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Nato Expansion: Examining the Accession of Montenegro

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Nato Expansion: Examining the Accession of Montenegro S. HRG. 114–712 NATO EXPANSION: EXAMINING THE ACCESSION OF MONTENEGRO HEARING BEFORE THE COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS UNITED STATES SENATE ONE HUNDRED FOURTEENTH CONGRESS SECOND SESSION SEPTEMBER 14, 2016 Printed for the use of the Committee on Foreign Relations ( Available via the World Wide Web: http://www.fdsys.gpo.gov U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE 27–080 PDF WASHINGTON : 2017 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Publishing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512–1800; DC area (202) 512–1800 Fax: (202) 512–2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402–0001 VerDate Mar 15 2010 12:46 Nov 17, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 5011 Sfmt 5011 S:\FULL COMMITTEE\HEARING FILES\2016 HEARINGS -- WORKING\091416-QQ\27-080.T FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS BOB CORKER, TENNESSEE, Chairman JAMES E. RISCH, Idaho BENJAMIN L. CARDIN, Maryland MARCO RUBIO, Florida BARBARA BOXER, California RON JOHNSON, Wisconsin ROBERT MENENDEZ, New Jersey JEFF FLAKE, Arizona JEANNE SHAHEEN, New Hampshire CORY GARDNER, Colorado CHRISTOPHER A. COONS, Delaware DAVID PERDUE, Georgia TOM UDALL, New Mexico JOHNNY ISAKSON, Georgia CHRISTOPHER MURPHY, Connecticut RAND PAUL, Kentucky TIM KAINE, Virginia JOHN BARRASSO, Wyoming EDWARD J. MARKEY, Massachusetts TODD WOMACK, Staff Director JESSICA LEWIS, Democratic Staff Director ROB STRAYER, Majority Chief Counsel MARGARET TAYLOR, Minority Chief Counsel JOHN DUTTON, Chief Clerk (II) VerDate Mar 15 2010 12:46 Nov 17, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\FULL COMMITTEE\HEARING FILES\2016 HEARINGS -- WORKING\091416-QQ\27-080.T FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER CONTENTS Page Johnson, Hon. Ron, U.S. Senator From Wisconsin ............................................... 1 Yee, Hoyt Brian, Deputy Assistant Secretary, Bureau of European and Eur- asian Affairs, U.S. Department of State, Washington, DC. ............................. 3 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 4 Responses to Questions for the Record Submitted to Deputy Assistant Secretary Yee by Senator Corker ................................................................ 26 Responses to Questions for the Record Submitted to Deputy Assistant Secretary Yee by Senator Cardin ................................................................ 28 Carpenter, Dr. Michael, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Russia, Ukraine, and Eurasia, U.S. Department of Defense, Washington, DC. .......... 7 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 8 Shaheen, Hon. Jeanne, U.S. Senator From New Hampshire .............................. 11 Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 12 Prepared statement of Senator Benjamin L. Cardin, submitted by Senator Shaheen ......................................................................................................... 15 ADDITIONAL INFORMATION SUBMITTED FOR THE RECORD Open Letter to President Obama and the U.S. Congress Urging Quick Action on Montenegro’s Entry into NATO ..................................................................... 24 (III) VerDate Mar 15 2010 12:46 Nov 17, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\FULL COMMITTEE\HEARING FILES\2016 HEARINGS -- WORKING\091416-QQ\27-080.T FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER VerDate Mar 15 2010 12:46 Nov 17, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 5904 Sfmt 5904 S:\FULL COMMITTEE\HEARING FILES\2016 HEARINGS -- WORKING\091416-QQ\27-080.T FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER NATO EXPANSION: EXAMINING THE ACCESSION OF MONTENEGRO WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 14, 2016 U.S. SENATE, COMMITTEE ON FOREIGN RELATIONS, Washington, DC. The committee met, pursuant to notice, at 2:25 p.m. in Room SD–419, Dirksen Senate Office Building, Hon. Ron Johnson, pre- siding. Present: Senators Johnson, Risch, Rubio, Gardner, Paul, Sha- heen, and Murphy. OPENING STATEMENT OF HON. RON JOHNSON, U.S. SENATOR FROM WISCONSIN Senator JOHNSON. This hearing of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee will come to order. I would like to welcome our witnesses. I appreciate your testi- mony. We look forward to your oral testimony and your answers to our questions. I want to welcome everybody here. We do have the Ambassador from Montenegro here. We would like to welcome him and his dele- gation. We appreciate their good efforts toward this important mo- ment in this important effort of theirs. The committee comes together today to analyze a significant milestone for one of our Nation’s most important defensive alli- ances, the accession of Montenegro to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. NATO has expanded only six times since its found- ing, most recently in 2009 when Albania and Croatia joined the Al- liance. Montenegro was formally invited to join NATO in May 2016 after a year’s long process of fighting corruption and strengthening its defense capabilities to meet NATO standards. While NATO was created to foster stability in Europe and counter Soviet expansionism during the Cold War, NATO remains especially relevant today in light of the serious threats posed by radical Islamic terrorism and Russian aggression. Russia views NATO expansion as a threat to its interests and has warned Montenegro that Moscow will retaliate if Montenegro continues to pursue NATO membership. Russia appears determined to do everything it can to prevent other countries that have expressed interest in joining NATO, in- cluding Georgia, Bosnia, and Macedonia, from moving forward with their membership ambitions. (1) VerDate Mar 15 2010 12:46 Nov 17, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\FULL COMMITTEE\HEARING FILES\2016 HEARINGS -- WORKING\091416-QQ\27-080.T FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER 2 Russia’s concerns, however, are not legitimate. NATO remains a purely defensive Alliance and has been a tremendous force for sta- bility in Europe. As the Senate prepares to consider a resolution on Montenegro’s accession to NATO, I hope that the witnesses today can help this committee assess Montenegro’s readiness to be a full contributing member of the Alliance. I also hope that our witnesses can shed light on the challenges NATO faces today and its capacity to ad- dress those challenges moving forward. Senator Shaheen told us to move on with the hearing, and so when she comes, we will give her an opportunity to offer an open- ing statement. So why do we not move on to our witnesses? Our first witness is Mr. Hoyt Brian Yee. Mr. Yee is Deputy Assistant Secretary of State in the Bureau of European and Eurasian Affairs. Mr. Yee is a career member of the U.S. Senior Foreign Service and previously served at the U.S. embassy in Montenegro. Again, I will point out your full written statement will be entered into the record. So if you can keep your remarks to around 5 min- utes, we would appreciate it. Mr. Yee? STATEMENT OF HOYT BRIAN YEE, DEPUTY ASSISTANT SEC- RETARY, BUREAU OF EUROPEAN AND EURASIAN AFFAIRS, U.S. DEPARTMENT OF STATE, WASHINGTON, D.C. Mr. YEE. Thank you, Senator Johnson, members of the com- mittee. Thank you for the opportunity to discuss the critical role NATO plays in our security and Montenegro’s place in the Alliance. In the wake of a successful summit in Warsaw and exactly 8 years after the committee’s last hearing on NATO enlargement, I am honored to be here with you today. NATO has been and remains a principal security instrument of the transatlantic community. It is both a defensive alliance and an alliance of values. NATO’s primary purpose was and remains to defend its members from attack. Additionally, NATO brought together western nations under a political and security umbrella where old rivalries could be reconciled and general peace could prevail. NATO is active on the eastern and southern flanks of the Euro- pean continent and in other regions. NATO’s impact, however, transcends boundaries. When the United States was attacked on September 11th, 2001, NATO invoked article 5 for the first time in its history. It was then that our European and Canadian allies sup- ported us right when we needed them most. NATO is also operating in support of cybersecurity, counterter- rorism, and counter-human trafficking operations. Thus, NATO has developed new capabilities for the future and for working with partners all over the globe. Against the backdrop of Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and its occupation and attempted annexation of Crimea, NATO is moving forward with the most significant reinforcement of collective de- fense at any time since the Cold War. All of the actions we have taken to strengthen and sustain our deterrence and defense, re- quire appropriate investment and capabilities, the development of VerDate Mar 15 2010 12:46 Nov 17, 2017 Jkt 000000 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6633 Sfmt 6633 S:\FULL COMMITTEE\HEARING FILES\2016 HEARINGS -- WORKING\091416-QQ\27-080.T FOREI-42327 with DISTILLER 3 highly capable and deployable forces, and burden sharing among allies. Already, the 27 other allies outside of the United States are pro- viding for 78 percent of the NATO budget. Allies are making sig- nificant contributions to improve NATO’s readiness, responsive- ness, and interoperability and reverse the slide in defense budgets. Looking forward, all 28 allies have committed to move toward spending at least 2 percent of GDP on defense, with 70 percent al- ready on track to meet that goal by 2024. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, the countries
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