Military

SHAPE News Morning Update

1 June 2004

BALKANS

• Prime Minister Vojislav Kostunica said that the UN war crimes tribunal in The Hague “must have a certain amount of trust” toward the Serbian authorities, who say Mladic is no longer in the country. Serbian Deputy Prime Minister Miroljub Labus told reporters on Monday that a search for Mladic in Serbia has been futile and that he believes that he is no longer here. “The international demands for Mladic’s arrest are becoming Serbia’s biggest hurdle toward European integration,” he added. Dragan Marsicanin, a presidential candidate of Kostunica’s conservative Democratic Party of Serbia, criticized The Hague tribunal and the West for their pressure. “How can we prove that he is not here?” Mr. Marsicanin said. “Anyway, why don’t they arrest Radovan Karadzic?” he added, referring to the NATO-led troops stationed in Bosnia. (AP 311628 May 04)
  
• Capturing war crimes suspects before next month’s NATO summit could earn Bosnia an invitation to join the alliance’s Partnership for Peace, NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said on Friday in Sarajevo. “Because the order of things for NATO is war criminals first and PFP later, not the other way around,” he told a news conference after a meeting with Bosnia’s three-man ethnic presidency. He said unless more progress was made on catching war crimes suspects, Bosnia’s chances of joining PFP in Istanbul were “very close to zero,” adding that joining the programme remained a possibility even after the summit. (Reuters 281941 GMT May 04)
  

AFGHANISTAN

• Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan on Saturday signalled that Turkey could send more troops and take over command of the alliance’s peacekeeping force in Afghanistan next year. “There is a NATO request to send troops to Afghanistan, and we are now thinking of sending troops to Afghanistan,” he told a news conference in London. “As a NATO member we have the opportunity to renew the mission we carried out for ISAF previously. We are aware of our duties as a member of this international organisation,” he said, adding he did not believe any deployment would require parliamentary approval. (Reuters 291604 GMT May 04)

RUSSIA

• Russia cast aside its doubts on Monday and joined a U.S.-led alliance of countries prepared to board ships and raid suspect factories in a crackdown against weapons of mass destruction. “The threat of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is global and accordingly requires a global response,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement. “We are sure that we can cope with the problem only through a collective effort.” (Reuters 311634 GMT May 04)
  
• President Vladimir Putin appointed Mikhail Abramov as the new commander of Russia’s Northern Fleet, the Interfax news agency reported Saturday. He has previously served as the first deputy commander and chief of staff of the Baltic Fleet. (AP 291546 May 04)
  

TERRORISM

• The Greek government denied a report on Saturday that it is considering a request by the United States to deploy elite troops here to protect American athletes during the Olympics. “No such request has been made, nor will it be raised in the future,” Public Order Minister Giorgos Voulgarakis said. “Planning for Olympic security has been completed and will go into effect on July 1.” The Athens daily Vima said the United States wanted to send 550 troops from a rapid response force to escort U.S. athletes. It said Greece is considering the request as part of NATO’s planned assistance during the Aug. 13-29 Olympics. Although the report did not name any American unit, a likely candidate could be the U.S. Army Southern European Task Force which is based in Vicenza, Italy.(AP 291317 May 04)