Brussels, 23/05/2006 (Agence Europe) - From 1 July 2006, Finland will be holding European Union Council Presidency for six months. On 15 May during the meeting of EU defence ministers held in conjunction with the meeting of foreign ministers, Finland's Defence Minister Seppo Kääriäinen presented his colleagues with his priorities for the coming half-year, including, in particular, activities linked to EU operations underway especially in the Balkans and on the African continent. Africa is a region where the African Union must remain the key player, he explained to Atlantic News.
In addition to operations underway, preparations must be made for the rule of law mission that the European Union is to send to Kosovo in January 2007. In the defence area, however, the Finnish Presidency will mainly focus on implementation of the future EU operation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in support of the United Nations mission on the ground (MONUC) during the electoral period. In this context, “main responsibility for security during this presidential election will be in the hands of MONUC and the local authorities, and the EU will be there to provide support”, the Finnish Minister said. “There have been some problems in preparing this operation but General Karlheinz Viereck's analysis is that he now has very robust capabilities available. There are still some deficits but now Member States will do their best and try to find more contributions”, the Finnish minister assured. Finland's contribution will be limited to two officers at the operations headquarters in Potsdam and one officer at the forces headquarters in Kinshasa. “Our crisis-management priorities are now in the Western Balkans, in Afghanistan and (in the constitution of) two battlegroups”, Kääriäinen said.
In Darfur also, the EU must limit itself to supporting the other players on the ground, especially the African Union and its AMIS II mission, and also, at a later date, the United Nations once it has taken over from the AU in the region. “Now it is important to support the AMIS II operation in this transition period and to ensure that this operation is transferred to the United Nations. But let me stress this point: in general, in Africa, the African Union must have the leading role”, the Finnish minister said.
Under Finnish Presidency, the minister also plans to promote the EU's relationship with other partners such as the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and above all NATO. “NATO is today a very effective military alliance while the EU uses civil and military tools. The EU and NATO are collaborators on security matters in the world and they must collaborate more and more, avoiding duplication”. Mr Kääriänen said, adding: “I think that most European countries agree with this basic view”.
Finland's other priorities include strengthening of civil and military coordination and improving EU capabilities with emphasis on the role that the European Defence Agency can play in this respect. “Now it is up to the Member States to resolve this problem” of military capabilities, especially for strategic airlift, and “we have established this new agency for this purpose”, the minister concluded.