|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
NATO Defense Ministers Return to Munich |
|
|
|
(Source: Deutsche Welle German radio; issued Feb. 5, 2004)
|
|
|
|
NATO defense chiefs will meet in Munich this weekend to discuss the alliance's role in Iraq, Afghanistan and elsewhere. The hope is that the meeting will be more cordial than last year.
NATO defense and foreign ministers will gather in Munich on Friday to discuss the lingering fallout from the Iraq war and the future direction of the alliance. It will be the 40th annual meeting for the German security conference.
The big names of the defense world, an estimated 250 officials including Pentagon chief Donald Rumsfeld are due to attend, will use the informal get-together to address Transatlantic relations, the future of NATO, and current developments in the Middle East.
They will also likely to take the opportunity to discuss extending the Alliance's role in Afghanistan while in the Bavarian capital, according to diplomats in Brussels.
Iraq situation will again dominate agenda
But the main focus will undoubtedly be the situation in Iraq, even more so now inquiries have been launched into intelligence failures in the United States and Britain regarding the lack of evidence in the search for weapons of mass destruction a year after the war began.
The U.S. delegation is also likely to continue with its pressure to get NATO to play a role in Iraq as part of Washington’s current initiative to solicit wider contributions from its member states.
Last year's Munich conference was a highly tense affair with officials from Washington, Paris and Berlin on edge as a UN Security Council vote on a new Iraq resolution loomed ominously near. Rumsfeld and German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer famously clashed at the event and will meet again on Friday with hopefully less static in the air between them.
Security conference host Horst Teltschik told reporters in Munich that some reconciliation is likely. "I get the impression that the Americans want to give us a sign that they are prepared to talk so that both sides can get back to a 'normal' relationship."
New NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said last week that the Alliance, which is supporting the Polish-led division in Iraq, is ready and able to do the job. "If the question comes, it goes without saying that I'm very much in favour of a NATO role," he told journalists, before adding: "It's too early to say exactly what that role will be."
Despite making favourable noises in the direction of the United States in the form of low-key discussions, most NATO officials remain resolute that no action will be taken before sovereignty is transferred from the U.S.-appointed interim leadership to the Iraqis, a move that has been pencilled in for June.
ISAF's Afghan mission to be addressed
The defense ministers will also consider the success of its continuing mission in Afghanistan. When the alliance took over command last August of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) it was NATO's first mission outside Europe. Since then, the command of the mission, which has until now been centered on the capital Kabul, has been rotated between member countries, with Canada currently in control.
NATO wants to extend ISAF's operations beyond the capital Kabul, notably using German troops, but it is having trouble with resources. "I think that there is political will, but translating it into terms of concrete forces on the ground is more difficult and that is our challenge" said Britain's ambassador to NATO Peter Ricketts in a press conference in Brussels this week.
Eurocorps ready to go
The landscape of NATO’s role in Afghanistan is likely to change further after officials announced on Wednesday that the five-nation Eurocorps army is ready to take the lead in the Afghan peacekeeping mission later this year. The Eurocorps was recognized in 2002 as a NATO high readiness force and has already carried out peacekeeping duties in Kosovo and Bosnia.
With plans to be released and confirmed in the coming days, the 60,000-strong force -- made up of troops from Germany, France, Spain, Belgium and Luxembourg -- would more than likely be ready to assume control of the Kabul-based mission by the summer. It was not immediately clear how many of its soldiers would leave for Afghanistan, as part of the 5,500-strong ISAF.
Ministers from the five Eurocorps nations are scheduled to meet on the margins of the Munich meeting to discuss taking on the headquarters role.
Washington calls for NATO engagement in Mid-East
Elsewhere at the Munich conference, officials will analyze the possibilities of NATO involvement in the Middle East -- a topic that could both provide grounds for transatlantic consensus but may also be a source of further tensions.
The United States is eager for NATO to engage in the Middle East to help build regional stability, and around six Middle East and northern African nations, including Israel and Egypt, are being invited to the Alliance summit in Istanbul in June.
Observers expect lively discussion to be generated by the attendance of several Middle East delegations in Munich, discussions on developments in Iran, Israel's "security fence" in and around the West Bank and its decision to dismantle some Jewish settlements.
The fireworks may not be solely reserved for the conference either. Protests are expected and around 21 rallies have been planned before the meeting finishes on Sunday with some 4,000 police being mobilized in Munich. The United States are so concerned that the protests may turn violent that Washington has urged U.S. citizens around Munich to be vigilant for possible unrest. (ends)
|
|
|
|
|
|
Defense Ministers to Discuss Iraq, Afghanistan, Future of NATO Forces |
|
|
|
(Source: US Department of Defense; issued Feb. 6, 2004)
|
|
|
|
MUNICH, Germany --- Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld arrived here late Feb. 5 on the first leg of a five-day European trip that will also include stops in Zagreb, Croatia, and London.
The secretary is in Munich to attend the Wehrkunde Security Conference, attended by defense ministers from countries throughout NATO and elsewhere. Rumsfeld said this conference is important because talks here will lay the groundwork for an international summit in Istanbul, Turkey, in June. This is also the first conference Rumsfeld will attend with new NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.
Top topics at the conference are likely to include Afghanistan, Iraq and the future of NATO forces in Bosnia-Hercegovina, Rumsfeld explained to reporters traveling with him during the trans-Atlantic flight.
The secretary noted 24 of 26 NATO members or invitee countries have sent forces to either Iraq or Afghanistan. Roughly 17 of the same 26 have forces serving in both counties. "So the argument that we should internationalize our activities there … I find interesting," Rumsfeld said.
He praised NATO's efforts in Afghanistan as a first "major out-of-Europe activity" for the international body. NATO forces have assumed control of the International Security Assistance Force in and around the country's capital, Kabul. A proposal is on the table for NATO troops to take over the mission of the provincial reconstruction teams throughout Afghanistan. "That's a big assignment," Rumsfeld said. "The next step there might be for them to take on a somewhat larger role in Afghanistan."
He also raised the possibility that NATO's mission in Bosnia is coming to an end. He said it's possible NATO troops there could be replaced by a force from the European Union. "We probably need a NATO headquarters – very small – to assist with things like the indicted criminals and various other things," Rumsfeld said. "But for the most part, the thought is that we're moving towards the point where the NATO involvement in Bosnia would come to an end.
He called NATO's eventual withdrawal from Bosnia "a success story for NATO when it happens" and "certainly a success story for the people of Bosnia."
During the conference, Rumsfeld will have bilateral meetings with his counterparts from Spain, Canada, Germany, Georgia, Singapore and India. He will also attend a working breakfast with representatives from countries that have been invited to join NATO and members of a U.S. congressional delegation led by Sen. John McCain.
He will make a brief visit to Zagreb Feb. 8. Rumsfeld said Croatia is working toward NATO membership and has provided support to the U.S.-led war on terrorism.
The trip will wrap up with one overnight stay in London, where Rumsfeld will meet with British Secretary of State for Defense Geoffrey Hoon.
Rumsfeld is scheduled to return to Washington Feb. 9.
-ends-
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
