Brussels, 11/04/2001 (Agence Europe) - During his first press conference as President of the EU Permanent Military Committee, after the meeting of the Committee on Wednesday, the Finnish General Gustav Hagglund (who will be permanently stationed in Brussels as of next June), said he was confident that the EU will have, by the end of the year, the forces required for certain operations of the Petersberg type, but nothing more testing. In the longer-term, the priority is to fill the void in terms of strategic capabilities, he recalled, when underlining the financial effort this will require (my 44 years in service have taught me that it will not be the easiest of decision to ask of a government, he noted).
As for the manner in which he was elected, General Hagglund, who compared the information from the press to an Agatha Christie novel, asserted that this concerned a "vote between two people more that two countries" (see EUROPE of 9/120 April, p.5). EUROPE will return to the press conference.