Brussels, 27/05/2010 (Agence Europe) - General Ton van Osch from the Netherlands took over on Thursday 27 May from General David Leakey (United Kingdom) as Chief of the European Union Military Staff (EUMS). During a joint press conference with his predecessor, General Osch emphasised that during his three-year mandate he would focus on two main subjects: implementation of a comprehensive approach, which would help to combine and jointly coordinate all crisis management instruments; and strengthening cooperation between the EU and its partners such as NATO, the UN, the African Union and the other “major actors and nations”. The general provided assurances that “every body will find me willing to cooperate” and said that making the European External Action Service operational, where EU High Representative Catherine Ashton will be responsible for all instruments, will be a big step forward. The general explained: “I know there's a lot of talking that should be much better and I agree with that, but at the same time I would like to make a point that we made a lot of big steps”. General Leakey was asked about the necessity of providing the EU with a permanent military operations staff in the future but explained that there is no “one size fits all” solution from a political point of view or in the context of military practicalities. He added: “If you have a member state who takes an operations commander rather than operational headquarters responsibility, then it means that the operation is guaranteed to be a success”.. According to Leakey, the current situation has the merit of giving each member state greater responsibility when it ensures command of an operation.
Born in 1955, General Osch has been the Dutch permanent military representative to NATO and the European Union Military Committee (EUMC) since June 2007. He is the third chief of staff as head of this structure, following French General Jean-Paul Perruche and General Leakey, and will be particularly responsible for strategic planning and EU military expertise. (A.By./transl.fl)