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Tue, 10 Feb 04
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NE-@latvia-usa.org
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Feb 09, 2004 23:30 PST
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NATO ENLARGEMENT DAILY BRIEF (NEDB)
Tuesday, 10 February 2004, 01:28 EDT
---------------------------------------------
* NATO SCALES DOWN IN CENTRAL KOSOVO "TEST-BED"- AFP
* SOME EUROPEANS WARY OF NATO ROLE IN MIDEAST -
DefenseNews.com / Nicholas Fiorenza
* NATO NEWCOMERS TO BE READY FOR MEMBER'S STATUS IN APRIL-
BNS
* BALTICS SIGN PACT ON JOINT EFFORTS TO ENSURE AIR POLICING
FUNCTION- BNS
* RUMSFELD SAYS BALTIC AIR POLICING MUST BE SOLVED IN NATO
? BNS
* NATO SPEEDS UP EXPANSION AS EX-SOVIETS PUSH FOR
PROTECTION ? AFP / Leon Bruneau
* CROATIA CONSIDERS TROOP CONTRIBUTION TO ISAF, IRAQ ?
HINA; AFP
* U.S. PRAISES CROATIA AS AN ALLY AND A NATO HOPEFUL- NYT /
Eric Schmitt
* TURKEY PREPARED FOR IRAQ "WITHIN NATO FRAMEWORK": FORMIN
? AFP
* BOSNIAN SERB GOVERNMENT MOVES TO DOWNSIZE ARMY ? AFP
* U.S. EXPERTS HEAD TO EASTERN EUROPE TO SCOUT POTENTIAL
BASES ? AFP / Deborah Cole
* STUDY CALLS FOR REDUCING U.S. PRESENCE IN GERMANY BY
ONE-THIRD - DefenseNews.com / Vince Crawley
* CHIRAC, SCHROEDER WANT EU CONSTITUTION BY END OF JUNE ?
AFP / Jean-Louis De La Vaissiere
---------------------------------------------
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NATO SCALES DOWN IN CENTRAL KOSOVO "TEST-BED"
AFP, 9 Feb 04
NATO is planning to reduce the number of peacekeepers
securing the Kosovo capital Pristina and the centre of the
province, NATO brigade commander Anders Brannstrom said
Monday.
Some 2,000 troops currently serving in the Swedish-led
Multinational Brigade Center will be replaced on May 1 by a
smaller unit comprised of soldiers from Finland, Sweden,
Ireland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Latvia, he said.
The new unit, Multinational Task Force, will focus on
intelligence-based operations and rely on more mobile
troops for securing the capital and its surrounding region.
"The methods will be different and they will involve
intelligence-led operations, greater flexibility and
mobility," said Brannstrom, the brigidier general in charge
of the outgoing unit.
Close to 19,000 troops serve with NATO in Kosovo, a
southern province of Serbia which has been an international
protectorate since 1999 when NATO intervened to end
fighting between separatist ethnic Albanian guerrillas and
Serbian forces.
Their numbers have more than halved from the 50,000 troops
initially deployed in 1999.
NATO's commander for Europe, General James Jones said
earlier this month that Kosovo was a "test-bed" of reforms
designed to make the Atlantic alliance smarter and more
flexible.
EUROPEANS WARY OF NATO ROLE IN MIDEAST
DefenseNews.com, 9 Feb 04, by Nicholas Fiorenza
NATO?s leaders are talking about ways to help bring
stability and security to the Middle East, but European
diplomats preach caution.
The issue is getting more attention in the run-up to the
alliance?s next summit of heads of state in Istanbul June
28-29, where the members will approve plans to deepen ties
with Algeria, Egypt, Jordan, Mauritania, Morocco, Tunisia
and Israel.
In a recent speech, U.S. Sen. Chuck Hagel, R-Neb., laid out
five ways NATO might help:
* Support Turkey?s bid for European Union membership and
encourage continued political and economic reforms in the
country.
* Assume responsibility for all military and reconstruction
operations in Afghanistan, including Operation Enduring
Freedom.
* Take over the Polish sector in central Iraq or possibly a
division in northern Iraq.
* Expand relations with Mediterranean countries.
* Offer monitoring troops as part of an Israeli-Palestinian
peace process.
Many of these proposals have already been batted around for
the last year or two; the fifth, and most controversial,
was suggested in 2001 by New York Times columnist Thomas L.
Friedman and repeated by some NATO foreign ministers during
their June meeting in Madrid.
Hagel pushed the idea in his Jan. 23 speech at the U.S.
Mission to NATO?s annual security studies seminar here.
?NATO is the only institution with the credibility and
capability to undertake such a critical mission,? he said.
?The time is not yet right for this development, but I
believe we must begin to move our thinking, policies and
planning in that direction.?
The French ambassador to NATO, Benoit d?Abboville,
responded at the seminar by warning that the alliance has
neither the tools nor the capacity for nation-building. A
poor showing could hurt the alliance?s credibility, and
there is the risk of mission creep, he said. He proposed
instead that the United Nations be responsible.
Unifying Command
At the alliance defense ministers? Dec. 1-2 meeting here,
officials discussed placing the NATO-led International
Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Kabul and the U.S.-led
Operation Enduring Freedom under a single command.
Afghanistan is ?the number one priority for the alliance,?
new NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told
journalists Jan. 14, but other NATO officials say expanding
their role there must be done step by step. The alliance
currently runs one of the nine provincial reconstruction
teams (PRTs), which are helping to rebuild the war-torn
country. It will gradually take over the rest, starting
with the one in Kunduz north of Kabul Jan. 6, and may add
more.
NATO military experts are finalizing plans to take over
five PRTs. In addition to the existing German-led PRT in
Kunduz, Italy has offered to lead a new PRT in Ghazni,
south of the capital, and Norway and Partnership for Peace
member Sweden a new fourth PRT.
Six of the existing PRTs run under Operation Enduring
Freedom are led by the United States, two by the United
Kingdom and New Zealand is setting up a ninth.
NATO ministers said the PRT concept is necessary to rebuild
Afghanistan, according to a European source, who added it
is more realistic to expect NATO to be able to expand ISAF
with PRTs than with the many troops requested by the United
Nations. Some 5,700 troops from non-U.S. NATO and
Partnership for Peace nations are involved in ISAF, while
the United States leads another 11,500 coalition troops
under Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.
Road to Babylon
At the December meeting, two ministers suggested that NATO
take command of the multinational division in Iraq, which
is headquartered in Babylon and led by Poland, the European
source reported.
NATO has already provided Poland with intelligence, advised
on logistics, coordinated movement, put the force together
and provided secure communications through Supreme
Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Mons. Of the 25
current and future NATO member nations, 18 have troops on
the ground in Iraq.
A European diplomat said that Hagel may have suggested NATO
take command of a division in northern Iraq because the
region is less dangerous than the Polish sector south of
Baghdad, where Polish, Spanish and Ukrainian troops have
been killed or wounded.
A senior alliance official did not rule out a bigger NATO
role in Iraq, but said it would require unity ? and France,
Germany and Belgium oppose the idea, just as they opposed
Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Meanwhile, the alliance intends to strengthen its
relations, especially military ones, with the Mediterranean
nations, Nicholas Burns, U.S. ambassador to NATO, said
after Hagel?s speech. Their armed forces may be invited to
participate in joint military exercises and training, their
officers to NATO defense schools, and their warships to
join Operation Active Endeavor, which protects shipping
from terrorists in the Eastern Mediterranean and Strait of
Gibraltar.
?NATO should also consider formal military training
relationships with other countries throughout the Middle
East,? Hagel said.
NATO NEWCOMERS TO BE READY FOR MEMBER'S STATUS IN APRIL
BNS, 9 Feb 04
The seven countries invited to join NATO may officially
become members of the alliance as early as at the beginning
of April, head of the Estonian parliament's foreign affairs
committee Marko Mihkelson said on Monday.
"The prerequisite for gaining official membership is the
depositing of the ratification letters of the NATO basic
treaty in Washington," Mihkelson told BNS.
"According to current plans, representatives of the seven
countries that have received the invitation will do this at
the beginning of April," he said.
Mihkelson added that in order to abide by this timetable,
the Estonian parliament should ratify the North Atlantic
Treaty by mid-March at the latest.
"I believe that the parliament is ready for this and is
able to do it with two readings," he said.
Ratification of the North Atlantic Treaty, signed in
Washington in 1949, is being prepared by the Foreign
Ministry, with the government possibly to discuss it on
Thursday.
Before ratification procedures of the Washington Treaty
could get under way in the accession countries, the
enlargement had to be endorsed by the parliaments of the
alliance's current members.
As the last NATO member, France completed the ratification
last week.
The seven countries, among them the three Baltic states,
received invitations to join the alliance at the Prague
summit in November 2002.
Ambassadors from the member states signed the accession
protocol of Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Bulgaria, Romania,
Slovakia and Slovenia on March 26, 2003 in Brussels.
BALTICS SIGN PACT ON JOINT EFFORTS TO ENSURE AIR POLICING
FUNCTION
BNS, 9 Feb 04
The defense ministers of the three Baltic countries signed
a communique Sunday on joint activities in the field of air
space control in an effort to step control of the air space
above their territories.
Defense ministers Linas Linkevicius of Lithuania, Girts
Valdis Kristovskis of Latvia and Margus Hanson of Estonia
signed the document in Munich, where they were attending an
international security conference and an informal meeting
of NATO defense ministers, a press release by the
Lithuanian Defense Ministry said.
The communique calls for close consultations with NATO
forces on the control of the region's air space and the
Balts' efficient joining of the respective alliance
arrangements.
With assistance from allies, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia
have been for the past several years implementing the
BALTNET project of joint air space observation. With the
regional center based in Karmelava near the Lithuanian city
of Kaunas, the system will soon become part of the NATO air
surveillance network.
However, the Baltic air force capacities do not yet allow
to ensure sufficient protection of the air space and
perform the air policing function of preventing air space
violations, such as landing the aircraft that err from
their course on purpose or unintentionally.
The three nations are searching for a way to solve the
problem with the help of NATO experts. Lithuanian officers
say that one of the possible solutions is to delegate the
air policing task to one of the alliance members while the
Balts develop their own air defense capacities.
As the press release by the Lithuanian ministry said, also
U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has noted the
need to address the air policing issue. During a meeting
with the defense ministers of the alliance's seven
newcomers on Saturday, Rumsfeld said NATO would render
assistance to new members in the fields where they lack
capacities.
RUMSFELD SAYS BALTIC AIR POLICING MUST BE SOLVED IN NATO
BNS, 9 Feb 04
Latvia's Defense Minister Girts Valdis Kristovskis at the
international security conference in Munich met the US
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld.
An informal meeting was held between Rumsfeld and the seven
NATO accession country defense ministers discussing air
space patrol. Rumsfeld stated that the issue must be solved
on the NATO level. Meanwhile, Kristovskis spoke of regional
cooperation.
The minister's spokesperson reported that a cooperation
agreement was also signed with the Portuguese defense
minister.
On Friday evening at the North-Atlantic Council meeting
Kristovskis reported about Latvia's participation in
peace-keeping operations in Iraq and cooperation with
partners under multi-national units.
Participants of the conference discussed the NATO
alliance's military capabilities and preparation for the
NATO summit in Istanbul, as well as further stabilization
in Afghanistan. The conference also discussed the situation
in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Kosovo, as well as the role of
NATO in Iraq.
NATO SPEEDS UP EXPANSION AS EX-SOVIETS PUSH FOR PROTECTION
AFP, 2 Feb 04, by LEON BRUNEAU
NATO is bringing forward its enlargement into ex-communist
eastern Europe as incoming member states push to come under
the alliance's air-protection umbrella as soon as possible,
diplomats say.
The 19-member former Cold War military bloc, which had been
expected to admit seven new members at a June summit in
Istanbul, is now planning on an enlargement ceremony in the
next few months, sources say.
The push for help in policing eastern Europe's skies comes
in particular from the three ex-Soviet Baltic republics
Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, as well as Slovenia.
"The incoming member countries have virtually no air
defences, and they are keen to come under the NATO system,"
said an alliance official, speaking on condition of
anonymity.
Officials at NATO's Brussels headquarters are in "intense
discussions" on the issue with the new members -- also
including Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria -- who may now
join at a ceremony during the spring.
Moves to bring forward the formal accession date were
decided on after the Istanbul summit date was put back by
about a month. In addition the ratification process in
member states has gone quicker than expected.
The seven newcomers were invited to join NATO at a summit
in Prague in November 2002, following three other
ex-communist states -- Poland, Hungary and the Czech
Republic -- which joined in 1999.
"Certainly, all countries concerned would like to have NATO
air policing cover in place by the time of accession," said
a Lithuanian diplomat, adding: "Given the current state of
discussions within the alliance, we hope for very rapid
progress over the coming weeks and months."
"It is urgent that we find a solution so that these
countries get this air cover which is fundamental," added
the NATO official.
Apart from some 20 AWACS air surveillance aircraft, NATO
itself does not possess any military hardware, relying on
member states to provide resources -- in this case fighter
jets able to patrol skies over the alliance newcomers.
The need was amply demonstrated during the 2002 Prague
summit, when the Czech Republic had to call on US aircraft
to protect the airspace over the summit venue.
The problem is that, with NATO member states already
stretched with commitments in hotspots from the Balkans to
Iraq and Afghanistan, it is proving difficult to find air
power to protect the relatively unthreatened newcomers.
In a recent interview with the French daily Le Figaro,
NATO's chief commander in Europe, US General James Jones,
said the question of air defences for the Baltic countries
should be on the agenda for the June summit.
Lithuania for example has an airforce of barely 800 people,
and depends heavily on its fellow Baltic states. All three
states rely for the most part on surface-to-air missiles.
Vilnius has no fighter jets, and was "strongly advised" by
NATO "not to invest into combat aircraft," said the
Lithuanian diplomat.
But this leaves it in a situation where, if the alliance
cannot provide air protection, it will be forced to strike
bilateral deals, or drop investments asked of it to meet
NATO standards.
"The number of aircraft that is necessary is small... we do
not expect to get this coverage for nothing and are ready
to discuss all the conditions and modalities of this
cooperation," said the Lithuanian diplomat.
"Political will would help us move forward on this issue,"
he added.
CROATIA CONSIDERING WHETHER TO SEND MILITARY MEDICAL TEAMS
TO IRAQ
BBC Monitoring / HINA, 9 Feb 04
Zagreb, 9 February: Croatia is still far from a decision on
sending its troops to Iraq, but there is a possibility that
medical teams will be sent, Foreign Minister Miomir Zuzul
said at a news conference in Zagreb on Monday (9 February).
Zuzul made the statement when asked if yesterday's talks
with US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld had addressed
the sending of Croatian soldiers to Iraq.
"Participation (in the mission) in Iraq was discussed in
principle, and we mentioned the possibility of sending
medical teams," Zuzul said. He added that the deployment of
Croatian soldiers outside the country would be regulated
with laws and that the government wished to reach a
consensus with political parties before passing such a
decision.
Zuzul said that there had been no concrete talks with
Rumsfeld on the signing of a bilateral agreement on the
non-extradition of US soldiers to the International
Criminal Court in The Hague. The EU has suggested to its
future members not to sign such agreements with the United
States.
"We will conduct a balanced policy towards the United
States and the EU and we won't do anything that may
jeopardize our integration into the EU and NATO," Zuzul
said.
Zuzul believes that "none of the friendly countries,
including the USA, would seek decisions which would stop
(Croatia's) integration in the EU". He expects a positive
answer from the European Commission regarding Croatia's
membership application and that the EC would make its
opinion known in spring.
The foreign minister announced the continuation of his
diplomatic offensive on European capitals to acquaint EU
members with Croatia's results in the fulfilment of
political requirements for EU membership.
Zuzul and his associates will today travel to Dublin, after
which they will visit London and Berlin.
At today's new conference the minister introduced his
newly-appointed assistants Neven Madey, Tomislav Vidosevic
and David Sopta. The appointments ensued after the
government last week adopted a proposal for the
reorganization of the ministry in line with the priorities
of foreign policy.
CROATIANS PROMISE RUMSFELD TO CONSIDER SENDING MORE TROOPS
TO AFGHANISTAN
AFP, 8 Feb 04
US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld won a promise Sunday
that Croatia will consider increasing its contributions to
a NATO-led peacekeeping force in Afghanistan.
"We have considered the possibility to increase our
assistance and participation of our operational forces in
Afghanistan in a reconstruction capacity," said Prime
Minister Ivo Sanader said at a joint news conference with
Rumsfeld.
But Sanader hedged on sending troops to Iraq, telling
reporters: "This issue remains to be considered by the
Croatian government."
A 50-member Croatian military police unit is serving in
Afghanistan, but the Balkan country has provided no troops
for the US-led coalition in Iraq.
Washington, according to a US official who spoke on
condition of anonymity, had hoped that Sanader, who is
viewed as more pro-US than his predecessor, may be more
disposed to contributing troops to the Iraq coalition.
Rumsfeld made a three-hour visit to offer Croatia help in
getting its military ready for NATO, but with the proviso
that Zagreb exempt US troops and government officials from
International Criminal Court prosecutions.
"I and my government have understanding for the position of
the US government," Sanader said at a news conference with
Rumsfeld.
The European Union, which Croatia aims to join as well, has
opposed exemptions for US troops and officials.
The first US cabinet member to visit Croatia since former
secretary of state Madeleine Albright in 1999, Rumsfeld
said "I wanted to come personally and thank you and to the
people of your country for your support of the global war
on terrorism."
Sanader said his country understood the justness of
Washington's war on terrorism.
"If the international community had intervened militarily
in 1991 to stop (Slobodan) Milosevic and four years of war
and many thousands of lives would have been saved," he
said, in a reference to the wars following the break of up
of Yugoslavia.
Rumsfeld said he was impressed with the progress Croatia
has made toward reforming its military to meet requirements
for NATO membership.
He also met with Croatian President Stipe Mesic to discuss
closer military relations as the country makes defense
reforms with a view to NATO membership.
Croatia has slowly reduced the size of its armed forces
from 44,000 to 32,000 as part of a restructuring aimed at
fufilling requirements for NATO membership.
Croatia, along with fellow Balkan states Macedonia and
Albania, failed to make the cut for NATO enlargement this
year.
Rumsfeld arrived from Munich, where he attended an informal
meeting of NATO defense ministers and the Munich Conference
on International Security.
Rumsfeld had been scheduled to travel from here to London
for talks with Defense Minister Geoff Hoon on Monday, but
he canceled that leg of a three-day European trip after
meeting with his British counterpart in Munich.
RUMSFELD PRAISES CROATIA AS AN ALLY IN KABUL AND A NATO
HOPEFUL
New York Times, 9 Feb 03, by Eric Schmitt
ZAGREB, Croatia, Feb. 8 ? Wrapping up a four-day European
trip, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld stopped here on
Sunday to promote this Balkan nation's efforts to join NATO
and to pay tribute to Croatia's security forces, which are
fighting terrorism in Afghanistan.
Mr. Rumsfeld, the first United States cabinet officer to
visit Croatia since Secretary of State Madeleine K.
Albright came in 1999, met with Croatian officials,
including President Stjepan Mesic and Prime Minister Ivo
Sanader, during a nearly four-hour stop on his way back to
Washington.
"I look forward to the day when Croatia becomes a part" of
NATO, Mr. Rumsfeld said at a news conference with Mr.
Sanader after the meetings.
Croatia has sent 50 military police officers to assist the
NATO-led security operation in and around the Afghan
capital, Kabul, and has donated rifles and ammunition to
the new Afghan Army. American officials are also exploring
whether Croatia might send troops to Iraq.
"This question remains to be considered by the Croatian
government," Mr. Sanader said.
Mr. Rumsfeld's visit comes less than three months after the
governing party, the Croatian Democratic Union, regained
power. It had been ousted four years ago after allegations
of corruption and hard-line nationalist politics.
Under Mr. Sanader, the party has purged extremists, some of
whom were implicated in war crimes committed during the
1991-95 Balkan wars, and he has embraced a pro-American
foreign policy. Mr. Sanader says he wants Croatia to join
the European Union and NATO within the next two to three
years.
He said that Croatia's membership in NATO would send "a
strong clear signal to neighboring states" and that
political and economic progress could be made by following
the membership entry requirements.
Mr. Sanader was asked whether Croatia was uncomfortable
with NATO's goal to withdraw most of its 12,000 troops in
Bosnia this year and replace them with police officers and
troops commanded by the European Union. He said that there
could be no substitute for NATO forces but that the
transition to a European command, if it happened, would
allow Europe to assume more responsibility for regional
security.
Mr. Rumsfeld emphasized that a NATO headquarters would
remain in Bosnia to help the nation's military reforms and
to help the hunt for indicted war crimes suspects. Mr.
Sanader said he supported the Bush administration's
pre-emption doctrine, and said "hundreds of thousands of
lives would have been saved" in the Balkan wars had "there
been the will for preventive action" to topple Slobodan
Milosevic, the former Yugoslav president.
Croatia, a nation of 4.4 million people, has reduced the
size of its military to 33,000 troops from 44,000 in the
past year, but has taken steps to make it a more
professional army.
The United States and Croatian navies have conducted joint
exercises recently, and the Bush administration has taken
several steps to reward the government's efforts to combat
global terrorism and to take the necessary steps to join
NATO.
Last month, the Pentagon honored the Croatian chief of
armed forces, Gen. Josip Lucic, with a ceremony in
Washington, as well as meetings with the Army chief of
staff, Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker, and the commandant of the
Marine Corps, Gen. Michael W. Hagee. Secretary of State
Colin L. Powell met with the Croatian foreign minister,
Miomir Zuzul, and the speaker of the Croatian Parliament,
Vladimir Seks, and President Bush invited them to attend
the State of the Union address.
American officials attribute much of the pro-American shift
in Croatian foreign policy to Mr. Zuzul, a former Croatian
ambassador to the United States who studied at the Kennedy
School of Government at Harvard.
The new government and the Bush administration are still
working out some rough patches, which Mr. Rumsfeld was
expected to address in his meetings. The governing party
has been openly hostile to the United Nations tribunal in
The Hague for war crimes in the nations that once made up
Yugoslavia in the 1990's.
TURKEY PREPARED FOR IRAQ INVOLVEMENT "WITHIN NATO
FRAMEWORK": FOREIGN MINISTER
AFP, 9 Feb 04
Turkey is prepared to get involved in Iraq within the
framework of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO),
Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul said on Monday.
"Turkey gives top priority to stabilisation in its
neighbour, Iraq. We back all stabilisation efforts in the
region and we will take part within the NATO framework,"
Gul told a news conference with his Polish counterpart
Wlodzimierz Cimoszewicz.
"We have demonstrated since the beginning our support for
stabilisation in Iraq. Poland is playing a role there and
is already benefiting from (logistical) support from NATO.
We are also prepared to lend our support," he said,
speaking during an official visit to Poland.
Cimoszewicz, whose country heads a 9,000-strong
multinational force overseeing one of Iraq's post war
zones, said Warsaw hoped the NATO summit in Istanbul in
June would "decide on a NATO commitment in Iraq" where, he
said, Warsaw and Ankara "have big possibilities for
political and economic cooperation".
NATO diplomats in Brussels say the alliance could take over
command of the Polish division in Iraq as early as this
year, but that no decision has yet been taken.
Poland, a close ally of Washington since the beginning of
the Iraqi crisis, has officially called for a stronger NATO
commitment in Iraq as quickly as possible.
BOSNIAN SERB GOVERNMENT MOVES TO DOWNSIZE ARMY
AFP, 9 Feb 04
The Bosnian Serb government has secured funds for
redundancy payments to soldiers who are being demobilized
under reforms required by NATO, an official said Feb. 9.
The government has provided 6.7 million euros ($8.5
million) for redundancy payments, ranging from 3,000 to
4,000 euros, Bosnian Serb defense ministry spokesman Branko
Trkulja told Agence France-Presse.
The Serb-run entity in Bosnia is set to demobilize 2,600 of
its 6,600 soldiers while the army of the Muslim-Croat half
is expected to release 5,200 of its 13,200 troops.
The cuts that began last week are a requirement for
Bosnia?s acceptance in NATO?s Partnership for Peace
program, generally seen as the first step towards
membership in the alliance.
Bosnia must also appoint by mid-February a common defense
minister within the weak central government.
Bosnia was divided into two entities -- the Muslim-Croat
Federation and the Serbs? Republika Srpska -- under the
1995 peace accords that ended the 1992-95 war between the
country?s Croat, Muslim and Serb communities.
The two entities have separate parliaments, governments and
armies, but under huge international pressure they agreed
last year to bring their separate armed forces under a
central command.
U.S. EXPERTS HEAD TO EASTERN EUROPE TO SCOUT POTENTIAL
BASES
AFP, 9 Feb 04, by Deborah Cole
Advance teams of U.S. armed forces specialists were due to
arrive in Bulgaria, Poland and Romania on Feb. 9 to scout
potential sites for new military installations, part of a
major shift in basing strategy linked to the war on
terrorism, a U.S. spokesperson said.
?They?re going to gather information that will be used in
determining considerations for possible forward operating
locations,? a spokesperson for the U.S. Armed Forces
European Command in the southern German city of Stuttgart
told Agence France-Presse, confirming a report in the
Boston Globe.
Such ?locations? in eastern Europe are intended to move
away from the 20th century basing system that established
giant garrisons in countries such as Germany and South
Korea.
The visits to the three former Soviet bloc countries will
evaluate ports, airfields and training facilities -- the
first of several tours in the coming months, the
spokesperson confirmed.
The Boston Globe said that the arrival of military
engineers, logisticians and airfield analysts in the three
countries indicated the process of ?transformation? was
picking up momentum.
?There have not been any final decisions made yet, but 80
percent of the solution is there,? a senior U.S. military
official told the newspaper.
American armed forces officials are due to brief a small
group of reporters on the changes Feb. 10 in Stuttgart.
U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Feb. 6 that
Germany and South Korea would be hardest hit by the biggest
change in U.S. force structure since World War II, at an
informal NATO meeting in Munich, southern Germany.
With advice from the military, the Pentagon is drawing up
plans for repositioning its forces so they can respond
swiftly to rapidly emerging crises anywhere in the world.
This will mean scrapping the static defenses manned by
armored units that grew up during the Cold War to defend
Europe from a Soviet land attack.
Instead, U.S. strategists anticipate consolidating
facilities in Europe, keeping certain large air bases, such
as Ramstein in southwest Germany, as hubs from which to
project a global network of smaller bases.
The new sites will be designed to allow for quick, nimble
responses to emerging crises and allow greater proximity to
the Middle East, U.S. military officials have said.
Decisions on where to open new facilities could be made as
early as this summer, according to U.S. officials.
?We don?t plan many new bases,? Rumsfeld said Feb. 6. ?We
may have bases in places where people want us, where it?s a
warm base where we can exercise, or use (it) periodically.?
Rumsfeld and other U.S. military officials have denied that
the shift away from Germany is aimed at punishing the
country for opposing the U.S.-led war on Iraq. With some
70,000 troops stationed on German soil, many communities
are economically reliant on the U.S. presence.
German Defense Minister Peter Struck said at the same
meeting Feb. 6 that Rumsfeld had assured him that
Washington would cooperate closely with Berlin on the base
closures.
Russia, meanwhile, has repeatedly made it clear that it
opposes a stronger U.S. military presence near its borders.
Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov on Feb. 7 urged NATO
not to put new military facilities in Poland and the
Baltics, warning that Moscow could respond in kind if its
interests were threatened.
He said Russia could boost its military presence in the
Kaliningrad enclave between Poland and the Baltics if NATO
expanded eastward, at a meeting of defense experts in
Munich.
MOVING U.S. TROOPS OUT OF GERMANY
STUDY CALLS FOR REDUCING U.S. PRESENCE BY ONE-THIRD
DefenseNews.com, 9 Feb 04, By Vince Crawley
At the request of the U.S. European Command, the Pentagon
and U.S. State Department are negotiating this year for a
potentially major reduction of ground troops in Germany to
save money and create more flexible forces.
Seven years ago, the RAND Corp., a Santa Monica,
Calif.-based think tank, studied just such a move. In light
of current discussions, RAND recently issued a draft report
of that earlier analysis to help explain the ?pros, cons
and costs associated with restationing and rotating troops
to overseas locations.?
In the earlier study, funded by the U.S. Army, RAND found
it was feasible to permanently move about 23,000 soldiers ?
one-third of the Army?s presence in Europe ? to stateside
bases. The soldiers to be transferred would be the four
heavy-maneuver brigades of the 1st Armored and 1st Infantry
divisions.
The most suitable posts to receive these troops would be
Fort Bliss, Texas; Fort Carson, Colo.; and Fort Lewis,
Wash., all of which have room to practice fighting and
facilities to accommodate more soldiers and their
equipment.
But RAND said three secondary installations ? Fort Knox,
Ky.; Fort Riley, Kan.; and Fort Polk, La. ? also could
handle extra units. For example, a light brigade could be
moved from Fort Lewis to Fort Polk to make room for a heavy
brigade at Lewis.
The study found that such a shift could cut permanent
change-of-station (PCS) moves, with some troops spending as
long as 10 years at a duty station in the United States.
This fits with goals voiced by Defense Secretary Donald
Rumsfeld, who wants increased opportunities for spouse
employment, less disruption for families and fewer career
moves.
On the other hand, the study found family separations would
become more frequent, with regular six-month deployments
every 18 to 24 months.
Costs associated with moving troops from Germany to the
United States would be expected to pay for themselves
within five years.
The 1997 study, ?Army Stationing and Rotation Policy,?
serves as a backdrop for some of the behind-the-scenes
discussion taking place. For example, the Army last summer
was making detailed plans in the event political leaders
ordered a homecoming from Germany after combat brigades
rotate out of their yearlong tours in Iraq.
Even if troops transfer to the United States, officials
stress they would not transfer directly from Iraq to U.S.
bases, but instead would spend a substantial amount of time
in Germany with their families. In the redeployment
following the 1991 Persian Gulf War, veterans of that
conflict departed Europe at a breakneck rate of 30,000 a
month, only to find themselves at overcrowded stateside
bases where housing markets and school districts were
unprepared for their arrival.
A main goal of the 1997 study was to reduce PCS moves,
which cost the Army more than $1 billion a year and disrupt
service members? lives. Marine Gen. James Jones, chief of
the European Command, wants to create more ?expeditionary
forces? for duty in remote, strategic locations, while at
the same time reducing the number of ?little Americas? in
Germany, where the presence of families also requires
costly schools, additional medical care and other community
services.
Moving the four brigades to the United States would cost
$700 million to $830 million (in 1997 dollars), according
to RAND. However, the move would save up to $350 million a
year, mainly through reduced PCS costs and housing costs
that are lower in the United States compared to Germany.
Reduced costs for the military?s overseas schools in Europe
would save $70 million a year.
Creating a ?Rotation Base?
Transferring the four brigades to the United States would
effectively create a rotation base of 16 heavy brigades on
U.S. soil.
Using deployment trends from the late 1990s, RAND figured
that if four of these brigades rotated to Europe while a
fifth rotated to the Balkans and Arabian Gulf, troops would
spend 13 months in the United States between each six-month
deployment. If these deployments also included light
brigades, the periods between deployments would be longer.
Junior enlisted troops in affected skills, such as armor
crewmen, could remain in one location as long as 10 years.
But by the time they reached the grade of E-6, they likely
would have to relocate in order to perform some of the
Army?s many training duties.
Along with bringing brigades home from Europe, RAND offered
a number of changes that could stabilize career enlisted
members for longer times in one location. They include
hiring civilians to perform more ROTC and recruiting duties
as well as collocating more combat units with their
associated training schools.
The Army?s infantry community already does this by keeping
combat units stationed at Fort Benning, Ga., alongside the
service?s infantry schools. Similarly, if a returning
brigade were put at Fort Knox, a noncommissioned officer
cadre could shift between armor schools and a combat unit
without making PCS moves.
Leaders moving units back to the United States also must
consider how to equip those brigades, both for training at
home and for deployments.
RAND envisioned six-month rotations to Europe ? the same
schedule suggested by Jones in congressional testimony last
year. But six-month rotations would make it too costly to
keep moving equipment across the Atlantic. On the other
hand, the RAND study said it would be too expensive ?
roughly $8 billion ? to buy four brigades? worth of combat
equipment for use while deployed overseas.
Possibilities suggested by RAND include allowing deployed
troops to use war-reserve stocks or to convert National
Guard brigades to light units and allow active-duty
brigades to use their equipment. In addition, lighter units
could take part in the Europe rotations, expanding the
rotation base and making troops in Europe more versatile.
If a six-month rotation plan were adopted, RAND said,
deployment stress likely would increase somewhat, with a
regular cycle of units returning or preparing to depart.
Also, the divisions in Europe would have to cope with
continual turnover of brigades, while U.S.-based divisions
would have fewer chances to conduct division-sized
maneuvers, RAND said.
However, the report concluded, ?a countervailing advantage
of that policy ? is that it would exercise brigade
operations and focus the Army on that smaller, more
flexible organization.?
CHIRAC, SCHROEDER WANT EU CONSTITUTION BY END OF JUNE
AFP, 9 Feb 04, by Jean-Louis De La Vaissiere
The leaders of France and Germany called Monday for an
agreement to end the wrangle over the EU constitution by
the end of June, but "not at any price."
Underscoring their close working alliance, French President
Jacques Chirac said German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder
would represent their joint position at talks later Monday
in Ireland, which holds the EU rotating presidency.
Their informal summit at Genshagen, outside Berlin, the
latest in a series, also touched on the situation in Iraq,
Afghanistan and a hostile takeover bid by a French
pharmaceutical company for Franco-German group Aventis.
"We wish for an accord on the European constitution in June
under the Irish (EU) presidency," Chirac told a joint press
conference.
"If that is not possible, then there has to be an agreement
under the Dutch presidency" during the second half of the
year, he added.
"We believe the constitutional process must draw to a close
and we hope it will come under the Irish presidency, but
not at any price," Schroeder said.
Chirac said the chancellor "will speak also in the name of
France" when he met Irish Prime Minister Bertie Ahern
later.
Monday's talks marked the start of a diplomatic flurry
involving Schroeder. After Ahern, he is due Thursday to
host British Prime Minister Tony Blair and on February 18
will hold a tripartite summit involving Blair and Chirac.
Attempts to agree the bloc's first-ever constitution
collapsed in December amid bitter argument over voting
reforms, with France and Germany on one side and Poland and
Spain on the other.
The text is supposed to provide the framework for the bloc
after it expands on May 1 to 25 members with the admission
of 10 mainly ex-communist nations.
It proposes replacing the current system of "weighted
voting," under which Poland and Spain have nearly as many
votes as Germany despite having only half its population,
with a "double majority" under which decisions would need
the support from most member states representing at least
60 percent of the bloc's total population.
Chirac and Schroeder also said they wanted an extension of
majority voting to prevent gridlock in EU decision-making,
which usually requires unanimity.
On Iraq, the two leaders again underlined their common
position although in fact they differ slightly.
While both opposed the US-led war which toppled Saddam
Hussein, France has not ruled out contributing troops to an
eventual NATO deployment there if the alliance is asked to
intervene by a legitimate Iraqi government.
Germany, for its part, has ruled out a troop contribution,
but indicated it would not stand in the way of a consensus
on deployment.
Their only minor point of dissension was on a plan by Paris
to reduce sales tax on restaurant bills.
Chirac said he understood why the measure was "not a
priority" for Germany and that they had agreed to keep
discussing the issue.
Schroeder, meanwhile, said he would prefer the planned
takeover of Aventis by French drug maker Sanofi-Synthelabo
to be amicable, "that is to say, using English terms,
friendly rather than unfriendly."
Sanofi announced late last month that it wanted to swallow
its much-bigger rival, which employs 9,000 people in
Germany, if necessary against the will of Aventis'
management.
The leaders insisted the takeover was not a matter for
politicians. "It's a market matter, one over which
politicians should have no influence," Schroeder said.
Nevertheless, the governments were keeping a close watch.
"The main focus for the governments is the safeguarding of
jobs. That's the goal we have," Schroeder said.
Chirac pointed out that Sanofi's management had pledged to
keep the German workforce, including the key research
staff.
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