UN General Assembly
1997

inalienably connected and identified with the collective security system of the European continent. Each State has, of course, ample right independently to select the most efficient means of protecting its own national interests, including the right to participate in regional security organizations. For the last two years Belarus has displayed a firm stance against the expansion of the North Atlantic Treaty 8 Organization (NATO) as a military bloc. I hope for understanding on the part of the international community in this respect. In the event that we had on our western borders not the friendly sovereign Polish State we have now but a military organization, it would certainly push us to seriously analyse and reconsider our national security considerations. However, recently we have noticed developments inside the NATO structure itself. We took due note of several meetings of NATO member States regarding the transformation of the North Atlantic Cooperation Council into the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council, as well as the transformation of the major military aims of NATO itself. Taking into account current realities, we would like to