Stockholm, 08/01/2001 (Agence Europe) - The Swedish Presidency of the EU Council has not yet decided whether or not to propose a common Union initiative to Member States in the affair of the depleted uranium used in NATO bombardments in Bosnia and Kosovo, Swedish Defence Minister, Bjorn von Sydow, told a group of European journalists in Stockholm on Monday. "We have included this issue on the agenda of tomorrow's meeting of the Interim Political and Security Committee so as to hear the different positions and arguments of the other Member States on the need to act at Community level or not. A discussion on the same subject will take place at NATO. Wednesday, we shall make an assessment of these discussions and see what type of initiative the Swedish Presidency could propose", von Sydow declared, adding that, if there was no convincing argument in favour of a Community initiative, the Swedish Presidency would be prepared to intensify the analysis of the problem and "act". "We must do all we can to eliminate or reduce the danger" that could stem from this type of weapon, "we are waiting for each Member State to tell us tomorrow what they think and what their demands will be", he repeated, wondering: "Can the Swedish Presidency count on sufficient backing among the Fifteen to propose initiatives? We shall see". (Regarding the Balkans Syndrome, see next article).
Mr. von Sydow also recalled that one of the priorities of the Swedish Presidency, regarding defence and security policy, would be to push forward work in implementing the decisions of the Summit of Nice on the establishment of a European Rapid Reaction Force. "We are essentially working towards rendering permanent and operational the institutions decided in the military field and that of crisis management. Much work remains to be done before it becomes a reality", the minister pointed out. Mr. von Sydow placed emphasis on the need to ensure sound preparation before the future force could be declared operational, so as to avoid "failure" or premature intervention. For that reason, it is still impossible, at this stage, to say exactly when the system will actually be operational, the minister remarked. "We want to contribute to making it operational as soon as possible, at latest in 2003", he went on. The Swedish Defence Minister also placed emphasis on the need, in the framework of Esdp, of the two aspects, military and civilian, being developed equally. "I hope that by the end of the Swedish Presidency we shall be able to find a solution ensuring that the military and civilian chapters are treated and developed equally in terms of planning and operations", said von Sydow. As for the institutional and operational relationship of the future European force with NATO, Sweden (which is not a member of NATO) will, during its Presidency, try to clarify the details and resolve the problems in suspence, in close cooperation with Belgium which takes over the Presidency in July for the second half of the year. Another issue to be dealt with during the Swedish Presidency will be the development of cooperation with third countries that have shown interest in being associated with future EU operations, Mr. von Sydow recalled (in particular, citing Canada, Russia and Ukraine).