----- Original Message ----- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Cc: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, December 14, 2000 6:17 PM Subject: EU's rapid reaction force: With or without NATO? [STOPNATO.ORG.UK] STOP NATO: NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK NATO Ministers Discuss EU Military http://dailynews.yahoo.com/h/ap/20001214/wl/nato_2.html ================ + ================ Thursday December 14, 2000 - 9:19 AM ET NATO Ministers Discuss EU Military By Jeffrey Ulbrich, Associated Press Writer BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - Secretary of State Madeleine Albright (news - web sites) told fellow NATO (news - web sites) foreign ministers Thursday that the European Union (news - web sites)'s planned military force must coordinate with NATO for the common good of European security. Last week, the 15 EU leaders agreed on details for setting up and operating a 60,000-man rapid-reaction corps capable of deploying within 60 days on peacekeeping or humanitarian missions and sustaining itself for up to a year. The plan is for the EU force to have access to NATO assets. Now, the EU has to sort out with NATO how all this is going to work. ``In this effort, there is no room for rivalry, jealousy or complacency,�� Albright said. ``The stakes are simply too high. And the consequences of a failure to cooperate would weaken NATO, the EU and Europe as a whole.�� The process began Thursday at the meeting for foreign ministers from the 19 countries in NATO, a collective defense alliance that includes the United States and a range of European nations. The Europeans members of NATO - particularly France, which is a NATO member but not a part of its integrated military command - are insistent that the EU rapid reaction force be truly autonomous. ``We support a stronger, more capable Europe that is able to act effectively with us or - if the alliance chooses not to engage - without us,�� Albright said. ``These efforts will only succeed, however, if the EU and NATO harness their respective strengths to a common purpose.�� NATO has a number of problems with the EU plan, and Secretary-General Lord Robertson said he expected it would take months to reach an agreement. Key among NATO's worries is France's desire to set up a separate military planning capability. ``Setting up a completely independent planning capability for the European Union is neither desirable nor is it necessary, and given limited defense budgets it would be a bit of a waste of money to have it,�� Robertson said. He said if the EU wants to use NATO assets, such as airborne warning and control aircraft, intelligence and communications, it will have to use the NATO military planning facility at supreme allied headquarters in southern Belgium. But French officials say that if all the planning is done at NATO, the Americans will end up controlling EU military operations. The United States has been particularly vocal on this issue, saying European resources and effort should be directed at upgrading military capability and not at building new bureaucracies. Defense Secretary William Cohen bluntly told the European allies last week that if they did not start spending more on capability and work out acceptable cooperation with NATO, the alliance ``could become a relic of history.�� Albright said the ministers must work out arrangements for the EU to have assured access to NATO operational planning. ``This is not a gift from NATO to the EU,�� she said. ``Rather, it is in our own interest to avoid duplication and enable the EU to focus on improving capabilities in the field.�� As the diplomats arrived Thursday, several dozen white-clad protesters from the Greenpeace environmental organization spread out across the main entrance of the NATO compound, voicing their opposition to U.S. plans to develop an anti-missile defense system. Four of the protesters forced their way into the compound. They and 29 others were arrested. - Copyright � 2000 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. ================ + =============== Support Antiwar.com http://Antiwar.com; and 'Spirit FM' Catholic Christian radio (90.5-FM, Tampa, Fla. USA) http://www.spiritfm905.com; and Global Network Against Weapons & Nuclear Power in Space http://www.space4peace.org Thanks from Kevin; age 46; online Christian peace activist and stay-home father-of-4, in Florida (Tampa Bay area). + Blessed are the nonviolent peacemakers. Lord, make me an instrument of Your peace. Help me speak truth to power. Please pray for one another. Be merciful. Love your enemies. Be grateful + Soften your heart. Forgive those who've hurt you. Hallelujah to the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world. Come quickly, Jesus Christ, son of God and Prince of Peace. Deo Gratias. + ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
