Brussels, 06/02/2001 (Agence Europe) - The situation in the Valley of Presevo, in southern Serbia, and assessment of the EU's future military intervention capabilities, were the two main topics developed at the meeting between NATO and the EU's Political and Security Council, in Brussels on Monday at ambassadorial level. This was the first meeting between the COPS and NATO since the Political and Security Committee was transformed into a permanent body.
"We discussed ongoing work on the assessment of intervention capabilities," NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson told the press. Having confirmed last November that the future European Rapid Reaction Force should be capable, by 2003, of mobilising 60,000 troops in two months for at least a year, the EU has still to flesh out the available material means. There is still a great deal of work to be done, the goal being, notably, to "avoid double usage", the President-in-Office of the Political and Security Committee, Anders Bjuner, pointed out, as if echoing the words of American Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, who declared in Munich over the weekend that "anything that could reduce the effectiveness of NATO through dual usage or perturb transatlantic relations would not be positive".
The meeting also allowed them to set out the programme of the "ad hoc" working group responsible for assuring the follow-up to the ministerial meeting of the NATO Council in Berlin in June 1996 on the identification of the Atlantic Alliance capabilities that could be mobilised by the EU in the framework of its crisis management operations. "The group has made some progress, but much work remains to be done", said Lord Robertson.
During the meeting, the Turkish representative confirmed his country's concerns regarding its participation in the cooperation process between NATO and the EU, says a Community source. Last December, hoping to be further involved, Turkey had blocked the adoption of the decision on EU access to the Atlantic Alliance's operational planning assets. "Turkey is not preventing work from moving forward", Lord Robertson nevertheless told the press.
First example of practical cooperation, the EU and NATO discussed the situation in the Balkans and the upsurge in violence in the security zone of the Valley of Presevo, in southern Serbia. Anders Bjuners recalled the conclusions of the General Affairs Council of January on the subject (se EUROPE of 22 and 23 January, p.7), and said that the EU was preparing to deploy more observers in the Valley of Presevo. "We confirmed our convergence of views on the need to step-up confidence-building measures in the region" and to assure the population that "we intend tackling the security problem in a comprehensive manner", said Lord Robertson. "NATO and the EU are working together to try to resolve the dangerous situation that is developing in the region", he stipulated.