EAPC Meeting in Defense Ministers Session 3 Dec. 1999

Statement by H.E. Dr. Werner FASSLABEND Federal Minister of National Defence Federal Republic of AUSTRIA Dear Secretary General, Colleagues, From the very beginning in 1996 onwards, Austria has taken up its share in the still on-going operations to bring peace to the Balkans. Austria is participating in operations for the implementation of the DAYTON-Agreement as well as in the ongoing operations for the stabilisation of Bosnia-Herzegovina. Help was also given by Austria during the greatest catastrophe of refugees in Europe since the Second World War. With the deployment of a field hospital and the establishment of a refugee camp together with the Austrian Committee of the Red Cross it was possible to provide highly qualified medical care for Albanians escaping from Kosovo and to provide them with shelter - even though for a limited time. Austria shows the same solidarity with the international community during the most recent mission on the Balkans. Some 450 soldiers are deployed with the multinational brigade South (MNB-S) which itself is deployed as a part of KFOR to maintain peace in Kosovo. Austria will also participate within its range of capabilities with military forces in the ongoing operations on the Balkans during the next year. Recent experiences in Kosovo have again shown, how decisive it is, to have a functioning crisis management and co-operation with other security organisations at hand. The events in Bosnia and Kosovo have forced necessary lessons learned which we now have to implement consequently in order to be prepared for future challenges. Successful crisis management will only be possible when it is based upon rapid and comprehensive assessment of all relevant factors - including the military dimension - and when it has its capabilities available. To this end the relevant factors will definitely be implemented together with partners by making full use of the 'enhanced and more operational Partnership' (E&MOP), noted and endorsed earlier this year by the Heads of State and Government at the Washington Summit. Especially the Operational Capabilities Concept (OCC) is definitely an adequate instrument for high availability of military forces and capabilities for a successful crisis management. By safeguarding the proven principle of self-differentiation, the essential corner-stone of PfP remains undisputed. Together with the principle of national case-by-case decisions to take part in a given operation this allows for participation of all partners according to their individual opportunities. The preservation of these principles for all initiatives strengthens the common objective of the Partnership. Moreover, it is a pleasure for me to inform you that the Austrian International Peace Support Command (AIPSC) has been established as a PfP - Training Centre. Thereby Austria will also contribute in the framework of the Training and Education Enhancement Programme (T&EEP) to support the training and education of qualified personnel for crisis management tasks.