Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

18 March 2004

NATO

• NATO will invest US $139 million to upgrade Poland’s military infrastructure this year, Deputy Defence Minister Janusz Zemke said on Wednesday in Warsaw. The NATO investments, which are part of the alliance’s Security Investment Programme, include modernising airfields, naval bases, fuel supply systems, radar and navigational aids and communications systems. The Defence Ministry estimates that NATO will spend a further US $276 million on upgrading Poland’s military facilities from 2005 to 2007. (Reuters 172010 GMT Mar 04)
  
  
• NATO said on Wednesday it would respond positively to Greece’s request for help guarding the Athens Olympics, and was working urgently on ways to provide air and sea patrols, and protection against terrorist attacks. “You can take it for granted that Greece is an ally which will be able to count on NATO fully in this respect of making sure that the Olympics are secure,” an alliance official said in Brussels. The NATO official said military officials had been “tasked as a matter of urgency” to give their advice on the availability of assets required and how quickly they could be deployed. (Reuters 171845 GMT Mar 04)

TERRORISM

• NATO nations agreed on Wednesday to consider closer cooperation in the wake of last week’s Madrid bombings, and possibly come up with a package of anti-terrorism measures for June’s alliance summit in Istanbul. “The allies agreed that...rather like the EU, we too in the alliance, have to take a very careful look at all that we’re doing to exchange intelligence information on terrorism,” a NATO official said after a meeting of alliance envoys. In a statement the 26 current and future members of the military alliance vowed to stand united against terrorism. Officials said the alliance was not invoking its mutual defence clause. (Reuters 171811 GMT Mar 04)
  
  
• Following bomb attacks in neighboring Spain, Portugal is to restore border controls it scrapped in 1991 as the country tightens security against terrorism ahead of two major international events this summer, a government minister announced Wednesday. Portugal said it would suspend agreements it abides by as one of the 15 European signatory countries to the Schengen agreement. Officials said that unlike Greece, which has requested NATO help policing the Athens Olympics, Portugal currently has no plans to ask the alliance for assistance. Defense Minister Paulo Portas said troops will be on standby to help police if necessary. (AP 171737 Mar 04)

AFGHANISTAN

• Assistance from local people and increased cooperation from Pakistan is helping coalition forces in Afghanistan make “clear progress” rooting out Taliban and al-Qaida remnants, the top U.S. commander there said Wednesday in Brussels. Lt. Gen. David Barno praised recent Pakistani military operations in remote tribal areas near the Afghan border. He briefed NATO officials on the situation in Afghanistan. The general also praised the fledgling Afghan National Army, whose units have been working alongside coalition forces. The U.S. ambassador to NATO said he was confident NATO would be operating in at least five more provincial towns by June, despite difficulties in persuading European allies to provide troops. Ambassador Nicholas Burns said NATO was considering a request from Afghan President Karzai for a temporary increase in peacekeepers during elections scheduled for the summer. (AP 171750 Mar 04)

BALKANS

• Kosovo’s fragile peace exploded in the worst clashes between ethnic Albanians and Serbs since NATO and the UN took control in 1999, plunging hopes of a success for international intervention into grave doubt. At least 17, perhaps 20, people were killed on Wednesday as NATO troops scrambled to quell the outbreak. But it was the scale of the violence rather than the death toll which signalled crisis. In a severe blow to international hopes of calm ahead of talks this year or next on Kosovo’s future status, the outburst of ethnic hatred in over a dozen locations suggested that reconciliation of the two ethnic communities was years off. Prime Minister Kostunica ruled out any military response in the province of Kosovo, such a move would trigger a major confrontation with NATO. The UN Security Council was due to meet in special session on Thursday at Serbia’s request. (Reuters 180201 GMT Mar 04)
  
  
• Declaring that NATO has failed in its mission to protect the people of Kosovo, Serbia’s premier insisted that the province’s beleaguered Serb minority must be given autonomy. “Security for the Serb community cannot be achieved without new solutions,” Prime Minister Kostunica told reporters in Belgrade. “The current solutions have obviously failed the test." “The Serb community must have autonomy, a territory where it will be able to fulfil its rights and which will give it security,” he said. “It is now all up to the international community. It is also their responsibility.” (AP 171824 Mar 04)