Brussels, 22/11/2000 (Agence Europe) - Other than Turkey, which at meetings of EU defence ministers and those of third European countries, in Brussels on Tuesday, offered 4,000 to 5,000 troops for the EU's future force (see yesterday's EUROPE, pages 5 and 6), Norway, according to information gathered in Brussels, is prepared to supply 1,200, the Czech Republic around a thousand, Hungary 450 and Slovakia 350.
Poland, says Defence Minister Komorowski, may offer "a brigade with air and maritime components", and his Cypriot counterpart, Mr. Hasikos, has offered a transport company and a medium-altitude reconnaissance and surveillance system. In addition, Cyprus is making available the infrastructure on its territory, that the EU could use were it to engage in peace operations in the Eastern Mediterranean Basin ("a region characterized by instability" and, therefore "a potential area" for such operations, the minister notes).