Conrad Tribble, U.S. NEI Coordinator Address at the conference, "The Northern Dimension: An Assessment and Future Development," Riga, Latvia, December 6, 1999

As prepared

Thank you ladies and gentlemen -- I am delighted to be here and to participate in this important conference.

There are three main themes I want to discuss this morning. First, I want to outline the thinking behind the U.S. Northern Europe Initiative, the "Why NEI?" question. Second, I want to describe what NEI is and highlight some of the key projects the U.S. has established under the initiative. And finally, I will look at how NEI relates to the EU's Northern Dimension strategy that we have been discussing here.

It's interesting that I am often asked why the United States has a Northern Europe Initiative and why we are so interested in this region. The answer goes back to the fall of the Berlin Wall and the ensuing debate this event launched in the United States about the future of Europe and especially of the U.S. relationship to Europe. As you know, this is a debate that continues to run its course, but a number of points of clear consensus have emerged in the last several years:

First, the U.S. must remain in Europe and must continue to contribute to stability and security here -- this is still a fundamental interest.

Second, the U.S. has to be more than just "present." We need a broad partnership with the new Europe, one that does not concern itself only with traditional security questions but enables us all to address the new global challenges we face.

Third, it remains in the United States' fundamental strategic interest to ensure that the peace, security, and prosperity we have enjoyed in western Europe is expanded to include all of Europe, including particularly Russia.

Fourth, the U.S. can't achieve these goals alone; we need committed and capable partners in Europe.

Finally, meeting those new challenges requires a high degree of cooperation and integration in Europe. This will only be possible if the old zero-sum mentality is replaced with a new "win-win" approach.

All of these considerations underlie NEI. In northern Europe, the U.S. sees one of the best opportunities to work toward this vision of Europe and of a new U.S.-European partnership, for a number of reasons:

• The region boasts a longstanding tradition of local and regional cooperation upon which NEI can build. The Nordic countries and Germany, prosperous and outward-looking, share our commitment to cooperation and are excellent partners for us. The Baltic states are equally committed to integration into regional structures and key western institutions, and they understand that that is only possible in cooperation with each other and with their neighbors. And Russia, too, increasingly sees the value of regional cooperation despite or perhaps especially because of the social and economic problems it faces.

• Indeed, northern Europe offers an excellent opportunity to integrate Russia into a cooperative and positive network with its western neighbors. Our Nordic and Scandinavian partners maintain good relations with Russia and play key roles in this effort. At a time when Russia's policies in other areas of Europe raise concerns, cooperation here can have even greater significance and not just for this region.

• In general, we see here a chance to demonstrate the benefits of a "win-win" cooperative approach over the old way of thinking. As my boss, Madeleine Albright, often says: No other part of Europe has suffered from the old zero-sum thinking as much as this one, but no other region stands to win as much by implementing a new approach. And if it works here, that can only help in other parts of Europe.

So what is NEI concretely? In a sentence, NEI is the U.S. strategy in the Baltic Sea region, providing the conceptual framework for our policy and programs in this region. Under NEI, the U.S. pursues three broad objectives. They are to:

• Integrate the Baltic states into a regional network of cooperation that addresses key areas and supports their preparations for membership in the EU, NATO, WTO, and other western institutions;

• Integrate northwest Russia into the same network, both as a means of promoting stability and prosperity in Russia and as a means of enhancing Russia's relations with its western neighbors, particularly the Baltic states;

• Strengthen U.S. relations with the Nordic states, Poland, Germany, and the EU and promote regional cooperation among them.

When NEI was launched in 1997, this Administration identified six priority areas in which regional and cross-border cooperation seemed particularly useful and necessary. In each of these areas we have established a number of concrete projects and activities, all of which fulfill two basic criteria: they address concrete needs in the region, and they do so in a way that promotes cross-border linkages and connections.

Let me go through the six priority areas and note some of the projects underway in each:

Business Promotion. Increasing trade and investment in the region is a key part of promoting prosperity here. Of course, the U.S. focus is on American business, which sees many opportunities. NEI has developed a regional economic-commercial program to support American companies interested in investing in and trading with the Baltic and Nordic states and northwest Russia. We've organized, for example, a number of sector-specific trade fairs to bring together potential U.S., Baltic, and Nordic business partners, including a fair here recently focusing on environmental technology. The U.S.-Baltic Partnership Commission includes a private sector component that enables the business community to discuss its needs directly with U.S. and Baltic economic decision-makers. The Baltic-American Enterprise Fund (BAEF), established in 1994 with $50 million in U.S. funds, provides capital in all three Baltic states for small and medium-sized companies and for residential mortgages.

Law Enforcement. One of the themes NEI has emphasized is the importance to political stability and economic prosperity of establishing the rule of law in all aspects of public and private life. Under NEI, a number of programs have been developed to help complete the evolution of efficient legal systems in the Baltic states, combat corruption and money-laundering here and in northwest Russia, and establish the legal framework to encourage trade and investment. NEI provides direct legal assistance and training to all three Baltic states and Russia, including through legal advisors from the Department of Justice, and it has supported the Graduate School of Law here in Riga which provides a modern legal education to students from all three Baltic republics. Finally, NEI cooperates very actively with the Council of Baltic Sea States (CBSS) Task Force on Organized Crime.

Civil Society. The U.S. strongly believes that throughout the NEI region, increased public participation in the political system will contribute significantly to internal stability and economic prosperity. The goal is to help develop an active and healthy political culture. Estonia and Latvia in particular face the challenge of integrating their Russian-speaking minorities in a way that strengthens social cohesion. Together with our Nordic partners, the U.S. has undertaken a number of activities to promote social integration in Estonia and Latvia, including native-language training programs. The U.S. co-finances (with the Soros Foundation) the Baltic American Partnership Fund (BAPF), established in 1998 to develop a dynamic NGO community in the three Baltic states. On another front, the U.S. co-sponsored the Reykjavik Conference on Women and Democracy, held October 8-10 of this year. A number of projects -- some $5-million worth -- are now being developed in Russia and the Baltic states as a result of that conference, designed to promote the full participation of women in political and economic life and to build people-to-people contacts throughout the region.

Energy. Promoting the region's economic transformation and growth will require major reform in the energy sector which will in turn produce some not insignificant short-term economic and social challenges. Under NEI, the U.S. Government has been supporting the development and implementation of a Baltic regional energy investment strategy and a common regional electricity market. U.S. efforts are directed at helping to restructure the power sector, develop an effective price and regulatory framework, and encourage the privatization of the energy sector in order to attract strategic investment, especially U.S. investment. We have also focused on nuclear power plant safety and strongly support the Lithuanian government's decision to close down for safety reasons Unit #1 of the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant prior to 2005.

Environment. Dealing with the many environmental challenges in the NEI region -- both nuclear and non-nuclear -- requires a regional approach. An NEI Task Force oversees a number of nuclear waste management projects in the Russian northwest and far east, projects that bring together funds and technical expertise from the U.S., the Nordic states, and the EU. Examples include the Murmansk 80-ton cask, which will provide transportation and temporary storage for special nuclear fuel from Russian nuclear submarines and icebreakers, and a low-level radioactive waste treatment facility in Murmansk. Other regional projects include the Great Lakes/Baltic Sea Partnership run by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and a U.S.-Swedish program to improve environmental management at military bases in Lithuania and at Adazi here in Latvia.

Public Health. Tuberculosis and HIV infection rates are exceptionally high in parts of northwest Russia and the Baltic states. Under NEI, disease experts from the U.S., international health organizations such as the World Health Organization (WHO), and the Nordic countries are engaged in numerous activities to combat these diseases. Together with Finland, UNAIDS, and the health experts in the region, the U.S. is developing an HIV/AIDS treatment strategy for the region. With Swedish, Latvian, and EU co-funding, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are establishing a Center of Excellence for Multidrug-Resistant TB in Latvia, which will serve as a magnet research, treatment, and training center for the entire region. I had the opportunity 2 days ago to visit the State Center for Tuberculosis and Lung Disease outside Riga, where the MDR-TB Center will be housed. We expect the center to be up and running within a few months.

Those are our priority areas. I've noted a few projects by way of example, but naturally there are a number of other projects and activities that serve our NEI goals -- technical assistance programs, training seminars, conferences, and so forth. This is the visible aspect of NEI, and each of these has a concrete practical value in and of itself. But the real gain here -- the real purpose of all of this -- comes from the culture of cooperation that develops out of these projects and activities. Cross-border contacts, the experience of working together, etc. -- in the final analysis these are the elements that create positive changes in the Baltic Sea region.

This spirit of cooperation is also evident in the way NEI worked closely with the existing institutions in the Baltic Sea region, particularly with the CBSS, the Barents Euro-Arctic Council, the Arctic Council, and the Nordic Council of Ministers. As I'll discuss in a minute, NEI has worked hard to coordinate our activities with those of the European Union's Northern Dimension strategy. This kind of cooperation multiplies the effectiveness of our efforts and avoids duplication. In a time of tight financial resources everywhere, this is absolutely essential.

Let me stress one thing here: In the grand project underway here to create a new Baltic Sea region, the U.S. does not see itself as the main actor. We have neither the money nor the capacity to be this. Rather, the U.S. sees its role as that of an actor whose activities can bring added political, symbolic, and financial value to the efforts of the countries in the region.

Now let me turn to the relationship between the U.S. Northern Europe Initiate and the EU's Northern Dimension. It's clear that there are a number of similarities between the two efforts and many possibilities for cooperation. Let me tick these off:

• NEI and the Northern Dimension share the same broad objective -- promoting stability and prosperity in northern Europe through increased regional cooperation -- and they share a similar assessment of the crucial importance of this region to Europe's future.

• They both place a premium on transatlantic cooperation in this endeavor. The U.S. has had an active dialogue with the EU over the past year as the Northern Dimension developed, including 2 days of very detailed experts'consultations in Washington last October. We intend to continue this U.S.-EU coordination as the Northern Dimension Action Plan is developed next year with the aim of working together with the EU where feasible and ensuring that our separate programs are complementary.

• Coordination on the ground is important, because both NEI and the Northern Dimension are in the final analysis guiding principles for concrete actions.

• It should be clear, but let me stress this if it is not, that both initiatives start from the premise that EU enlargement to include the Baltic states is a positive and welcome development.

• But both NEI and the Northern Dimension equally emphasize the importance and opportunity of integrating Russia into the regional network of cooperation we are creating.

• Finally, both the U.S. and the EU must operate with limited resources and therefore realistic expectations about what we can attempt in the region.

All in all, the U.S. takes a very positive view of the Northern Dimension initiative, and we will continue to work closely with the EU as the Northern Dimension is refined into a concrete action plan. The role of the Commission in this process will be key.

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