Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

02 December 2003

NATO

• Defence Secretary Rumsfeld told NATO allies that the United States would welcome more help in Iraq. Other U.S. officials said some European defence ministers suggested that NATO might assume command of a multinational division now led by Poland. Lord Robertson said in remarks opening Monday’s session that America’s allies “must have the political will to deploy and use (their) forces in much larger numbers than at present.” He mentioned not only Afghanistan and Iraq but the broader war against terror. He also said the time was approaching for NATO to end its peacekeeping mission in Bosnia. Defence Secretary Rumsfeld said it was “open to discussion” what role the United States might play in Bosnia with the Europeans in charge. Donald Rumsfeld said NATO could go a step further and “take over military operations” in Afghanistan. Dominique Struye de Swielande, the Belgian ambassador to NATO, told reporters his government was willing to consider carefully the idea of NATO assuming command in Afghanistan. (AP 012118 Dec 03)
  
  
• NATO announced a new link with Russia on Monday, a direct phone connection reminiscent of the Hotline that helped the Cold War thaw slightly 40 years ago. Lord Robertson hailed the establishment of the secure line between his successors and Russia’s defence minister “as a demonstration of the ever-deepening NATO-Russia relationship.” The hotline will be set up once Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov returns to Moscow and diplomats said a trial run was expected in the next few days. (Reuters 011930 GMT Dec 03)
  
  
• Hungary, Italy and Slovenia are close to an agreement on a plan to defend the tiny ex-Yugoslav republic’s airspace, officials said Monday in Budapest. “We need to solve the political aspects and the question of how Slovenia will compensate us,” said Lt. Gen. Zoltan Szenes, chief of staff of Hungary’s armed forces. “But from a military point of view, we can say we have reached an agreement.” Any cooperation between the three countries would begin only after Slovenia joins NATO next May, he added. (AP 011558 Dec 03)

OTHER NEWS

• Russian Foreign Minister Ivanov said on Monday the failure to seal a peace deal in Moldova could undermine the OSCE security body which has helped mediate in the 13-year conflict. Igor Ivanov told a meeting of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe that a great chance was missed. Moscow offered Moldova a deal for Russian troops to patrol a demilitarised federal state until 2020 but the plan enraged the nationalist and centrist opposition, who said it would turn the country back into a Russian protectorate. After protests by nationalists, Moldovan President Voronin said last week he had backed out of the plan, noting that the OSCE had refused to endorse it. Dutch Foreign Minister Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, current holder of the rotating OSCE chair, told the Maastricht meeting he hoped for a speedy resolution for Moldova. But Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov echoed his cabinet colleague at a NATO meeting in Brussels, saying decades could elapse before another opportunity for a peace deal presented itself. (Reuters 012021 GMT Dec 03)
  
• Bosnia’s national parliament on Monday passed a law to radically reform the defence system, requiring constitutional changes in the two-entity Balkan country to fulfil a key condition for closer ties with NATO. “Bosnia and Herzegovina made history today when it passed the state law on defence,” said international peace overseer Paddy Ashdown in a statement. (Reuters 011704 GMT Dec 03)
  
• Japan is likely to delay cabinet approval of a plan to send non-combat troops to help rebuild Iraq after the killing of two Japanese diplomats in Iraq, Japanese newspapers said on Tuesday. Prime Minister Koizumi’s cabinet had been expected to approve a basic plan for the dispatch as early as Friday. Business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun said the government was likely to postpone such a move until next week at the earliest. Other major dailies had similar reports, with Sankei Shimbun saying approval could be given towards the middle of the month. Daily Asahi Shimbun also said the government would postpone sending civilians such as government employees and private sector personnel to help in Iraq’s reconstruction until security conditions improved significantly. (Reuters 020043 GMT Dec 03)