ЕС, ЗЕС, НАТО и проблемы европейской безопасности

Abstract

The article "The EU, WEU, NATO and European Security Problems" is devoted to the issues of formation of the new architecture of European security and the place of such institutes as the Western European Union, the European Union, NATO within its structures. At the turn of the century Europe is in search of a new system of security, which does not aim to create a new balance of power; it rejects its consideration in the military political categories, but strives to develop answers to the challenges in economy, ecology, democracy, culture, information and other spheres. The end of "the cold war", the disintegration of the Warsaw treaty organization and of the whole socialist camp and close political, economic and military integration of Western Europe have created a situation by means of which the countries of the European Community obtained the opportunity to present a single position at the international level and to make a bid for the role of a "new military political power centre". The single act included in its regulations the concept of the European security, fixing political cooperation of European states. Its provisions entail European security formally becoming an integral part of the international policy of the European community. The Western European Union, created in 1948, had not had any real legal rights and means to provide security to its members for a long time. Only in February, 1984 France introduced a memorandum on the Western European Union reformation which was supported by all Western European Union member-states. After "The Rome Declaration" of 1984 on political aims of the Western European Union the reformation of the Western European Union has begun. The article analyses the changes which took place in the Western European Union activities in the 1990s; it distinguishes between the short-term, medium-term and long-term prospects of the WEU evolution. The main objective of the WEU in the short-term period will be the development of operational possibilities. In the medium-term the prospects, according to the opinion of the experts of the WEU assembly, will be closely connected to the development of relations between France and the North-Atlantic bloc. Here the adoption of the concept of joint combined arms task forces and development of relations along the axis: NATO — countries of Central and Eastern Europe. In the long-term prospect the main direction of the WEU evolution seems to be the definition of the role and place of the organization within the EU. The article gives the characteristics of various views on the problem of possible integration of the EU and the WEU.At the same time the concept of single European defence in the form stipulated in the Maastricht treaty leads inevitably to the integration of the EU and NATO through the WEU. The united Western Europe is a quite influential member of international relations. It sets itself the objectives of the establishment of an European system of defence in accordance with the treaty on the European Union, strengthening of trans-Atlantic relations, willingness to avoid the revival of antagonist military blocs including the increase of the number of the members of the EU. On the whole it means the establishment of a new security system called upon to substitute the antagonism of the times of "the cold war".