Brussels, 24/09/2001 (Agence Europe) - NATO Secretary General, Lord Robertson confirmed on Monday that he would be in Skopya on Tuesday, before the EU Troika does so at the end of the week (see below). Speaking to the press on Monday at the end of a meeting between the EU's Political and Security Committee (Cops) and NATO, Lord Robertson declared that the Alliance was "moving fast in determining operations" handed to the force that is to take over from Operation "Essential Harvest". "there should be no security vacuum in the country", he added. The decision, that must come quickly, was even expected by some for Monday evening. You may recall that the EU has convinced the Macedonian President to ask NATO to maintain a force in the country after Operation "Essential Harvest's" mandate runes out n 26 September. The Macedonian President turned to NATO last week to retain a smaller force with as sole responsibility the protection of the monitors. There is no longer, however, any talk of securing a United Nations mandate, whereas a majority of member states had asked for at that the informal Council of Genval.
Diplomatic sources say that German requested to lead this future NATO force in Macedonia. Lord Robertson said he was "glad that Germany wants to contribute in an important way", and, like the EU Representative for Cfsp, Javier Solana, and the President-in-Office of Cops, Alexis Brouhns, who were taking part in he same press conference, placed emphasis on the importance of cooperation between the EU and NATO in Macedonia. "The peace process in Macedonia remains fragile", stressed the Secretary General of the Atlantic Alliance.
(Meanwhile, in Skopje, the Macedonian Parliament adopted, on Monday, on first reading, the constitutional amendments provided for by the Ohrid Agreement and aimed at broadening the rights of the Albanians. The constitution will be definitively amended following the second reading, on 4 October, for which there will need to be a two-thirds majority).
The Cops/NATO meeting also allowed for an exchange of views on the decisions taken to co-operate with the United States in combating terrorism. "There has never been a more urgent time for co-operation between the EU and NATO as now", Lord Robertson declared.
Asked what he expected from the informal meeting of NATO Defence Ministers, in Brussels this week, Lord Robertson said he expected "strong support by defence ministers, who should be looking at what each can do" in view of stepping-up co-operation with the United States in its actions against terrorism. He also said he was waiting for more details on the actions being envisaged by the United States. (You may recall that, due to the current crisis, the American Secretary of Defence, Donald Rumsfeld will not be taking part in the meeting).