Both, of course, would deserve a separate presentation. As a nuclear state, still with a huge military force and still an important player in international politics, it needs to be dealt with as something special. In 1995 Russia took the important decision to participate in the implementation of the military aspect of the Dayton Peace Agreement, together with NATO troops. We were able to build on this positive experience when we started negotiating the NATO-Russia Founding Act which was concluded by Heads of State and Government in May 1997. The slide shows how it works now with regular meetings, work programmes and an increasing routine of cooperation in spite of differing views on, for example, NATO enlargement.
People usually acknowledge that Russia is something special.
This is a country of more than 50 million inhabitants, a huge piece of the former Soviet Union, and a country that in 1994 voluntarily gave up its nuclear weapons. NATO had come to the conclusion early on that it should care about Ukraine, and that the integrity and independence of this country are important to European security. Others say this is not on the agenda. A word about the context. I am speaking about NATO and our programmes because I am representing this organization.