Military

NATO

• Prague’s Hospodarske Noviny, Aug. 5, quoted Deputy Defense Minister Fuele saying that the Czech government will decide on the possible procurement of supersonic Gripen aircraft not in September, but only after the NATO summit in Prague in November. Fuel, who heads the government team that is negotiating with the manufacturer of the Gripen, is quoted saying: "There is an opportunity here to consider the outcome of the meeting of the Alliance’s representatives in peace and to weigh up once more the purchase of supersonic aircraft." According to the newspaper, he said the legal aspects of the contract under consideration would not be completed by the original deadline. He also stressed that the procurement also depends on how the allies will proceed in the war against terrorism, which will be discussed at the NATO summit. The newspaper suggested that President Havel’s visit to the United States in September could also be a reason for the postponement. "According to unofficial information, the Castle does not want the final verdict on the Gripen to be declared before then, because the United States has let it be known several times through its ambassador in Prague that it is opposed to the Czech Republic making the purchase," added the newspaper. A related AFP dispatch notes that U.S. Ambassador to Prague Craig Stapleton has recently said U.S. experts have "doubts" that the Gripen will suit Czech aviation needs.

NATO-ACCESSION

• Acknowledging that domestic opposition to Bulgaria’s NATO bid has increased, a commentary in Sofia’s 24 Chasa stresses the need to highlight the economic benefits of NATO membership. NATO is not only about dangers, sacrifices, and potential involvement in conflicts. NATO will also bring to us certain major benefits that should not be overlooked. On the day it is invited to join NATO, Bulgaria will move forward to a new economic category. It will become a country where people will feel comfortable investing their money because of the obvious security guarantees. This will result in an increase of the flow of money from outside the country. Financial experts are predicting that an invitation to join the Alliance would raise the country’s credit ratings by at least one point to reflect the increased confidence in Bulgaria. They say that the international financial superpowers would not allow our country to go bankrupt, that real estate prices will go up. All these and other consequences are easily translatable into the language of our every day lives, says the report. It concludes: "NATO is not one big party. One has to pay to attend. But it brings benefits that would definitely make the lives of the Bulgarians not only more secure, but also much better."

ESDP

• According to the BBC World Service, more than 620,000 Austrians have signed an official petition against a government decision to buy a fleet of new Eurofighter jets. The broadcast noted that the tally—more than 10% of the population—means Parliament will now have to debate the issue. The campaigners reportedly argue that neutral Austria does not need a fleet of high-tech fighters. They also fear that the costs will mount as the project proceeds—and say the money would be better spent on welfare issues. The report quoted correspondents speculating, however, that the petition is unlikely to derail the plan, which represents one of the country’s largest defense contracts since World War II.

IRAQ

• AP reports top Anglican and Roman Catholic clergy have signed a declaration written by a Christian peace movement urging Prime Minister Blair to oppose any military attacks on Iraq without UN approval. According to the dispatch, the declaration, which was to be submitted to Blair’s office on Tuesday, was signed by several thousand people, including Rowan Williams, the newly appointed Archbishop of Canterbury, leader of the world’s 70 million Anglicans. The declaration reportedly said the UN Security Council would have to approve any military attack on Iraq before it could legally be launched. It also stressed that the UN Charter would bar such action unless the countries involved were responding to an Iraqi attack. The dispatch adds that a poll released Monday found that about half of the British public opposes Britain joining a military attack on Iraq, despite the threat posed by its alleged weapons of mass destruction.

German media note that launching the final leg of his reelection bid, Chancellor Schroeder warned Monday against an invasion of Iraq and said Germany should not look to the U.S. as an economic model.

Deutsche Welle reported that Schroeder’s conservative challenger, Edmund Stoiber, had accused the chancellor of drawing the Iraq issue into the election campaign for tactical purposes. According to the network, he criticized Schroeder for making Iraq a campaign issue at a time when the world community should be pressuring Baghdad to open up to weapon inspections by UN monitors. The International Herald Tribune asserts meanwhile that in private, German officials say Berlin will be with Washington on Iraq, so long as the Bush administration makes its case publicly about the dangers of weapons of mass destruction, honestly pursues unconditional weapons inspections through the UN before going to war, and seeks a new resolution authorizing military action from the UN Security Council. The newspaper notes that agreement on those conditions is shared among the major European countries, including Britain. The article quotes Michael Werz, a political scientist at the University of Hannover, speculating that the focus on Iraq is essentially about domestic politics. "Schroeder and the Social Democrats are desperate to run a more polarized campaign versus Stoiber," Werz reportedly said, adding they are using Iraq to shore up support on the left and attract those who might vote for the former Communists.

In a similar vein, a commentary in Die Welt says that with an eye to his declining poll numbers, "Schroeder is reaching for Saddam Hussein like a drowning person reaches for a life jacket. He hopes that the furious warding off of a war against Iraq that is not yet being waged will help him to shake into action the depressive-phlegmatic election campaigners in his own ranks, to gather the aged representatives of the peace movement behind him, and to attract to his side the Germans fatigued by the many foreign missions of their soldiers."

OIL SUPPLIES

• According to The Guardian, the U.S. Energy Secretary, Spencer Abraham, Monday urged Britain and other allies to emulate the Americans in building up oil reserves to help prevent global economic disruption in the event of war in the Middle East. During a visit to the International Petroleum Exchange in London, Abraham reportedly confirmed last week’s reports that the U.S. has already started building up reserves in caverns beneath the Gulf of Mexico. The newspaper adds that with a capacity of 700m barrels, the officially named strategic petroleum reserve is being filled to prevent the kind of oil shock that depressed the global economy during the Opec-led oil crisis of the 70s and again when the 1991 Gulf War forced up oil prices. The daily expects that Abraham’s comments will inevitably fuel the belief that the United States is set on military action against Iraq, probably in 2003 after U.S. congressional elections in November.

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