Brussels, 09/03/2000 (Agence Europe) - Javier Solana, Secretary General of the EU Council and High Representative for CFSP, appointed on 8 March Brigadier Graham Messervy-Whiting(UK) as the head of the Military Experts seconded by Member States to the Council (see yesterday's EUROPE, page 6). Brigadier Messervy-Whiting, who is to take up his duties at the Council in the coming days, was Deputy Director of the Military Staff of the WEU, served at NATO Headquarters and was Defence Adviser to Lord Owen when the latter was EU Co-Chairman of the International Conference on Former Yugoslavia, according to a press release.
The statement adds that the Helsinki European Council approved the principle of the detachment of military experts from Member States to the EU Council Secretariat and that the military experts will assist the Council in its work on the Common European Security and Defence Policy, forming the "nucleus of the future Military Staff".