Statement on the Conventional Armed Forces in Europe Treaty

I am very pleased that yesterday negotiators from the 30 countries that are party to the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) reached an agreement setting the stage for a final adapted treaty. All countries agreed to deeper limits on their conventional forces and stronger measures to ensure compliance. The decision preserves NATO's ability to fulfill its post-cold-war missions, to ensure its new members are full military partners, and to deepen its engagement with Partnership For Peace states. It also takes into account the interests of non-NATO states and helps fulfill the commitment President Yeltsin and I made last September to conclude a final adapted treaty by the OSCE summit this year.

At a time when we are trying to end a pattern of escalating insecurity, brutality, and armed conflict in the Balkans, I am gratified that these 30 countries, comprising the vast majority of European nations, are moving in a different direction. Together, we are building a Europe in which armies prepare to stand beside their neighbors, not against them, and security depends on cooperation, not competition.