Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

19 May 2003

IRAQ

• AFP quotes a NATO spokesman saying Friday that Poland is seeking logistical backup from its NATO allies to help it administer the Iraqi territory it is set to patrol under a U.S. military plan. The dispatch also quotes Poland’s permanent representative to NATO, Jerzy Nowak, saying Warsaw hoped the Alliance could provide Poland with support in administering its sector in southern Iraq. “We have asked for a very modest thing at the moment,” he reportedly said, adding that Poland was not seeking troops but only technical support. “We made quite clear it would not mean any involvement of NATO in Iraq…. There will be no footprint…. We would like to do it in a way not to implicate NATO…. Nothing will appear in Iraq which will bear the NATO flag,” Nowak continued. The envoy is further quoted saying he hoped the request, made in a letter to Lord Robertson after consultations between Poland and its NATO allies, would be examined ahead of a meeting in Warsaw on May 22 and 23 on administering the Polish zone in Iraq. The dispatch adds that according to a NATO spokesman, NATO’s permanent representatives are scheduled to discuss the request next Tuesday at a closed session, and on Wednesday at a meeting of the NAC.

In an interview with Welt am Sonntag, May 18, Defense Minister Struck said Bundeswehr’s participation in a possible NATO mission in Iraq is currently not on the agenda.
“At the request of Poland, the military experts at NATO are reviewing a possible NATO support mission for Iraq. But after that, each country decides on its participation in a sovereign manner. I must note that the Bundeswehr already has more than 9,000 troops in missions abroad. Other countries have more leeway for missions in Iraq,” Struck was quoted saying.

ESDP

• According to AP, EU defense ministers declared their new, 60,000-strong rapid-reaction force ready Monday for a “full range” of peacekeeping operations, but conceded that hardware shortfalls will make it hard to send and protect the troops. Gaps in Europe’s military arsenal “limited and constrained” the force’s ability to deploy quickly, defend itself if a conflict intensifies, or handle more than one mission simultaneously, the ministers reportedly said in a statement. Meeting in Brussels, they pledged to intensify efforts to acquire new equipment ranging from transport planes and air-to-air refueling to precision weapons and protection against germ warfare or poison gas attacks. The ministers stressed the EU was coordinating its defense plans with NATO, where the European nations are also working to boost a similar range of capabilities, notes the dispatch.

BALKANS

• According to AFP, ICTY Chief Prosecutor Carla Del Ponte arrived in Belgrade Monday to press the authorities to arrest top fugitives wanted for war crimes, including former Bosnian Serb military chief Mladic. “We have recent information that Mladic is in Serbia, we have information about his regular presence in Serbia,” an ICTY spokesman reportedly said, adding that the issue would be raised with top Belgrade officials.

OTHER NEWS

• Belgium’s electronic media report that the outgoing coalition of Liberals and Socialists have started moves to form a new government following their election victory which swept their minority Green partners from contention. RTL television reported that Prime Minister Verhofstadt tendered the resignation of his outgoing coalition to King Albert, a procedural step to start the process of forming a new government. The broadcast suggested that Verhofstadt is likely to succeed to himself in the coming weeks since his party remained the first Flemish political party, despite a spectacular Socialist push. A related Reuters dispatch considers that Verhofstadt faces a major task in mending strained relations with the United States after Belgium’s opposition to the U.S-led war in Iraq and its obstruction of NATO moves to boost Turkey’s defenses before the conflict. The Daily Telegraph observes meanwhile that the Socialists appear to have paid no price for their role in blocking deployment of NATO assets. “Diplomats say the election could entrench the position of Belgium as the most anti-American nation in Europe, jeopardizing the long-term presence of NATO headquarters,” notes the newspaper. The Sunday Telegraph, May 18, asserted that any attempt to move NATO’s headquarters from Belgium would be privately welcomed by some senior British military figures, who were dismayed by Belgian hostility to the war in Iraq and its support for moves apparently designed to weaken NATO’s trans-Atlantic links. But, added the article, a NATO spokesman said a move from Belgium was “not very realistic” given the Alliance’s contractual obligations—and the fact that it would require consensus among all members, including Belgium.