S0048/04
Summary Transcript
Press briefing following the meeting between
the EU's Political and Security Committee (PSC)
and the North Atlantic Council (NAC)
Brussels, Council of the EU, 16 February 2004
Declan Kelleher (Ambassador and Representative of Ireland to the PSC)
Javier Solana (EU High Representative for the CFSP)
Jaap de Hoop Scheffer (Secretary General of NATO)
Declan Kelleher: We had a very good discussion at this morning's meeting of the Political and
Security Committee (PSC) and the North Atlantic Council. On the question of Bosnia, and
specifically on the issue "follow on force", the discussion showed, I think, a very clear commitment
to work together. We have a good culture of co-operation and practical work is underway. and will
develop as we move forward to the Istanbul Summit.
Javier Solana: Thank you very much. There is not very much to add. I think we spent two solid
hours of good discussion and with a good report from Lord Ashdown, as well as from the SFOR
commander who is in charge of the force in Sarajevo. I have to tell you very clearly that the will
expressed by everybody is to have a constructive co-operation that will lead to a successful
operation in Bosnia-Herzegovina. What we have to do is to start working - the sooner, the better.
The work ahead is going to be in some cases difficult, because a lot has to be done, but strong
commitment was expressed by everybody and by the EU and NATO. We have said that we are
ready to go, we are ready to work hard and as soon as a decision is taken, and even before that, to
start planning, so that we have great success in stabilisation, not only in BiH but in the whole
region. The stabilisation programme that we have in the European Union is a reality. So that the
region can get closer and closer to the European Union. What has been done by NATO, in the
stabilisation phase, has been very important and what we will do in the European Union, once the
decision is taken, will continue to be very important. Let me remind you that, as former Secretary
General of NATO, I started the deployment of IFOR in 1995 and I saw the transfer from IFOR to
SFOR, and I hope to see the transfer to "EU-FOR" happening.
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Jaap de Hoop Scheffer: I think we have had a very constructive meeting. We devoted our whole
agenda to this one very important subject. And I think I can echo what has been said before. It is
very important for the relationship between NATO and the European Union that we do our
homework, it is very important that we do it quickly. There is a lot of planning to do. Let us not
forget the consultation with the authorities in Sarajevo as well, after all it is for their well-being. I
agree with Javier Solana when he says that the SFOR operation has been a success and that we
should work closely together with the EU to have a successful start, when the decision in principle
will have been made for the EU mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina. I think Lord Ashdown and General
Packett, the Commander of SFOR, gave us very useful briefings. I think we have homework to do
in NATO, there is homework to do on the EU side and you will hopefully see the result of this
homework pretty soon.
Oana Lungescu, BBC - Worldservice: Have you been able to confirm from what Lord Ashdown
has told you and from other sources - claims by Carla del Ponte - that Karadzic is currently in
Belgrade and can NATO honourably withdraw from Bosnia if the top war criminals are still on the
run.
J. de Hoop Scheffer: Let me first of all say that the first subject was not discussed and you won't
blame for not being able to verify this myself, so I do not know. The second thing is that I would
sincerely hope, of course, - and you know our ambition - that before the EU mission will start in
Bosnia-Herzegovina, these people are where they should be, and that is in the Hague. And NATO
and SFOR will do everything it can to achieve that. And that is our ambition.
Judy Dempsey, Financial Times: I would like to change the subject very briefly to Afghanistan
since NATO and the EU are very engaged in the country. What is the opinion of both Mr Solana
and the Secretary General of NATO about postponing the elections in Afghanistan?
J. Solana: I was in Afghanistan not long ago, after the Constitution was finished. We talked about
the possibility of keeping the date of the elections as agreed with President Karzai. There is the
possibility of postponing part of the elections. As you know, presidential and parliamentary
elections have to be held. We would prefer, in principle, to have both together, but it may be
impossible to do it in the time that is left. Maybe it is possible to have the presidential elections
before, as Mr Karzai has mentioned this morning . But in any case, we have to work very hard to
get a climate of security that would allow - the sooner the better - to have the elections. The date of
the elections has not been fixed. The Constitutional Agreement says that 6 months after the decision
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on the Constitution, there should be a decision about the date of the elections but it is not automatic
that the elections themselves must take place after 6 months.
J. de Hoop Scheffer: I visited Mr Karzai last week, as you know, and it is of course clearly his
ambition to have the elections, the presidential elections, as they are scheduled. We of course from
the NATO side are looking into what extent ISAF can support the electoral process. Please do
realise that when I say that, ISAF of course is not able to go everywhere to support the electoral
process but we will certainly have a discussion in the NATO-Council about what ISAF could do.
But Mr Karzai's ambition, again, last week, was to have the elections as scheduled.
Dragan Blagojevic, Beta Press: Mr Solana, It seems that the main political parties in Belgrade are
near to forming of a new government and they said that they will maintain a pro-European reform
process but with the support of Milosevic's Socialist Party in the Parliament, do you have any
comment to make?
J. Solana: Yes. We were very concerned when we received those news yesterday morning. We are
going to follow that in a very close manner. We do not think that this decision goes in the right
direction. And I do not think it is going to help very much the political and economic relationship
with the international community. There will be a lot of difficulties. I do not want to interfere, but I
want to say what I have always said, we would prefer very much to have a government in SerbiaMontenegro with the same values and the same direction as the governments before, going into the
process of reforms, continuing the process of reforms and getting as close as possible to the
European Union. This government, if that is the case, will certainly have difficulties to move in this
direction. So we are concerned and we are going to follow the situation very closely.
Carmen Romero, EFE: To the Secretary General of NATO. What kind of presence will NATO keep
in Sarajevo when the European Union takes over? How many Nato-soldiers will stay in Sarajevo
and what will be the exact mission of this team?
J. de Hoop Scheffer: That is of course exactly what I said in earlier remarks about "homework".
That has to be decided, it is too early to say: There will be, of course, a NATO presence because the
arrangements will be under "Berlin-Plus". So, there will be a continued NATO presence, what form
this presence will take is to be decided.
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