It is the most visible sign that our Atlantic community is dynamic and growing. Opening NATO to new democracies is as inevitable politically as it is necessary morally. It will remove the invisible barriers that still divide Europe. It will give the new democracies to our East confidence in their further political and economic development. And it will prevent the expensive and potentially dangerous re-nationalisation of their defence policies.
Enlargement is therefore about much more than military interoperability.
By contrast, not to enlarge NATO would spread a sense of abandonment and insecurity across Europe. It would lead to a new strategic division in Europe, a division into a selfish and self- centred West and a disappointed, insecure East. It would deprive Central and Eastern Europe of a major incentive to political, economic and military reform. And it would encourage purely national solutions to their security needs - the bane of European history of the earlier half of this century. This cannot be in our interest.