Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

23 May 2003

NATO

• In an interview with Warsaw Trybuna, May 21, Poland’s ambassador to NATO, Jerzy Nowak, said NATO’s agreement to advise Poland in Iraq would help guarantee the commanders of the Polish stabilization force there with support. “With the help of our allies, we will be able to carry out a majority of tasks in the areas in which we have appealed for support. These requests are not of major significance in material terms. However, the NATO decision is important in the sense that it will encourage other countries to contribute to the Polish sector,” Nowak reportedly stressed and added: “They will know that NATO is behind us and that we will be applying NATO standards which have been tested in similar circumstances.” Novak was further quoted saying: “NATO will not set up any headquarters in Iraq, but it can help us lay down norms of cooperation within the system of command so that the various countries can work efficiently together. We are also counting on logistic advice, for example in the area of organizing a transportation system and access to NATO information and satellite systems.”

Die Welt expects that a UN Security Council resolution on post-conflict Iraq, passed on May 22, and the perceived easing of tensions between the United States and “old Europe” will save NATO from drifting into irrelevance.
Washington, the newspaper says, “is meeting the Europeans half way,” and in so doing, “is breathing a new life into the Alliance.” The newspaper also considers that the UN resolution “has paved the way for a much stronger NATO involvement in Iraq” through the assistance the Alliance has promised Warsaw. “So NATO would once again play a role, not so much because of its military significance, but because it proves its load-bearing capacity as a transatlantic bridge, despite the painful rows of the past months,” says the newspaper.

• Prague’s Pravo, May 21, quoted Defense Minister Tvrdik saying Wednesday that the creation of a multinational NATO battalion concerned with protection against chemical, biological and nuclear weapons, in which the Czech Republic is expected to play the main role, does not mean the stationing of foreign troops on Czech territory. Only the command of the battalion and its training facilities will be in the Czech Republic. The report recalled that the creation of the NATO Rapid Response Force (RRF) was discussed on May 19 in Brussels and NATO and the United States have provisionally offered the Czech Republic the formation of the battalion. CTK news agency, May 20, reported that a military health facility being built in the Biological Protection Center is supposed to become part of the multi-national NATO battalion.
  
  
• I Kathimerini tis Kiriakis, May 18, asserted that Athens is participating in intense negotiations on the new structure of NATO with the aim of consolidating the presence of NATO in Greece by maintaining at least one headquarters. According to the newspaper, Foreign Minister Panpandreou and Defense Minister Papandoniou are engaged in concerted efforts aimed at having NATO’s AIRSOUTH headquarters, or alternatively the NAVSOUTH headquarters, established on Greek soil. At the same time, Greece wants to maintain the hosting of the CAOC-7 headquarters in Larissa. In order to achieve its objectives, the Greek government is citing six arguments, which are reportedly described in a “non paper” sent to NATO, said the newspaper, adding that in a document dated May 2, the Greek government noted the following: Greece’s geo-strategic status in the new security environment shaping in southeastern Europe, the eastern Mediterranean and the Middle East. Greece’s reinforcing role in the integration of Bulgaria and Romania into NATO’s military structures. Greece’s pivotal role in integrating Albania, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Croatia and Serbia into Euro-Atlantic structures. The added value of the Greek proposals, especially in the light of the need to upgrade and modernize existing outdated structures. The additional advantage of boosting stability in the southern area. Lastly, Greece’s staunch support of all operations undertaken after Sept. 11 in combating international terrorism, mainly the unconditional use of the naval base at Soudha, as well as other major facilities, along with the right of free overflights in Greek airspace.

ISAF

• AP reports NATO officials welcomed an offer from Russia Friday for possible cooperation with the Alliance’s peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan but gave no details on any specific offer of help. According to AFP, Russian news agencies quoted Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov saying Friday that Russia is ready to assist NATO in Afghanistan when it takes over ISAF. “We are prepared to cooperate with the Alliance in this area taking into account that this meets Russia’s interests,” Ivanov reportedly said. According to the dispatch, he added that no Russian troops would be stationed in Afghanistan, and that cooperation would be limited to intelligence sharing along with search and rescue operations.