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Dutch Foreign Minister Confirms
"No Drastic Change in NATO Nuclear Policy"
22 March 1999
By Karel Koster
Dutch Minister of Foreign Affairs, J.J Van Aartsen,
in a letter sent to the Dutch Lower Chamber confirmed that
he sees no reason for a drastic change in the nuclear paragraphs
of the new NATO strategic concept.
[Unofficial translation]
To the Chairman of the Lower Chamber of Parliament
From the Minister of Foreign Affairs,
Department of Security Policy
Nuclear Issues and Non-Proliferation desk
12 March 1999
Concerning a motion by Koenders and Hoekema
Honourable Chairman,
In response to the letter by the registrar of
the Regular Foreign Affairs Committee dated March 9th of this
year, and in view of the General Consultation on March 17th
next, I provide you, also in behalf of my colleague the minister
of Defense, with further written information on the way in
which the Government has carried out and will carry out the
3 December 1998 motion by Koenders and Hoekema (number 26
200 V nr.22) on NATO's military strategy and on nuclear weapons
control.
In the North Atlantic Council meeting of ministers
on 8-9 December 1999, I have, partly on the basis of the contributions
by your Chamber, opened the discussion on the nuclear policy
of the Alliance on the occasion of the discussion of the Foreign
Affairs budget. I argued on that occasion that this discussion
was sufficiently justified: by the changing circumstances
in the security situation since the formulation of the current
Strategic Concept in 1991, the fact that NATO increasingly
operates outside the treaty's territory, and the fact that
the public discussion on nuclear disarmament is once again
becoming more relevant, in the Netherlands and elsewhere.
At the same time I told the allies that at this stage the
Netherlands cannot think of reasons for a drastic change in
the nuclear paragraphs of the Concept. Nuclear arms still
have a crucial role in the deterrence of today's multiform
threats. Potential agressors have to be kept in maximum uncertainty
as regards the circumstances in which NATO considers the use
of these weapons.
In my intervention in the North Atlantic Council
meeting, I proposed that the relation between the unilateral
so-called Negative Security Assurances regarding the use of
nuclear weapons and NATO's present nuclear policy should be
considered. In addition I pointed out the possibilities for
an update of the nuclear paragraphs. The Alliance's arsenal,
for instance, has by now been reduced by 80 percent. It could
also again be emphasized in the new Strategic Concept how
far removed we are from the circumstances in which the use
of nuclear weapons would be considered, and the reduced alert
status of nuclear weapons could be pointed out.
By this an initial impetus was given to a discussion
of the nuclear paragraphs in the official preparatory decision
making bodies within NATO. In this way it became clear that
there is currently no broad support for a fundamental discussion
of NATO's nuclear policy, including the option of the first
use of nuclear weapons. There was, nevertheless, support for
the suggestions I had made in the North-Atlantic Council.
In the current draft version of the Strategic Concept, these
points have been taken up. These include the substantial reductions
in the NATO-arsenal since 1991, the current low `alert status'
of these weapons and the observation that the cirumstances
in which use would be considered are `extremely remote.'
In our view, the discussion has not necessarily
been definitively concluded. There is a good chance that the
discussion of NATO's nuclear policy will be continued after
the Summit. The Government will in that case keep in mind
the considerations in the motion mentioned above.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs
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