AZG Armenian Daily #117, 25/06/2005
NATO
NATO: MORE THAN A NORTH ATLANTIC TREATY
Military-Political Organization Getting Ready to ‘Swallow’ New Zones in
South Caucasus, Mediterranean and Middle East
On June 23, Nato secretary general made a speech at the Parliamentary
Assembly of the Council of Europe. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer stated that Nato
might apply force to defend democracy if necessary. “Defending democracy is
essential for out Treaty. If military actions are necessary for supporting
democracy we’ll go for that but without violating [international] laws. The
Balkans are now in peace as we did not hesitate to take up arms”, he said.
Nato is living through a period of changes, getting involved in processes
that were alien to it during the Cold War and in 1990s. If formerly Nato’s
major task was to protect the US and its European allies from the possible
attack of the Soviet Union, then today the Organization is expanding to the
east — South Caucasus, Middle East and North Africa. In effect, Nato,
headed by US, dictates the rules of play to states not included in the
organization.
Nato’s headquarters of Allied Forces in Europe is situated in Mons, Belgium.
A military official advised to forget the role that Nato played before the
end of the Cold War, when the Organization “was a club of western
democracies” and the US and its allies sought to protect themselves from
possible assault.
Today, Nato faces a number of “destabilizing and risky factors” and the
Treaty takes steps to withstand the threats.
By the end of the Cold War Nato, in fact, found itself in idleness. Many
analysts even predicted the Organization’s decline. But Nato did not break
up but instead enlarged gulping 10 new states and launching projects to
develop relations with non-member states.
An American Nato official in Brussels headquarters says that the Treaty does
not intend to bother Russia but welcomes the readiness of South Caucasian
states to cooperate with Nato. He says that Nato’s primary goals for near
future are to expand to South Caucasus, Middle East and Central Asia.
The expansion of Nato to territories of traditionally Russian influence is
emerging as an irreversible progression. We may like it or dislike but
cannot disregard the reality.
By Tatoul Hakobian in Belgium