----- Original Message ----- From: Miroslav Antic <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: Sin <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Siem News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; News Lists <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; Balkan News <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: Minja M. <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; STOPNATO <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Tuesday, October 10, 2000 10:35 PM Subject: [STOPNATO.ORG.UK] U.S. Considers Treating EU Like NATO STOP NATO: �NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK Tuesday October 10 1:55 PM ET U.S. Considers Treating EU Like NATO By JEFFREY ULBRICH, Associated Press Writer BIRMINGHAM, England (AP) - In a major shift in U.S. defense policy, Defense Secretary William Cohen said Tuesday that in the future NATO (news - web sites) will have to share responsibility for the security of Europe with the European Union. Cohen delivered that message to fellow defense ministers in the 19-nation NATO alliance during their annual informal meeting, held this year in Britain's second-largest city, Birmingham. For the past year the 15-nation European Union has been developing its own military arm to give its common foreign policy more clout and to be able to act in crises in which the United States or other allies do not wish to get involved. That includes creation of a 60,000-man rapid reaction force by 2003. The European force would be for specific tasks, such as crisis management, peacekeeping or for humanitarian purposes, while NATO would continue to be the cornerstone for mutual defense of the alliance's members. Until now, Washington's reaction to the European Union's plans has been unenthusiastic. Many in Washington fear a European defense force would be the first step in splitting NATO and pushing the United States out of Europe. Cohen's message marked a dramatic departure from that thinking. ``First, we must develop a clearer and - to be blunt - a more positive vision of the future NATO-EU relationship,'' Cohen said. ``It is clear that in the future, NATO will no longer be the only major multilateral structure with a role in responding to crises, including military crises, which could affect European stability and security,'' he said. ``We recognize that development of a foreign and security dimension to the EU is a natural, even inevitable part of the process of European integration begun after World War II.'' Defense Minister Alain Richard of France, one of the driving forces behind the EU's efforts to form its own defense arm, said he was ``profoundly delighted at the new climate'' in relations between the European Union and NATO. ``Pragmatism, transparency, cooperation, realism, determination, reciprocal reinforcement, openness, those are the things that must continue to guide us in the months and years to come as we reflect together on the relations between the EU and NATO,'' Richard said. NATO, Cohen said, will continue to be the indispensable anchor of American engagement in Europe, while at the same time recognizing Europe's development of its own military capability. ``Let me be clear on America's position,'' Cohen said. ``We agree with this goal - not grudgingly, not with resignation, but with wholehearted conviction.'' But Cohen said it is likely that in any situation where an ally's involvement on a significant scale is justified, the United States would want to be part of the operation. It is also difficult to imagine, he said, a situation in which the United States wanted to participate and the allies would prefer to act alone. One of the major problems in having two military arms is that not all members of NATO are in the European Union and not all members of the EU are in NATO. Cohen called for regular meetings of all 23 countries involved. To avoid duplication of effort, Cohen said the European Union should be able to count on NATO's operational and defense planning capabilities during crises. For non-crisis planning, the U.S. defense secretary suggested a collaborative European Security and Defense Planning System Miroslav Antic http://www.antic.org/SNN/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED] Make your business more productive! Instantly automate routine business tasks like payroll, time cards, expense reports, invoices, purchase orders, business forms and more - for free! Try Freeworks.com today at http://www.bcentral.com/listbot/Freeworks
