Posted on 03/31/2003 8:55:15 AM PST by JohnHuang2
EU begins first military foray in Balkans
BRUSSELS, Belgium, March 31 (UPI) -- The European Union launched its first military mission Monday, taking over peacekeeping duties in Macedonia from NATO.
More than 350 EU troops are to be deployed in the former Yugoslav republic over the next six months in what is seen as a litmus test for the bloc's fledgling foreign policy.
The 15-member club plans to set up a 60,000-person rapid reaction force by the end of the year, capable of carrying out peacekeeping and peace-enforcing operations anywhere in the world within 60 days.
The EU has also set itself the ambitious goal of taking charge of NATO's 12,000-person peacekeeping force in Bosnia early next year.
However, the war in Iraq has exposed serious fault lines in the bloc's foreign policy, calling into question its ability to conduct large-scale operations outside its territory.
Senior EU and NATO officials Monday were optimistic that the union would be able to keep the fragile peace in Macedonia, a newly independent state that hovered on the brink of a bloody civil war two years ago before 3,500 Alliance troops stepped in to stop inter-ethnic bloodletting.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana, who played a major role in calming tensions in the tiny Balkan state in 2001, said the hand-over was a "good day" for the European Union and the Brussels-based military alliance.
"For our two organizations the key message today is not 'EU in and NATO out' -- but that by working together, we are both stronger, here and wherever else such cooperation may be in demand."
NATO General-Secretary George Robertson also hailed the smooth transition of power at a ceremony in the capital Skopje.
"A new chapter in European security has opened. By taking on its first military mission, the EU is demonstrating that its project of a European Security and Defense Policy has come of age."
The EU's "Concordia" mission will be led by French Maj. Gen. Pierre Maral, who will command a force from 27 countries, including most EU member states, soon-to-be members from Central and Eastern Europe and a handful of non-EU members of NATO.
However, the EU --- which has no standing army or independent military planning capacity -- will continue to draw on some alliance assets.
German Adm. Rainer Feist, the deputy head of NATO forces in Europe, has been appointed operation commander and the 19-member military alliance will maintain an advisory role in the landlocked country of 2 million people.
That says it all.......... not impressed.
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