Military

SHAPE News Summary & Analysis

13 February 2004

GENERAL JONES

• Gen. Jones’ visit to Slovenia was noted by the country’s media. Radio Slovenia, Feb. 12, reported that Thursday Gen. Jones paid a visit to the Franc Rozman-Stane barracks, where he examined the situation in the Slovene armed forces together with Army Chief of the General Staff, Maj. Gen. Lipic. “Gen. Jones said he was pleased with the visit. He expressed optimism regarding the Slovene army’s readiness to join the Alliance. He said NATO was in a transition period, creating rapid reaction forces, expanding its missions around the word, modernizing itself and enlarging to more members. At the same time, he praised Slovenia for its participation in the Alliance’s missions so far, particularly in the Balkans,” the program said. It also quoted Gen. Jones saying the Alliance was not planning to set up NATO military bases in Slovenia. Ljubljana’s Televizija Slovenija, Feb. 12, reported that Gen. Lipic briefed Gen. Jones on the course of the Slovene army reform. “Gen. Lipic outlined the characteristics of the Slovene army’s transition to a professional army, supplemented by a contractual reserve,” said the broadcast. It added that Gen. Jones also met Defense Minister Grizold, who stressed that Slovenia’s strategic interest was stable Balkans. Grizold was further quoted saying he had recently visited a unit which is to leave for Afghanistan and was satisfied with its preparedness. According to the program, Grizold said he believed that the main objective of the Alliance in Afghanistan was to achieve a level of security such as that which had been achieved in Bosnia Herzegovina. Ljubljana’s STA, Feb. 12, centered on Gen. Jones’ meeting with President Drnovsek. “According to a presidency press release, Gen. Jones thanked President Drnovsek for the good cooperation and efforts made by Slovenia in the process of NATO accession. He praised the work of Slovenian representatives at NATO headquarters and at the high command. He said NATO was awaiting with great expectations the Alliance’s expansion and Slovenia’s full-fledged membership. He informed President Drnovsek about guidelines for NATO’s restructuring. The president expressed the opinion that NATO is up for great challenges while Slovenia would like to assist in the Alliance’s restructuring to the best of its abilities. The president informed Gen. Jones about Slovenia’s role in Southeast Europe. He stressed that the western Balkans region still needs a sufficient involvement of the international community,” said the report. The daily Dnevnik, Feb. 11, stressed that Gen. Jones’ visit was part of a tour of the armed forces of countries that have been invited to join NATO.

BALKANS

• BH Radio 1, Feb. 12, reported that at a session in Sarajevo Thursday, the state presidency endorsed a report on the further presence of international forces in Bosnia-Herzegovina. According to the broadcast, the presidency believes it is acceptable that SFOR be replaced by an EU force, but it would like its mandate to be defined by a UN resolution. It also believes that a way must be found within the mandate of this force to maintain the presence of the U.S. forces. AP reports former UN Ambassador Holbrooke, said in Washington Thursday the U.S. administration should keep U.S. troops in Bosnia until war rimes suspects Karadzic and Mladic are captured. Holbrooke, who was in charge of the Dayton accords which ended the war in Bosnia, reportedly said in a speech to the American Academy of Diplomacy it would be a mistake to withdraw the remaining 1,200 U.S. troops and turn over peacekeeping operations in the Balkans country to a European security force. “The risks … are just to great. It is a mistake,” he reportedly said.

NATO

• According to AFP, the MTI state-run news agency reported that activists from the environmental group Greenpeace chained themselves to trees in southern Hungary Friday to protest the building of a NATO radar station on a protected nature reserve. The dispatch adds that more than a dozen nature protection groups signed a letter to NATO Secretary General de Hoop Scheffer Wednesday asking him to scrap construction plans.