts.
Membership for the country Meciar loved to call “a dagger in the heart of Europe” remained a question mark until only recently, as NATO states threatened to reject it again when it looked possible Meciar could come back in September elections.
But returning Prime Minister Mikulas Dzurinda, who rebuilt ties with the West after defeating Meciar a first time in 1998 elections, won a surprise majority with his centre-right allies in the September contest, cementing Slovakia’s place in NATO.
Dzurinda told a news conference with Rumsfeld that Slovakia had made significant progress since its humble start a decade ago when it peacefully split from the former Czechoslovakia. The government was taking concrete steps to wipe out graft and wanted the country to add to NATO’s capabilities, he said.
“We want to be not only consumers, but active contributors ...to the collective defence and the enlargement of the zone of security and stability in Europe and worldwide,” Dzurinda said.
Rumsfeld, in turn, praised the Slovak government and Defence Minister Ivan Simko for undertaking measures to begin slashing bureaucracy, which can help eliminate corruption.
“Corruption tends to thrive in large bureaucracies where there are dollars available, where there is a lot of discretion and a lot of decision to be made,” Rumsfeld told the conference.
“Corruption strikes at the heart of a democratic system because a democratic system is to serve the people, and if there is anything that corruption does, it steals from the people.”
Slovakia also aims to finish EU accession talks this year for 2004 entry to complete its goal of reuniting with the West. Rumsfeld will visit Slovenia on Saturday morning before returning home.—Reuters
