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GEN. RALSTON-GEORGIA

• The Russian internet webside Agentstvo Voyennykh Novostey, June 4, quoted a Georgian Defense Ministry spokesman saying that during a visit to Georgia Tuesday, Gen. Ralston met Georgian Defense Minister Tevzadze and took part in the opening of the Georgian Vaziani base, where the "Cooperative Best Effort 2002" PFP exercises are supposed to be conducted. Noting that Gen. Ralston also met with President Shevardnadze, the report added that earlier Shevardnadze told national radio that Georgia "has high hopes for assistance from the West, primarily, from the United States, in reforming, training and equipping the Georgian armed forces." Shevardnadze reportedly mentioned that the implementation of the program would be the principal subject of his talks with Gen. Ralston and expressed the hope that "as a result of the cooperation with American specialists and of military reforms, Georgia will have a small but mobile army matching all modern standards. Moscow’s ITAR-TASS, June 4, quoted Shevardnadze saying the "Cooperative Best Effort 2002" exercises, which will take place in the vicinity of Tbilisi in the second half of June, were "an absolutely normal phenomenon." The problem of NATO exercises and possible entry of various countries into the North Atlantic Alliance became less acute after the statement of President Putin that the admission of certain countries to NATO will not affect Russia’s relations with them, the dispatch quoted Shevardnadze saying and adding: "Russia has not made any claims or reproached Georgia for the future exercises of NATO."

NATO

• According to Reuters, NATO Secretary General said Wednesday the Alliance must spend more money and build up its military might to be effective against new security threats facing the world. "There is no way in which the safety and security of the population of Europe can be guaranteed unless the investment is made now," he reportedly told British radio, adding: "That means spending wisely and it means spending more. There is no other way in which governments can discharge that fundamental responsibility to their populations for making them safe unless they are willing to spend the money on it."

In the run-up to a meeting of NATO defense ministers Thursday and Friday, media generally expect that the United States will press its European allies to lift defense spending and narrow the potentially divisive transatlantic gap in military capabilities. The view also prevails that ministers will prepare for a fundamental overhaul of the Alliance’s military focusing on flexible, rapid reaction forces.

According to AP, the aim is to breakaway from NATO’s original role of defending Europe against a now non-existent Soviet threat and give the Alliance the means to project power to far-flung regions harboring terrorists who threaten allied nations.

Reuters writes that a drive to cut NATO’s flab and build its military muscle for the fight against global terrorism gathered momentum Tuesday after Britain and Spain called for a transformation of the Alliance. "This is a good European signal nicely timed before the defense ministers meeting, that at last they are getting serious about capabilities," the dispatch quotes one senior NATO official said. The dispatch also quotes a "senior defense official at NATO" saying that the Alliance was drafting a new "military concept" to define its role in the fight against terrorism and weapons of mass destruction and this could include "non-article V" military action to defend countries which are not members of the Alliance.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung sees increased support for a reorientation of the Alliance, which, in the framework of the struggle against terrorism, could include missions all over the world. The newspaper warns however, that this could lead to Bundeswehr operations "compared with which the missions in the former Yugoslavia or in Afghanistan look like picnics."

America is pushing for the establishment of new rapid-reaction forces to revive NATO’s sense of purpose, writes The Independent, claiming that at the NATO meeting, America will unveil plans to revamp NATO’s rapid reaction force and to make European countries beef up their defense spending, as part of "a far-reaching strategy to rescue the Alliance from irrelevance." The ideas—being billed as a fundamental transformation of the Alliance—aim to bolster military capabilities to combat terrorism and other threats, and to shake up NATO’s command structure, which dates from the Cold War, notes the newspaper. It adds that U.S. and European officials Tuesday dismissed reports that the plan could provoke tensions with the EU. "There is a reasonably clear division of responsibilities because the EU’s 60,000-strong rapid reaction force is designed to perform a limited peacekeeping role. And, because so many NATO countries are in the EU, European diplomats say the NATO plan would help them equip their rapid reaction force," continues the newspaper.

AFP expects that the newly-created NATO-Russia Council will take center stage at the NATO meeting, throwing the spotlight on Moscow’s efforts to cool saber-rattling between nuclear rivals India and Pakistan over disputed Kashmir. According to the dispatch, NATO defense ministers will be eager for a debriefing from Russian counterpart Ivanov on President Putin’s talks in Almaty with Indian Prime Minister Vajpayee and Pakistani President Musharraf on the standoff in Kashmir which has unleashed fears of a nuclear war.

• Nicosia’s Afrika, June 4, wrote that according to reports it had received, the Greek and the Turkish Cypriot sides are heading toward a solution to the Cyprus problem which would see the deployment of a NATO force on the island. The Turkish and Greek military contingents on the island would become a part of the NATO force which will be based in Cyprus Reports said NATO troops could be dispatched even before an agreement is reached and that they might even contribute toward a solution of the problem, said the article.

ESDP

• Charging that "militarily, the EU is not in a state of operational readiness," a commentary in Die Welt asserts that the "Crisis Management Exercise 2002," the first ever organized by the EU bodies responsible for security and defense policy, which was conducted at the end of May, has shown that an EU military mission was impossible without resorting to NATO structures, because necessary command structures were missing. Based on unidentified sources in Brussels, the article stressed that the exercise had shown the lack of strategic airlift and naval transport. It also seemed as if there were no secure connection for data transfer between Brussels and the capitals, the newspaper adds, quoting an EU official saying that currently, the transfer network of the WEU has to be used. The newspaper notes that although any connection is officially being denied, many people in Brussels consider the exercise was a test for an EU-led operation in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The article expresses doubts, however, as to whether the EU will be able to take up that mission in the fall. It adds that the European council, the EU Military Committee, and the 15 EU ambassadors have begun to assess the exercise. According to the article, Spain, the current holder of the EU’s presidency, wants to present its final report at the EU summit in Seville June 21-22.

ISAF

• According to Reuters, the German government decided Wednesday to keep German peacekeepers in Afghanistan for a further six months beyond the end of their current mandate, which runs out on June 20. The dispatch notes that the decision, which was expected, follows the UN Security Council’s unanimous vote last month to keep ISAF in the Afghan capital Kabul until December.

 FINAL ITEM