-Caveat Lector-

Annan Asks Europe To Assert Own Power

By PAUL GEITNER
.c The Associated Press

BERLIN (AP) -- U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan exhorted western Europe on
Monday to assert its power by speaking with a single voice, saying
responsibility for world affairs should not be left to the United States
alone.

Rather than accept the view that the United States is the world's only
remaining superpower, Annan said Europeans should ``ask themselves if they
are satisfied with the world as it is ... If not, they surely should do
something to make their influence more effective.''

He made his remarks during the annual Berlin Speech, a gathering of
politicians, business leaders and diplomats that has become a forum to
present challenging views.

Annan expanded on a theme raised by German President Roman Herzog, who
appealed to Germans to regain confidence and solve the nation's problems when
he launched the forum in 1997.

The U.N. chief touched on the crisis in Kosovo, but mainly used the occasion
to chide European leaders for failing to coordinate foreign policy to allow
the 15-nation European Union to speak with a voice more in line with its
economic might, which rivals the United States.

``The impression outsiders get is that of a union preoccupied with its own
affairs, which does not play the wider role that could be expected of it,''
he said.

After much delay, the EU hopes to name a ``foreign policy coordinator'' this
year, but how much clout this appointee will have is unclear because of
differing views from the 15 capitals.

Annan also repeated his intention to name envoys to mediate the crisis in
Kosovo. He said they would begin work immediately after his three-day visit
to Germany and talks Thursday with Russian leaders in Moscow.

Candidates reportedly under consideration are former Swedish Prime Minister
Carl Bildt, who was a U.N. envoy to Bosnia, and former Austrian Chancellor
Franz Vranitzky, who helped restore order to Albania after that country's
1997 collapse into chaos.

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