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SHAPE
News Summary & Analysis
19
September 2003
ESDP
- Germany,
France vow to press ahead with EU military
ISAF
- Possible
expansion of ISAF’s mandate viewed
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ESDP
- AFP
reports that in a statement issued Thursday at the
end of government talks chaired by Chancellor Schroeder and
President Chirac, France and Germany committed themselves
to transforming ESDP into a full-scale defense union “so
that the EU can emerge as a full and equal partner on the
world stage.” Both countries reportedly pledged to push
ahead with plans to develop an autonomous EU military capability,
despite criticism that it would double up with NATO. According
to the dispatch, the statement said the security union “would
bring together member states that are prepared to aim for
rapid and far-reaching progress in strengthening their cooperation.”
It added that France and Germany wanted to reinforce
“wherever possible” the harmonization of military
planning, concentration of capabilities and resources, and
sharing of responsibilities. The dispatch observes that the
statement stressed only on the second of its three pages that
it saw Europe and North America as close allies with shared
ideals, with NATO as the “bedrock of our collective
defense.” The statement reportedly noted: “We
see the improvement of European capabilities and our efforts
toward a security and defense union as a contribution to a
vital and strong alliance, based on the existing strategic
partnership between the EU and NATO.” The dispatch remarks,
however, that the idea of developing an EU military capable
of acting on its own has not gone down well in Washington
which fears it may undermine NATO. A related Daily Telegraph
article writes that at the Schroeder-Chirac talks Thursday,
there was a commitment to the controversial idea of developing
an autonomous EU military capability despite criticism that
it would duplicate and undermine NATO. There was a commitment
to transforming ESDP into a full-scale defense union, the
daily stresses.
ISAF
- Media
focus on reports that NATO has ordered military planners to
draw up plans for expanding the Alliance’s peacekeeping
mission is Afghanistan. The
Wall Street Journal reports that responding to growing pressure
to improve security in Afghanistan, NATO is exploring ways
of extending its Kabul peacekeeping force into unstable provinces
where reconstruction efforts are hindered by continuing violence
and lawlessness. For now, the Alliance’s military
planners are focusing on a targeted expansion, which would
involve sending troops to selected cities and provinces, possibly
modeled on the Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) and
including a “mobile element” that could be dispatched
to a troubled spot, the newspaper asserts. AFP says
the request to task NATO planners with studying options was
placed under a so-called “silence procedure” on
Wednesday night. No NATO country had objected by the end of
the procedure at 1600 GMT Thursday, making it effective, the
dispatch notes. It claims that the request calls for
planners to give priority in their proposals to PRTs.
“NATO began taking steps Thursday night to extends its
Afghan peacekeeping mission to areas beyond Kabul in an attempt
to tackle tribal warlords and improve security and reconstruction
efforts,” writes The Guardian. The newspaper stresses
that “a bigger NATO force is needed to protect the PRTs
operating in remote areas and speed up the demobilization
of militias.” It claims, however, that a bigger NATO
force “is also expected to help reduce the burden on
the 11,500-strong force under U.S. command fighting remnants
of Al Qaeda and the Taliban.”
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