Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

24 September 2003

ISAF

• “ISAF Commander Lt. Gen. Gliemeroth has advocated an expansion of the force’s mandate,” reports Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, quoting the general saying in an interview that “regional or provincial reconstruction teams (PRTs) and, if necessary and appropriate, smaller sub-teams should be established in the medium term, in order to strive for a really comprehensive coverage of the country.” According to Gen. Gliemeroth, adds the newspaper, the concept of “creating ISAF islands across the country is the only possibility available at this time to bring security to the regions.” Gen. Gliemeroth is further quoted saying “the central issue for Afghanistan was to expand the authority and the security structures of the central government throughout Afghanistan.” This, he reportedly noted, would “almost inevitably lead to the concept of PRTs.” Those teams, he added, were “not only interfaces for humanitarian assistance and reconstruction,” but also served as “islands from which the central government can export its authority and policy.” The newspaper further reports that Gen. Gliemeroth believes that in the medium-term, ISAF needs to have its “own evacuation capability.” The article notes that presently, only the Americans have the necessary assets for quickly evacuating by air military personnel threatened by hostile elements. Assessing the security situation in Afghanistan, Gen. Gliemeroth reportedly remarked that the provinces were ruled by “governors that could and should rightly be called warlords as well as by large contingent of former Mujahideen fighters, who are wholly outside the influence of the central government.” He reportedly expressed great concern over the situation in the south-eastern provinces bordering Pakistan.

ESDP

• According to Gen. Rainer Schuwirth, chief of the EU Military Staff, the EU has the capability to relieve NATO in Bosnia in its SFOR peacekeeping mission with its own crises response force, writes Sueddeutsche Zeitung. The newspaper quotes Gen. Schuwirth saying in an interview: “I do not see any insurmountable obstacles…. The time for an EU-led military mission will come.” According to the newspaper, he acknowledged that the relief of SFOR by an EU force was “not very much on top of the agenda at the moment.” However, he refuted U.S. views that the EU was not yet mature enough militarily for the Bosnian mission.” He also cited “an appropriate UN mandate” as well as “the provision of the necessary military assets by the EU member nations” as the necessary prerequisites for such a mission. The newspaper adds that Gen. Schuwirth called on EU countries to push ahead with the modernization of their armed forces, noting that this will be useful both for the EU and NATO. A closer cooperation with regard to planning and bids for new armament projects was also necessary, he reportedly stressed.
  
  
• According to Helsinki’s Helsingin Sanomat, Sept. 23, the chief of Finland’s Defense Forces, Adm. Kaskeala, made it clear Monday that if Finland were to join the EU’s planned common defense and participate in mutual security guarantees of EU countries, it would also have to join NATO. Speaking at the opening ceremony of a national defense course in Helsinki, Gen. Kaskeala reportedly argued that without NATO membership, a declaration of EU security guarantees would be a “rather flimsy document.” He pointed out that such a declaration would amount to no more than a “political expression of solidarity” and that, at least for the foreseeable future, a common EU defense could be implemented only if it were to rely heavily on NATO. “Four fifths of the countries that are current and soon-to-be member countries of the EU share a common defense obligation within the NATO Alliance, where the United States provides the ultimate safeguard of the security guarantees,” Adm. Kaskeala noted. He emphasized that the common defense of the EU should be developed in cooperation with NATO and the United States, because otherwise the trans-Atlantic connection, which is of vital importance for the security of Finland as well, would be undermined.

UN-PREVENTIVE ACTION DOCTRINE

• Reuters reports UN Secretary General Kofi Annan warned Tuesday that the U.S. doctrine of preventive military intervention posed a fundamental challenge to the UN. The dispatch quotes Annan saying, in a speech just before President Bush addressed the UN General Assembly: “If (the doctrine) were to be adopted, it could set precedents that resulted in a proliferation of the unilateral and lawless use of force, with or without credible justification.” The dispatch adds that while he did not mention the United States by name, Annan questioned U.S. arguments that nations have the “right and obligation to use force preemptively,” stressing: “This logic represents a fundamental challenge to the principles on which, however imperfectly, world peace and stability have rested for the last 58 years.” According to the dispatch, Annan also announced that he was establishing a “high-level panel of eminent personalities” to examine current challenges to peace and security and recommend ways the UN could reform its institutions.

HUNGARY-POLITICS

• Parliament has started to debate a bill on amendments to the constitution. It appears from the first few hours of the debate, however, that because of lack of support by the opposition, the bill will not become a law for the time being, reported Budapest’s Kossuth Radio, Sept. 23. Noting that the constitution can be amended only with the approval of two-thirds of all deputies, the broadcast stressed that, right from the beginning, the debate showed that no qualified majority could be expected. It carried a correspondent saying: “The opposition considers the text of last year’s constitutional amendment affecting the country’s sovereignty to be appropriate and still insists on keeping the two-third parliamentary decision on military troop movements. It argues that so far Hungary has been able to meet its NATO obligations because the country has always taken resolutions on important issues quickly.”

SLOVAKIA-POLITICS

• Slovak media report that President Schuster is expected to officially dismiss Defense Minister Ivan Simko later Wednesday and the Executive Committee of the Slovak Christian and Democratic Union (SDKU) has unanimously decided that parliamentary deputy for the SDKU and Trencin Mayor Juraj Liska will take over. Bratislava’s TASR, Sept 23, reported that Defense Ministry State Secretary Martin Fedor assured NATO representatives Tuesday that the continuity of Slovak armed forces reforms would be maintained in spite of the personnel changes. Fedor was quoted saying that during a two-day visit to NATO, he had informed Alliance officials “about our attempt for continuity which should secure that the reform process does not stop, but, quite the contrary, can be accelerated.”