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Speech by Prof. Solana on the occasion of the Award of the "Honoris Causa" Doctorate in Social Science at the University of Wroclaw

Mr. Prime Minister,
Your Magnificence Professor Latajka,
Distinguished members of the Senate of the University of Wroclaw,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

The University of Wroclaw has decided to confer on me this Honoris Causa Doctorate and I want to thank you for this high honour.

I am particularly grateful that the reasons for this distinction do not lie in my former academic career as a physicist. As you know, I left the area of physics about twenty years ago, and I am not sure I can still fascinate such a distinguished audience with my slightly dusty knowledge of "elementary sets in the super liquid states". Actually, I find the not so liquid States I am dealing with in my current functions to be often more complicated to understand, but certainly as interesting a subject to talk about.

It is a particular honour to address you on this first day of the new academic year that also marks the end of an impressive jubilee: the Tercentenary Anniversary of the University of Wroclaw - one of the oldest universities of Central and Eastern Europe. During these 300 years, the University of Wroclaw has built up an outstanding record of academic excellency. The long line of Nobel Prize laureates who worked here as graduates or professors testifies to that effect. And it fills me with pride to join the ranks of those impressive personalities that have received honorary degrees from Wroclaw University in the past.

But during these 300 years the University of Wroclaw has also witnessed much of the chaos and turmoil this period of history held ready for this part of Europe. Throughout these years, Poland fought hard for its rightful place in Europe. The names of the students of this university are among those who fought for Polish independence in the 19th century. Poland fought Nazism courageously during WWII, and no European will ever forget the struggle for independence and democracy led by the Solidarity movement.

As Stanislaw Jerzy Lec noted "one can close one's eyes to reality, but not to memory." Indeed, the collective memory of recent European history has proved a powerful source for freedom, democracy and the respect for fundamental rights. Lessons have thus been drawn from this history: The nations of Europe have succeeded in building an area of unprecedented stability and prosperity. This university has successfully reconciled its German and Polish roots and has undertaken to actively support the idea of the intellectual, cultural and political unity of Europe. This country has decided to join its European neighbours' efforts to build a shared future.

It was my privilege to be a close observer of Poland's journey to rejoin its European neighbours, first as Secretary-General of NATO - when Poland became NATO member in 1999 - and now as Secretary-General of the Council of the EU and High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy - when Poland is about to become member of the EU. Poland has now arrived where she has always belonged: in a Europe where people live in freedom, with their fundamental rights being guaranteed by governments they have elected freely.

This Union of nations and of citizens that you are about to join is still fairly young. It is still evolving. And the upcoming enlargement is without any doubt the single most important development the Union ever experienced. As a result, the Union faces two major challenges, one within and the other beyond its borders.

Internally, the Union must attempt to prepare its institutions for the future when 25 Member States will have the responsibility to determine its course. At this very moment, a draft constitution is being discussed that should mark a decisive step for the citizens towards a simpler Union, one that is stronger in the pursuit of its essential objectives and more present in the world. Poland plays its full role in this exercise that will lead, I hope, to a real constitutional treaty.

Beyond its borders, the renewed Union faces the task of formulating a coherent framework for its foreign and security policy. Allow me to dwell on this subject for a little while, because it is so closely linked to the journey Poland has undertaken over the last two decades.

Since the Union decided in 1992 that it should pursue a common foreign and security policy, it has achieved a high degree of maturity in this area - without yet having entirely grown up, as I will be the first one to admit -. Over the years, it has increasingly become clear that this Union has a role to play in the international community. Enlargement will only reinforce this need, because, like it or not, the enlarged Union of 450 million people producing a quarter of the world's Gross National Product will be a global actor.

At the same time, we have witnessed over the last years dramatic changes in the world around us. September 11 has revealed that after the end of the Cold War the threats to peace and security in the world have become more complex and more immediate than we had anticipated. The Iraq crisis has shown us that a divided Union remains without any power to influence the response to such a threat. As a global actor the Union must now face up to its responsibility for global security.

The internal challenge for our foreign and security policy resulting from this evolution is to strengthen its institutional arrangements in order to achieve greater coherence.

The tougher challenge, however, lies outside the enlarged Union's borders: The security environment we live in has changed dramatically after the end of the Cold War: in a globalised world, some regions have benefited greatly from increased interaction, while others have not been able to take advantage and, instead, engaged in a downward spiral of poverty, organised crime, weakened government structures and regional conflicts. Against this new backdrop, three key threats have emerged:

• International terrorism that feeds on weakened governmental authorities and totalitarian ideologies;
  
  
• the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, in the worst case into the hands of terrorist organisations;
  
  
• failed states that leave a vacuum which attracts organised crime.

And these things may even be coming together to reinforce one another.

It is the Union's responsibility to find adequate responses to these threats. In doing so, it should focus on three strategic objectives.

The Union's first strategic objective should be to promote a ring of well governed countries to the East of the European Union (from the Balkans to the Caucasus) and on the borders of the Mediterranean, with whom we can enjoy close and co-operative relations. Enlargement will dramatically change in particular the Eastern border of the Union, which will be to a great part formed by the Polish border with Belarus and the Ukraine. This is a historic step for the entire European continent and presents a unique opportunity to strengthen co-operation with its neighbours to the East. The Union has launched a debate on this "Wider Europe" to address common challenges based on the values we share: freedom, democracy, respect for fundamental rights, and the rule of law. The history of your country is a sobering reminder that secure borders, good neighbourly relations and a peaceful geo-economic environment are the best guarantee for a society to thrive in peace and security.

The second strategic objective for the enlarged Union should be to build an international order based on effective multilateralism. What do I mean by effective multilateralism? Two things: that the international order is based on agreed rules, and that we are prepared to ensure the respect of these rules when they are broken.

As a Union based on the rule of law we carry a particular responsibility to ensure a rule-based international order, the cornerstone of which is the United Nations Charter. I passionately believe that the security of this Union in the face of global threats can only be safeguarded if the fundamental values enshrined in the UN Charter and other international regimes and treaties are woven into a wide web of multilateral instruments. Why do I attach so much importance to this? Because acting in accordance with these rules confers legitimacy to our actions. And legitimacy - when facing a threat - is a very powerful weapon in this complex world, a weapon no armament programme can easily replace.

Of course, if we want them to serve as basis for legitimate action, values must be defended, rules must be enforced. We know that rules that are not enforced will not constrain anybody's behaviour. So, where necessary, we must render the United Nations and other international institutions more effective, so that they are ready to act when their rules are broken.

The third objective is to efficiently counter the new threats of terrorism, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction and failed states or organised crime. Europe's aim must be to tackle the causes and not just the symptoms. Two things ought to be kept in mind:

The new threats often will be distant - think of proliferation in South East Asia or the Middle East - but, nevertheless with a potential to gravely affect Europe's security. The new threats will also be dynamic, as they become more dangerous if left alone, such as the spread of state failure and organised crime in West Africa. Such threats cannot be tackled by purely military means. Rather, they require a systematic policy of preventive engagement by the Union, which must be ready to use the full panoply of tools - economic, political, military - at its disposal to confront threats as they emerge.

What does the Union need to do to reach these strategic objectives? Of course, Europe has to ensure, first of all, that it has the capabilities that are necessary to tackle the new threats in the military and diplomatic field, but also in the field of civilian aspects of crisis management. Second, the Union also will have to ensure a greater coherence of its actions by better co-ordinating the instruments it has in its tool box - assistance programmes, development funds, military and civilian capabilities, trade instruments, diplomatic relations - to prevent emerging crisis.

The crucial test for a foreign and security policy of the enlarged Union that lives up to these challenges will be how it impacts on the single most important strategic relationship for the EU and its Member States: that with the United States of America and, through the latter's security commitment to Europe, that with NATO. I know that this question is of paramount importance for Poland, as it is for the Union as a whole.

Let's be clear: Europe would be foolish to strive for a global role in rivalry with the United States. No partnership survives rivalry among its partners on the long run, and the Atlantic partnership is irreplaceable. Acting together, the European Union and the United States have been and will be a formidable force for good in the world.

But does this mean the European Union should refrain from becoming a more credible actor on the world scene and a more influential partner in the Atlantic partnership? No. This Union is already a global actor and must therefore not shrink from global responsibilities. And only a strong and united Europe will be able to carry its share of responsibility in the Atlantic partnership.

As in all policy areas where a European identity has emerged in the past, it will take a strong commitment by all and a readiness to take into account the interests of partners to achieve more unity also in the foreign policy field. But we know the price of failure: a disunited Europe will carry no weight, neither in the eyes of the world, nor in the eyes of our American allies.

Naturally, the result of this joint effort by the members of the Union will not always converge with our American allies' perception of their interests. Over the last few years, the Union took its own stance on a number of issues, ranging from the protection of the environment to the desirability of an International Criminal Court to prosecute the worst crimes human beings are capable of. But such differences cannot, and will not, undermine a partnership that has very deep roots and a common purpose. I will make every effort to ensure that the Union will work on and maintain this common purpose.

The remarkable journey Poland has undertaken over a little more than a decade does not cease to amaze me. I for my part shall always consider it an honour to have accompanied Poland on this part of its journey. And when I look into Poland's future in the Union, I find that the example set by the University of Wroclaw in reconciling Eastern and Western European influences is very encouraging. So will Poland, I hope, act as bridge between the enlarged Union and its neighbours to the East.

Thank you again for this high honour.

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