Brussels, 25/04/2005 (Agence Europe) - At a meeting on Thursday in Vilnius during an informal ministerial meeting of NATO foreign affairs ministers, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Secretary General of NATO and the German foreign minister Joschka Fischer suggested NATO and EU ministers should meet once or twice a year, informally. The other ministers were in favour but the arrangements have still to be determined, NATO sources say. It is a question of going beyond the problem of cooperation posed by the fact that Turkey is opposed to Cyprus taking part in the formal meetings between the ambassadors of the two organisations, refusing to give it access to certain classified information, the same sources say. Nonetheless, in circles around Javier Solana, it is considered that, although the idea is “interesting”, it will not “resolve the concrete problem” posed by the fact that Cyprus and Malta have no security agreement with NATO.
The Vilnius meeting, at Jaap de Hoop Scheffer's behest, helped focus a discussion on the possible role that NATO could play to support the African Union mission in Darfur in the Sudan but the USA and France could not agree on this role. French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier, however, was very firm on Thursday about the role that the European Union, not NATO, should play. “NATO does not aim to be a world policeman”, he told the press, when asked about a possible role for the Alliance in Darfur. “I believe there is a role for the EU”, not for sending troops but for providing logistical support or financial aid, he added, highlighting the experience gained by the European Union in the Balkans and in the Democratic Republic of Congo. He rejected the idea that the different views over how the various organisations should intervene would lead to delays. Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who supports a role by NATO like Condoleezza Rice informed the press that, “It was necessary to speak about it”, he said, “not to have boots on the ground but to begin to answer a question which has not yet come but might come from the African Union, for support of the African Union mission in Darfur”. The European Union already provides support, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said. Solana's spokesperson pointed out that the European Union provides financial and logistical support to the African Union mission for international observers responsible for monitoring the ceasefire.
Ministers above all tackled the peace process in the Middle East, dismissing all intervention at the present time although some felt such a role in the future should not be ruled out. US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Alliance Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, seeking to give a political dimension to NATO, emphasised the importance of such discussion within the Alliance. French Foreign Minister Michel Barnier stood out at the press conference by being adamant that such discussions should remain limited to the Alliance's military dimension. The ministerial meeting was “a first step” toward political dialogue within NATO, an Alliance official said on Thursday, considering that any further action would depend on the Alliance itself and on the way relations with the European Union and the United Nations develop. Introducing the debate on the Middle East on Wednesday evening, the Spanish foreign minister, Miguel Angel Moratinos, former European Union envoy to the region, said he supported this. The other ministers did not give their views on the matter, NATO sources say. Joschka Fischer of Germany told several journalists that one could not in the long run “rule out” a role for NATO.
Michel Barnier stressed the “limits” of political dialogue within the Alliance. One cannot speak of “everything, anywhere and anyhow”, he said at a press conference, saying that NATO does not aim to be a “global policeman”. Although he is not opposed to political dialogue on NATO operations, the French minister considers that a number of burning foreign policy issues must be tackled in other frameworks: - the question of the embargo on arms sales to China ”concerns Europeans”, North Korea is to be tackled within the United Nations, Iran by the United Kingdom, Germany and France (na dJavier Solana in the name of the EU: Editor's note), and the “place for debate” on the Middle East, “is the Quartet”. To kick off, Michel Barnier said he had recalled the autonomy of EU action. Diplomatic sources say it was nonetheless stressed that, although the French minister had spoken of the EU's autonomy during the debate, he was far less categorical about political dialogue within NATO. The NATO secretary general asserted at the press conference that Barnier took a very active part in the discussion. Joschka Fischer pointed out during the press briefing that he felt something close to the proposals by Chancellor Schröder would come out of the discussions on political debate. (Our source Atlantic News).