Bundesheer

Vorwort
The first phase of the "Trilateral Project on European Security" came to an end with the conference in Vienna in May 2001. In 1998, representatives from the Polish National Defence University, the Swedish Defence College and the Austrian National Defence Academy initiated this project, which represents a continuation of the former excellent bilateral Swedish-Austrian research project.

The aim of the project was to generate a comparative analysis of the security-political environment of the participating countries. Within this analysis, the different security-political orientation of the participating countries was considered. Sweden concentrated on the Baltic region and Russia; Poland took responsibility for Central European security matters and Austria analysed the developments in the Southeast European region. Behind these geographical designations stood the consideration of focussing the research capacities of the individual participants on specific core regions. Thus, security-political issues could be investigated more intensively and made accessible for all participants through the reciprocal exchange of insights.

This publication represents a collection of the Polish, Swedish and Austrian viewpoints on "The Present European Security Situation with reference to the Respective National Interests". As the individual presentations did not follow a specific agenda, they are summarised in a concluding comparative analysis.

At the same time, it symbolises the final stage of the co-operation between the three research institutions for the time being. The directors in charge have, however, agreed to continue the academic effort under the broader title of "Multilateral Project on European Security" in a parallel meeting in Vienna. Here, the main focus will lie on security-political issues not necessarily in the direct geographical connection to the participating countries.

I would like to use this occasion to thank all participants in the conferences and meetings of the trilateral project, above all the authors contributing to this publication. Moreover, I would like to convey my appreciation to the directors in charge for facilitating this exchange of information and offering support - under slightly changed conditions - for another three years.

I am confident that this research project and the publication at hand in combination with the academic exchange and research performed since 1998 have contributed to a better and more comprehensive insight into the commonalties and differences in the security-political perspectives of the countries involved. Concerning the future development of this project I hope that the co-operation will continue to bring forth similar contributions of high academic level within a sound spirit of friendship.

Sektionschef HonProf. DDr. Erich REITER
Director General, Bureau for Military Scientific Studies
Commissioner for Stragegic Studies at the Austrian Ministry of Defence