Secretary of Defense William J. Perry, Norwegian Minister of
Defence Jorgen Kosmo, and Russian Federation Minister of Defense
Igor Rodionov signed an historic declaration today launching a
cooperative effort among these three military forces called the
Arctic Military Environmental Cooperation (AMEC) forum to
jointly address critical environmental issues that are related to
these militaries' unique capabilities and activities in the
Russian-Nordic region.
Under the AMEC forum, the three militaries will work
together to ensure the safe handling and storage of radioactive
materials, proper disposal of toxic materials, and to exchange
information on risk assessments and cleanup technologies and
methods. Commenting on the importance of AMEC, Perry said, I
expect that the efforts undertaken through the AMEC forum will
not only have a positive effect on the Arctic environment, but
also promote international security and cooperation.
The Department of Defense and its counterparts in Norway and
Russia initially discussed Arctic Military Environmental
Cooperation at a meeting in Norway in March, 1995. Since then a
steering group has been established to identify, prioritize and
select military environmental projects in the Arctic region.
The Principals for AMEC discussions and activities are
General-Lieutenant Sergei Grigorov, Director of Ecological
Security, Russian Ministry of Defense; Mr. Leif Lindback,
Director, Department of Defence Resources, Norwegian Ministry of
Defence; and Ms. Sherri Goodman, Deputy Under Secretary of
Defense (Environmental Security), U.S. Department of Defense.
AMEC supports Secretary Perry's strategy of preventive
defense because militaries have an important role to play in
building trust and understanding. The AMEC initiative combines
environmental stewardship and sound business practices on a
global scale.
