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GEN. RALSTON-BULGARIA

• Sofia’s BTA, June 15, quoted the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry’s Information and PR Directorate saying Foreign Minister Pasi met with Gen. Ralston in Vienna Friday on the sideline of a security conference. According to the dispatch, a press release said Pasi briefed Gen. Ralston on the consensual decision of the Bulgarian parliament regarding the destruction of the country’s SS-23 missiles and informed him about the time limits in which Bulgaria wants to implement this decision. He also outlined Bulgaria’s progress toward NATO membership. The press release reportedly quoted Gen. Ralston saying that "the bottom line is to keep working in the same direction without slowing down: The Prague summit is drawing closer all the time."

ESDP

• It looks as if the EU will be able to take over the peacekeeping mission in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia in the fall, writes Die Welt, quoting diplomatic circles saying there are signs that an agreement may now be reached regarding the EU’s use of NATO assets. The article expects that an announcement could be made at the forthcoming EU summit in Seville June 21-22. Athens’ Ependhitis, June 15, wrote that due to the pressure exerted by the United States and in view of the forthcoming EU summit, Athens is moving toward accepting a "composite compromise solution" on the Euro-army issue. The newspaper claimed that Greece was likely to accept a solution with some minor changes or additions and at the same time, probably during the Seville summit, proceed with a "proclamation of principles," which would strengthen the Greek stance and probably complement the possible changes in the text. Athens’ Ta Nea, June 15, asserted that Prime Minister Simitis and his government have concluded that the continuation of the impasse on ESDP would not be in Athens’ interest, because of other unresolved issues critical to Greek foreign policy, like Cyprus’ EU accession and the resolution of the island’s problem.

In an interview with Die Welt, Gen. Rainer Schuwirth, head of the EU Military Staff, explains that the EU could take over the peacekeeping mission in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia provided a deal is reached between the EU and NATO and there is an invitation by the Skopje government.

"If both questions receive a positive answer in the near future, an operation would be possible in the fall. But the longer the questions remains unanswered the more difficult it will be," Gen. Schuwirth says. Asked whether the first ESDP operation can become a success without NATO, he replies: "It goes without saying that the first EU-led operation and the following ones have to be successful. We do not conduct such operations for the sake of the respective organizations, but to promote stability and peace in the respective crisis region. The question as to what extent the EU will have to resort to NATO capabilities is thus of less importance. It will depend on the mission. Operations conducted solely by Europeans would be possible in the future. Then, we will have to be successful, too." Asked whether there are any plans yet of how the cooperation between the EU and NATO should be shaped, Gen. Schuwirth says: "There are no plans, but considerations and informal talks between staff members, aimed at comparing both organizations in order to begin the exchange of information as soon as a decision has been taken. There are also official meetings taking place between the EU and NATO, between the NATO Council and the Security Policy Committee, as well as between the Military Committees. However, this cannot be a substitute for a formal agreement with NATO."

BALKANS

• According to AFP, in a letter published Monday in the Bosnian Serb newspaper Patriot, the wife of former Bosnian Serb leader Karadzic told COMSFOR that her husband has no intention of surrendering to the ICTY. The dispatch recalls that on June 6, SFOR said Gen. Sylvester and Ljiljana Karadzic had exchanged letters, without publishing the consents. Now, it adds, the letters published in Patriot show that Gen. Sylvester wrote to Mrs. Karadzic saying that her husband will be treated with dignity and his safety will be guaranteed if he decides to surrender. "I am willing to organize a meeting with your husband so we could talk about his voluntary surrender," Gen. Sylvester reportedly said. According to the dispatch, Mrs. Karadzic replied that the ICTY should drop charges against her husband and stressed: "It is clear that my husband’s response to the proposal for a meeting is negative, just as no one from his family has any intention to work on his surrender."

TERRORISM

• According to The Times, three Saudi Al Qaeda suspects have told interrogators that agents forced out of Afghanistan have been ordered to forge new groups in other countries to plan more terrorist attacks. The three Saudis, who were arrested in Morocco last week, reportedly said Al Qaeda leaders had been directing all the recent spate of terrorist attacks, including the car bomb explosion at the U.S. consulate in Karachi last week. In a related article, The Guardian claims that senior U.S. government officials believe the routing of Taliban and Al Qaeda forces in Afghanistan has only succeeded in deepening the terrorist threat to the West and that a loose alliance of terrorist groups is as capable as Al Qaeda of planning and carryout out attacks as powerful as those on Sept. 11. Makeshift alliances have been formed with militant groups in Pakistan, Egypt and Algeria, adds the newspaper.

 FINAL ITEM