Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

5 February 2003

NATO

• NATO agreed on Tuesday to conduct anti-terrorist naval patrols in the Gibraltar Strait, but delayed a decision on support measures for Turkey in case of a war in Iraq until later this week, officials said. Ambassadors of the 19-nation U.S.-led alliance decided to extend the scope of NATO’s Mediterranean task force to protect ships in the busy commercial sea corridor that separates Africa from Europe. But they deferred the controversial issue of measures to protect Turkey and provide indirect support for U.S. forces in a war with Iraq until after Secretary of State Colin Powell briefs the UN Security Council on Wednesday. Officials said ambassadors would probably return to the Iraq-related measures on Thursday. NATO Secretary-General Robertson has cancelled a planned trip to Bulgaria that day to be available at alliance headquarters in Brussels. Robertson is due to meet Defence Secretary Rumsfeld at a major defence conference in Munich on Friday and Saturday.(Reuters 1816 040203 GMT)

IRAQ

• Up to 10 east European countries are preparing a declaration of support for President Bush’s drive to disarm Iraq, government officials said on Tuesday. Officials in Romania, Bulgaria and the Baltics said NATO candidate countries were working on the wording of the document. It is to be issued in the United States on Wednesday after Secretary of State Powell delivers a speech to the UN Security Council laying out Washington’s case against Iraq. A Romanian Foreign Ministry official told Reuters the declaration of the so-called Vilnius 10 would be announced in the United States. A Bulgarian Foreign Ministry official added: “It is expected that it will be announced tomorrow at the end of the UN Security Council session.”(Reuters 2041 040203 GMT)

BALKANS

• A senior U.S. Defense Ministry official on Tuesday described Croatia as a “valued partner” in the war on terror. Mira Ricardel, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Eurasia, visited Croatia to sign an agreement on cooperation in preventing proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Croatia aspires to join NATO. The agreement signed Tuesday by Ricardel and Croatia’s Defense Minister, Zeljka Antunovic, was the first tangible sign that the Croatian pro-Western government is siding with the United States in its war on terror. The deal, which still has to be ratified by the U.S. Congress and the Croatian parliament, would provide Croatia with knowledge and equipment needed to fight the spread of weapons of mass destruction, Antunovic said. The agreement was not linked to the possible war in Iraq, she said, adding it covered a period of seven years. She offered no other details. Ricardel also said Croatia was “a serious candidate” for NATO membership because "its leadership is taking very decisive and difficult steps in reforming" its armed forces.(AP 041957 Feb 03 GMT)

OTHER NEWS

• Britain and France agreed on Tuesday a blueprint to press ahead with key common European security and defence policies, despite their differences over a possible war in Iraq. Prime Minister Blair and Jacques Chirac threw their weight behind efforts to develop a long-planned European Rapid Reaction Force. They also agreed plans to pool military equipment such as aircraft carriers for peacekeeping or humanitarian missions. “France and the UK agree this is the time for the EU to take on new responsibilities on the ground for crisis management,” a joint declaration said. Blair and Chirac declared their support for European troops’ imminent takeover of NATO operations in Macedonia (sic). They also will present joint proposals on future deployment in Bosnia to an EU foreign ministers meeting later this month. The two leaders suggested an EU “capabilities agency” to ensure resources were available for future operations and urged European partners to agree new targets for defence expenditure and the effectiveness and adaptability of their forces. “France and the UK agree that developing the EU’s ability to act in the face of new threats...means we must intensify efforts to improve military capabilities,” the declaration said.(Reuters 1453 040203 GMT)
  
  
• Defense Secretary Rumsfeld said Tuesday he will attend an international conference on security policy this weekend in Germany, but he declined to offer an assessment of U.S.-German relations, which have been strained for months by strong disagreements over Iraq. “I’ll have a little better sense of it when I return,” he said. Rumsfeld will attend the Munich Conference on Security Policy on Saturday, along with a U.S. congressional delegation led by Sens. John McCain and Joseph Lieberman. The conference, held annually, attracts government officials and security policy experts from Europe, the United States, Canada, Asia and Russia.(AP 042202 Feb 03 GMT)