[ALBSA-Info] Financial Times

[Agron Alibali]

Financial Times (London) 
May 11, 2002, Saturday London Edition 3 
SECTION: EUROPE; Pg. 6 

LENGTH: 464 words 

HEADLINE: Greece puts EU defence force plans at risk 

BYLINE: By JUDY DEMPSEY 

DATELINE: BRUSSELS 

BODY: 
Greece is blocking progress on creating a European defence force, putting at risk plans for the European Union to take over a Nato-led military operation in Macedonia. 

EU foreign ministers meet in Brussels on Monday and their Nato counterparts in Reykjavik on Tuesday. But diplomats said no breakthrough was expected. "I don't think we are going to make it by Reykjavik," said Javier Conde, Spain's ambassador to the EU and holders of the EU's rotating presidency. "There has been no progress despite many ministerial meetings and contacts with Athens." 

At the centre of the dispute is the "Ankara Document" in which Turkey, a leading Nato member and a candidate to join the EU, last December agreed to allow the EU access to Nato assets and military planning capabilities after a long period of objecting. In return it received written guarantees over its security and geographical interests in the event of an EU military operation in the region. 

The agreement was supposed to pave the way for the EU and Nato to sign the "Berlin Plus" agreements. These were to nail down how Nato would support EU military operations, and how the EU would have assured access to Nato assets, such as transport, communications and logistics. Above all, Nato would lead and provide the planning and operational back-up for the EU. 

With Turkey on board, all that remained was for the 15 EU member states to agree the Ankara document. Greece refused, claiming it needed more time to study the agreement and in any case it wanted the same guarantees as Turkey. 

EU diplomats, however, said Constantin Simitis, Greek prime minister, had turned the agreement into a nationalist issue focused on Greece-Turkish relations. 

Greece will be put on the spot in July when Denmark takes over the EU presidency. Because Copenhagen has an opt-out clause over defence, Greece, which is due to succeed Denmark to the presidency, will chair the EU's political and security committees specifically related to defence. 

EU military officials believe Greece's intransigence could have serious consequences for the EU's European security and defence policy. The EU is aiming to have a 60,000-strong rapid reaction force in place by mid-2003. 

If there is no agreement with Nato soon, and well before September when the Europeans plan to take over the Amber Fox operation in Macedonia from Nato, the EU could be forced to duplicate roles already performed by Nato. 

"The coming weeks are critical," said an EU military official. "Without an agreement over Berlin Plus, Nato and the EU are prevented from conducting joint planning exercises. Nato is waiting for the EU to accept the Ankara document. Greece is stopping the EU from working with Nato because it opposes the document. It's a real mess." 


---------------------------------
Do You Yahoo!?
LAUNCH - Your Yahoo! Music Experience
-------------- next part --------------
HTML attachment scrubbed and removed