Washington, 21/06/2000 (Agence Europe) - President Bill Clinton welcomed the progress made by the European Union, during the Feira Summit, for developing a common European security and defence policy. He stresses that this "will strengthen Europe's capacity and responsibility for acting in time of crisis". He expects rapid implementation of measures adopted, including the creation of EU-NATO working groups and the organisation of regular meetings with NATO member countries which do not belong to the EU. EUROPE recalls that these meetings should above all serve to smooth out difficulties encountered in relations with Turkey, Norway, Iceland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Poland, which fear they will be left out of the decision-making process.
Mr Clinton also welcomed the commitment taken by the EU to create a standing roster of police officers (Ed.: up to 5,000 by 2003) which could be deployed in the context of peace-keeping missions. "As we have seen in Bosnia and Kosovo, there is a critical need for international civilian police who can fill the gap between local police and military peacekeepers in countries emerging from conflict", noted the American President, affirming: "We will continue to work with Europe to ensure such forces can deploy rapidly when they are needed".