Posted on 09/07/2001 2:56:24 PM PDT by oxi-nato
GENVAL, Belgium -- The European Union is considering the deployment of an EU military force to protect civilian observers in Macedonia, fearing a security vacuum after the departure of 4,500 NATO troops later this month.
EU foreign ministers, gathering for informal discussions this weekend at a lakeside hotel just outside Brussels, will take up a suggestion by the EU envoy to Macedonia, Francois Leotard, to deploy a 1,500-member multinational force.
EU officials stressed this will be the first opportunity for the ministers to exchange ideas on the subject and that no decision is expected to emerge from the meeting, one of two informal sessions the foreign ministers hold each year.
Both the EU and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe are increasing the number of civilian cease-fire observers in Macedonia, but so far the government has not indicated that it wants a foreign military presence after NATO's Operation Essential Harvest is completed.
The NATO force was invited to Macedonia for the limited purpose of collecting weapons from rebels, who launched an insurgency in February saying they were fighting for greater rights for ethnic Albanians. NATO has insisted its mission ends Sept. 26 and that it has no plans for extending it or undertaking a new one.
An EU military deployment would be a significant first. The 15-nation bloc is developing its own military arm and plans to be able to field a 60,000-man rapid reaction corps by 2003. EU defense officials have said they hope to have a small force ready for action by the end of this year.
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