Military

NATO

¨         AP reports Russia on Friday welcomed NATO's emerging transformation toward fighting terrorism and assurances by NATO leaders at their summit that the Alliance's enlargement was not aimed against Moscow.  The dispatch quotes Foreign Minister Ivanov saying at a news conference:  "Russia and NATO will increasingly work together as long as the Alliance focuses on opposing new threats and challenges of this contemporary world-the same challenges Russia is trying to counter today."   Speaking after meeting his counterparts from NATO countries, Ivanov reportedly added that both sides "are full of determination to promote the formation of a new architecture of security."   The BBC World Service observed that Russia is playing down its objections to the Alliance's eastward enlargement, in favor of greater cooperation in the fight against terrorism.

NATO's decision Thursday to establish a 21,000-strong Rapid Response Force able to be deployed quickly to trouble spots around the world generated prominent interest.  Some media see the force as the spearhead of the Alliance's new role.

NATO launched Thursday a new Rapid Response Force, ready for combat missions worldwide, as a spearhead to its efforts to reinvent itself to confront post-Sept. 11 global security threats, writes AFP, adding:  The force is seen as a crucial part of the Alliance's transformation from the West's Cold War era bloc into a key force in the global war on terrorism.  The RRF is a key element of a restructuring and transformation of NATO."  In a similar vein, Le Figaro writes that "the establishment of a Rapid Response Force, the spearhead of an Alliance which struggles for its credibility, marks the end of an era when NATO was limiting possible missions to the Euro-Atlantic area."  The Independent writes that the force, whose remit raises the prospect of NATO becoming involved in preemptive military action, is designed to tackle three potential types of situations:  It could be sent in as a stand-alone force after an immediate crisis, or it might be deployed as a show of force to deter military aggression.  Finally, it might be used to make an initial entry into a military theater, ahead of the arrival of a large-scale force.  The article adds that the unit, which is expected to be fully operational by 2006, will be commanded from SHAPE headquarters. 

Media continued to relate the creation of the NATO Rapid Response Force to ESDP.  The Daily Telegraph remarks that the NATO force will take all the best fighting troops Europe can deploy.  It, rather than the Euro-army will carry out any serious mission that the European nations believe they should mount, the daily claims and adds:   "The NATO force will be able to move much faster than its EU counterpart, deploying about 20,000 troops within seven to 10 days for missions ranging from the evacuation of civilians from trouble-spots to waging war.  But, because the troops the Europeans contribute will inevitably be those that they contribute to the EU force, NATO will take the best first."  AFP reports meanwhile that in a speech behind closed doors, the text of which was released by the French presidency, President Chirac said France is ready to join the RFF as long as it does not reduce the capacity of the Europeans to set up a joint defense component.  "We are in favor of this in principle, but it will have to be developed in ways which are compatible with the commitments that some of us have made within the context of the EU," Chirac reportedly said.  According to the dispatch, he stressed that the national components making up the NATO force would need to be able to be placed at the disposal of the EU "without the right of first strike."   He also said that France would take part in the force "to the extent that it respects the status of our troops," since Paris is not part of the Alliance's integrated military structure.  He added, however, that "on this issue, pragmatic solutions could be worked out."  

Media also focused on the NATO leaders' pledge to beef up their military capabilities to narrow the gap between the U.S. military might and European forces.

NATO secured commitments from nine members to increase defense spending substantially, and 408 "firm and specific political commitments" from all 19 members to develop new capabilities where NATO military commanders believe there are substantial deficiencies, writes the Financial Times.  The daily recalls that such commitments have been made in the past only to be ignored.  But, it adds,  NATO officials insisted that the specific nature of the agreements would enable the Alliance to monitor and enforce them. 

The Times writes that in a move seen as one of the most dramatic achievements of the summit, countries agreed to spend billions of dollars buying or leasing major new equipment. Eleven countries agreed to join together to buy 12 strategic-range transport aircraft.  This will quadruple the number of non-American long-range transport aircraft in NATO's inventory.   The choice of the NATO consortium will be between the American C17 and the giant Russian Antonov.  In another deal, nine countries, including Belgium, Hungary, Italy and Spain, signed up to buy a stock of air-to-air refueling takers, boosting existing numbers by 40%, says the newspaper.

A related AFP dispatch says NATO decided Thursday to lease some 15 U.S. C-17 transport planes, to help fill a gap in its ability to move troops pending the launch of a new military transport aircraft.

The Guardian stresses that it is far from clear whether the European allies are prepared to increase their defense budgets.

Reporting on NATO's restructuring, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung writes that a decision in principle on the reform of the command structures envisages the closing of nine NATO headquarters.  SHAPE will remain as the only strategic command with operational tasks.  The strategic headquarters in Norfolk, until now SACLANT, will remain but assume, in close connection with the American Army, functional tasks in the tests of new concepts for NATO forces, stresses the article.  It adds that second-level headquarters, such as the commands for Northern and Southern Europe in Brunssum and Naples, will no longer have a geographically defined area of responsibility in the future. The command levels below will be removed completely.  In the future, two large and one small headquarters will have virtually the "complete round view."  Each should be capable of leading the operation of a multinational inter-service force. The doctrine of the new command structure, too, goes beyond Europe's geography, adds the newspaper.

Media highlighted that NATO's enlargement to seven former Warsaw Pact countries marked the end of an era.

The Independent stresses that the last vestiges of the old Warsaw Pact were swept away Thursday when NATO invited seven ex-Communist nations to join NATO-once their sworn enemy. 

"Prague marks the real end of Yalta.  At the beginning of the 21^st century, the Cold War looks increasingly like history," writes De Volkskrant. 

The Washington Post comments meanwhile that NATO formally left behind the 20^th century Thursday as Alliance leaders signed off on a major transformation designed to confront the 21^st-century threats of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction far beyond the West European borders that NATO was created to defend. 

An editorial in Le Monde observes that the reunification of the European continent is moving quicker within NATO than under the aegis of the EU,  whose membership conditions are more difficult to fulfill. 

Among signs that media see the summit as a success, Die Welt writes:  At its summit in Prague, the Alliance stood at the crossroads that may well be described as historic. Either the Alliance would drop to political irrelevance, or it would continue to exist in a new shape and walk on the path in a new direction. NATO chose the second possibility in Prague, the city where the Warsaw Pact was buried 11 years ago..  Pragmatism won in Prague..  It is better to have a dynamic NATO led by the U.S. than an alliance that walks on the sad path of dying bureaucracies.  Optimists might say that in Prague, the U.S. woke NATO with a kiss." 

Media generally consider that the summit was overshadowed by Iraq but that NATO was successful in papering divisions over the issue.

Under the title, "Alliance backs UN on Iraq but avoids troops controversy," The Guardian  remarks that NATO pledged support for the UN in its quest to disarm Iraq but avoided reference to military measures by the Alliance to enforce it.  The Alliance said it stood "united in the commitment to take effective action to assist" the UN, but there was no explanation of what that action might be, stresses the newspaper.

Le Figaro notes that the allies toned down their differences on Iraq and issued a joint declaration whose wording was watered downed due to pressure from countries hostile to military intervention.

ESDP

¨         According to the BBC World Service, a Eurofighter jet crashed during a training exercise in Spain, about 110 kilometers from Madrid in the first accident involving this type of plane.  The broadcast quoted a Spanish Defense Ministry spokesman saying the two pilots ejected from the plane and were unhurt.  The Eurofighter Typhoon DA6 was flying at an altitude of 15,000 meters when both engines stopped simultaneously. The pilots tried to reignite the engines but failed. It is understood that they managed to guide the plane away from populated areas before ejecting, the spokesman reportedly added.