Meri stressed several reasons in favor of the Big Bang approach to NATO enlargement in his speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an influential security policy think tank.
Big Bang would be "good for NATO" because a simultaneous invitation would minimize disruption and promote the integration of the alliance, according to Estonian president. Step-by-step expansion is more likely to be effort and time consuming.
"It is in no country's interest to join a weakened alliance," Meri said in response to the concerns about the capability of all the aspirants to meet NATO's performance criteria. "We do not want any discount in achieving membership. It is up to every applicant state to make sure it is ready for accession."
Meri, whose visit marked the 60th anniversary of U.S. refusal to recognize the Soviet occupation of the Baltic states, said the Central and Eastern European region has an enormous potential for enhancing security. The nine present candidates have developed good neighborly relations that culminated in the May 2000 Vilnius statement. There the countries agreed, for the first time, on how they suggest the next enlargement round should be executed.
NATO expansion would also be "good for Russia," according to Meri. It would allow Russia to considerably shorten its painful transition process.
"I find it much easier to jump in all at once, rather than wading in gradually," Meri said, alluding to swimming in a chilly Baltic Sea. "In the end, the water feels fine, anyway - I just prefer to make the transition a quick one."
An invitation to all Vilnius Statement signatories could serve as a good example and promote conditions for Russian political and economic reform, Meri contended.
The Estonian president admitted the reluctance of NATO's main European members to fully support the Big Bang approach. This is because of the attempts of the European "Big Three" (Germany, France and Great Britain) to re-identify their place in the alliance, he said.
"There is some problematic silence in Germany," Meri said while pointing out a shift in Baltic-German relations after the recent visit of Chancellor Schroeder in the Baltic states.
The need to think in truly European, not national terms should prevail when developing the new security scheme in Europe, Meri said.
"We should always remind ourselves that this is not a beauty contest," he said. "It is about a centuries-old dream of the completion of Europe. It is about the core values of democracy and freedom, stability and collective security."
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