Skopje, 15/12/2003 (Agence Europe) - In Skopje (the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, FYROM) on Monday, Javier Solana attended the ceremony marking the end of Concordia, the EU's first mission, launched after the crisis in FYROM in 2001. He thanked Admiral Feist and Generals Nelson Dos Santos and Maral, the commanders of the force. The main threat to security in Macedonia is no longer armed conflict but crime, said Solana, adding that the focus should now be on the police rather than the military.
In Skopje on the same day, Solana also attended the launch of a new police mission "EUPOL Proxima", to be led by the head of EUPOL Proxima, Bart D'Hooge, aiming to monitor, mentor and inspect the management and operations of the police in Macedonia (this is the second such operation led by the EU in the Balkans, following a similar mission in Bosnia Herzeogovina a year ago). n d'une force de police en Bosnie et Herzégovine). Solana said it would be a unique mission carried out in close partnership with the government. Proxima, he said, is a symbol of the impressive road travelled by Macedonia since 2001. We are entering a new phase in our close cooperation, he added, noting that Proxima demonstrated the EU's ability to adapt its CFSP instruments to specific situations. He said this ability would be one of the conditions for meeting the challenges of the future.