Military

SACEUR

¨         Yerevan's Mediamax, Dec. 16, reported that in Yerevan Monday, Armenian Foreign Minister Oskanyan and Gen. Ralston discussed prospects for the settlement of the Karabakh conflict, Armenian-Turkish relations, and other regional issues.  The report also quoted the Armenian Foreign Ministry Press Service saying they had also considered programs of cooperation between Armenia and NATO, as well as issues related to the fight against international terrorism.  A related AFP dispatch reports that after talks with local officials Monday, Gen. Ralston said NATO is making steady progress in its relations with Armenia.  According to the dispatch, he told reporters after talks with President Kocharian he thought "tremendous progress" had been made over the past two years.  But, he reportedly stressed that the Alliance was not pressuring Armenia into NATO membership, noting:  "This is something that needs to go at a pace that the citizens of Armenia are comfortable with.  NATO is not to expedite the process beyond what Armenia is comfortable in doing."

ISAF

¨         According to Reuters, an ISAF spokesman told a briefing in Kabul Tuesday that NATO will help international peacekeepers in Afghanistan coordinate their supply lines and logistics.  "We have a lot of individual supply lines at the moment.  In order to rationalize this process, NATO is going to play a role in putting all these logistics together," the spokesman reportedly said.  He noted that details of NATO's involvement still needed to be finalized, but added its support role would be begin at the start of next year.  The dispatch observes that the move is NATO's first involvement in military operations in Afghanistan.

ESDP-NATO

Media continue to convey the message that a NATO-EU deal guaranteeing the EU access to the Alliance's planning resources clears the way for the EU to start peacekeeping missions in the Balkans.

Senior officials said Monday that the EU could be ready to take over the NATO-led mission in Bosnia within 18 months as part of a longer-term strategy for the security and stability in the Balkans, writes the Financial Times.  According to the newspaper, the officials said there was no reason why ESDP could not "plough ahead" in the Balkans following the formal accord between the EU and NATO over "Berlin Plus."  One European ambassador is quoted saying:  "With Berlin Plus out of the way, there are few excuses holding up ESDP. But the future success of ESDP now boils down to political will and improved capabilities.  We have a chance to establish a coherent, integrated policy for the Balkans."  The newspaper recalls that the EU plans to take over, possibly in February, the mission in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, provided President Trajkovski invites the organization to do so.  It quotes  defense officials warning, however, that Bosnia is a far more ambitious project since at present there are about 13,000 NATO-led troops in the federation.  "It will demand a major review over what precise role NATO/EU want the military to play in Bosnia," one NATO official is quoted saying. The newspaper observes that an immediate problem will be the overstretching of troops, a reason why the United States has successively reduced its presence in the Balkans, relying increasingly on the Europeans to assume the military role.

A related Reuters dispatch reports that NATO Secretary General Robertson did not immediately accept the EU offer on Bosnia and stressed the size and complexity of that operation.  "It's a very large, it's a very complex operation. But we're working alongside the European Union as of January in that mission so I think we can see a perspective of working together that might easily develop," Lord Robertson is quoted saying.

Several media highlight that the deal sealed between NATO and the EU constitutes the real launch of the European defense project.  However, the development appears to be overshadowed by reports that new proposals by the defense working group of the Convention on the Future of Europe go much further than humanitarian tasks.

"The EU is drawing up plans for a 'Euro-Pentagon' in Brussels commanded by a defense chief able to launch military operations anywhere in the world," charges The Daily Telegraph.  According to the newspaper, the proposals call for an EU defense secretary with responsibility for running operations.  His staff would be able to draw on an autonomous EU command and control nexus and an intelligence agency with satellite capability. Under the plans, which will form the basis of the military section in the EU's draft Constitution next June, the defense secretary would report to EU defense ministers but would have powers to take "necessary decisions" in an emergency.  The force would have a broad mandate to "dispel hostility."  The newspaper further says that under the plans, the military structure would be backed by a European Arms and Strategic Research Agency that could harness the EU's industrial might for future military needs.  An EU military academy was reportedly also floated as a possibility.  According to the article, the proposals are causing concern to the EU's four non-NATO neutral states-Austria, Sweden, Finland, and Ireland and were greeted with alarm Monday by British conservative politicians.

An influential committee has recommended that EU nations should agree a "solidarity clause" in case one is subject to terrorist attacks, writes The Independent, adding that the report also suggests Europe should have its own armaments agency and encourage member states that want deeper cooperation to sign mutual defense guarantees. 

TERRORISM

¨         French media report that three Islamic radicals arrested near Paris Monday had unidentified chemicals and were preparing an attack with the substances.  France-2 television said the three men, reportedly of North African origin, had $5,000 in cash, a computer, and propaganda documents.  It was believed that they had spent time in training camps in Afghanistan and Chechnya.  Europe 1 claimed that the three men were members of Al Qaeda and planned to carry out a chemical and bacteriological attack in Paris before the end of the year.