Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

20 June 2003

NATO

• Four years after waging war with NATO forces, Serbia and Montenegro officially applied on Thursday to join a program that could lead it to full membership in the alliance. The two-republic union made its formal application to join NATO’s Partnership for Peace, a preparatory program intended for East European countries that seek full membership but aren’t ready. Foreign Minister Goran Svilanovic handed the application to Britain’s ambassador in Belgrade, Charles Crawford, who serves as NATO’s coordinator for the region. (AP 191422 Jun 03)

UNIVERSAL COMPETENCE LAW

• New war crimes complaints against U.S. President Bush, other senior American officials and British Prime Minister Tony Blair have been rejected by Belgian authorities, the government said Thursday in Brussels. It said the complaints concerned the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Prime Minister Verhofstadt said that rapid action showed Belgium has adequately amended the law to avoid frivolous, politically motivated lawsuits. “This shows that ... the system works without changing the law any further,” he told Belgian journalists in the Greek resort of Porto Carras, the venue of the EU summit. (AP 191803 Jun 03)

EU

• A draft, entitled “A Secure Europe in a Better World,” European security strategy submitted to EU leaders on Thursday embraced wholesale the U.S. analysis of new global security threats but offered alternative, multilateral methods to tackle the dangers. “The most frightening scenario is one in which terrorist groups acquire weapons of mass destruction,” the 16-page document drawn up by EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana said. “While we may agree on the threats, we may differ in both degree or substance on how we face them,” Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou, whose country holds the EU presidency, told his colleagues. Solana highlighted the priority for the EU of stabilising its immediate neighbourhood in North Africa, the Middle East and Eastern Europe, stretching into the Caucasus. (Reuters 191623 GMT Jun 03)

BALKANS

• European Union leaders meeting in Greece this week are expected to offer to embrace five Western Balkan countries while warning the region it must introduce tough reforms. The Thessaloniki summit of EU leaders, future entrants and Balkan nations is set to include talks on further regional funding, badly needed to overcome years of devastating ethnic conflicts, poverty and mismanagement. But in a diplomatic rebuff to the EU, one key official from the region recalled Europe’s past failures in the Balkans and said the United States must continue to play a major role. An advisor to Kosovo’s Prime Minister Bajram Rexhepi, Rexhep Hoti, said on Thursday that the EU would need the continued active involvement of Washington in the Balkan region. (Reuters 191952 GMT Jun 03)

CONGO

• The Bush administration on Thursday hesitated in approving a more robust mandate for UN troops in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and increasing the force by about 2,000 soldiers. With atrocities mounting in the eastern Congo, the other 14 Security Council members favoured beefing up the mandate of the peacekeepers, but Washington had not come to a decision yet, diplomats said. France suggested a “rollover” - extending the resolution on the same terms - for only 15 days to give U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte enough time to consult with congressional leaders, who have to approve such missions. But Negroponte took no position on the future shape of any UN force. He said the central African nation was just too large for peacekeepers to manage. “Our view is that no amount of peacekeeping forces are going to be able to resolve this situation if there isn’t the political will both in the Congo and in the neighbouring countries.” Council diplomats will try to negotiate a resolution on Monday but any vote would be in doubt until Washington makes a decision. (Reuters 200044 GMT Jun 03)