NATO HQ 24 May 2006

Press Briefing by NATO Spokesman James Appathurai Multimedia Audio file (.MP3/111341kb) Biography James Appathurai JAMES APPATHURAI (NATO Spokesman): Shall we start? Thanks. First, hello. Let me address four or five issues relatively quickly for you and then I'm happy to take your questions. First, beginning with the Council this morning. Lieutenant General Del Vecchio, who is the outgoing Commander of the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Afghanistan , ISAF, came to brief the Council. He, and this is important to note, received universal applause from Ambassadors on the leadership he has exercised of ISAF in the nine months that he was there, and received from the Secretary General the Meritorious Service Award, the NATO Meritorious Service Award for his leadership. He briefed the Council on his assessment, both of the mission as it is and where he believes the overall situation in Afghanistan will go as NATO expands its mission. And I thought I'd highlight for you, or list for you some of the highlights. One is, of course he discussed the security environment and reflected what I think is relatively clear to all of you, and that is that there has been a rise in the number of attacks, including the number of suicide attacks and attacks using improvised explosive devices. He noted the various... well, he calls it reasons for instability, but that's wrong. The... let's use that word. The various reasons for instability in Afghanistan, including of course terrorism, al-Qaeda and Taliban, but also the threat from narcotics, the threat from corruption, disputes over resources, ethnic friction, or factional violence and structural weakness in, for example, the border areas of the government and government resources. When discussing the security environment, I think this is a theme you've heard before, certainly a... sorry, I have a bit of a cold, so maybe this isn't coming out as quickly as it should. A theme coming from the discussion today was that NATO is moving into, as it moves into the south, the NATO forces, soon to be NATO forces, are moving into what has been until now largely ungoverned space. Where bodies like the Taliban, or al-Qaeda, could operate with relatively impunity. They are now being faced with thousands of troops moving into what was, as I say, ungoverned space. This is very much part of the explanation for the upsurge in violence that we are seeing now. General Del Vecchio was also quite clear that the operational plan, I think the Ambassadors as well, that the operational plan that has been agreed, and that is being put into place, is adequate and appropriate for the mission. That was echoed by Ambassadors around the table. But it is also clear that NATO's officials, that includes our military officials, are making a continuous assessment of the security environment, and if any adjustment is necessary it will be made. Let me finally note, and this doesn't flow directly from General Del Vecchio's briefing, but other briefings that we have received, let me reiterate what is the Secretary General's concern, but I think one shared quite widely in NATO Headquarters, that other elements of the international community do their part in... and that means fully, fully do their part, in helping Afghanistan meet its requirements, not only for security, but also for reconstruction and development. It would be incoherent and counterproductive to invest ever more heavily in the security aspect and underinvest in reconstruction and development. So the Secretary General and NATO as a body certainly encourages all other actors, international actors, and that means the international donor community, the non-governmental organizations, the European Union, United Nations, their full part in investing in reconstruction and development and economic development in Afghanistan to ensure that we have a balanced and therefore effective international effort to support the Afghan lead. That is what I wanted to say on Afghanistan . Let me turn to Darfur . Ambassador Maurits Jochems, that's J-O-C-H-E-M-S, returned, I believe, yesterday or the night before... Let's put it this way, has just returned from Africa where he went to discuss with the African Union in Addis the possibility of continued NATO support to the African Union Mission in Sudan , AMIS. He came and briefed the Council today on that subject. I can tell you that as a result of decisions taken at NATO to offer an extension of support and Ambassador Jochems spoke with African Union officials. They have indicated their agreement, their desire, that NATO should extend its current support; that is strategic movement support, airlift, and staff capacity building till the end of September. This is very much in line with the international calendar as it relates to Darfur . As you know the United Nations is preparing to take over leadership of the mission in Sudan at the end of September. So, as I say, the AU has asked NATO to extend its support. NATO has already taken the decision to be willing to do it, so that will now go forward. The African Union has also asked NATO... sorry, just to clarify, the strategic movement support, airlift, means rotation of the current African Union battalions that are in Sudan and rotation of five more, five more battalions... or sorry, airlift in of five more battalions on top of what is already present and will be rotated by NATO. The AU has also asked NATO for logistical assistance in the rotation of AMIS civilian police, African Union Mission in Sudan civilian police. NATO has agreed to do that, so between May and December of this year the Alliance will also rotate not just military personnel, but civilian personnel as well. I can tell you that the Secretary General has had discussions with Président Konaré of the African Union. He has also spoken, as you know, to Secretary General Annan and just on Monday had another discussion with Javier Solana, all to ensure that even as we coordinate with the AU, which is in the lead, we also coordinate effectively with other international organizations and both my Secretary General and Javier Solana committed to ensuring that they will stay in close touch and that the two organizations will work in close concert on this issue. So that is what I wanted to say on that subject. Let me turn for a moment to the ministerial, which will take place, the upcoming NATO Defence Ministers' Meeting that will take place in... not just NATO, but at the upcoming Defence Ministers' Meeting that will take place on the 7th and 8th of June... not 7th and 8th? UNIDENTIFIED: (inaudible)... APPATHURAI: Um? UNIDENTIFIED: On the 8th. APPATHURAI: On the 8th, 8th. Sorry. On the 7th there's a dinner, but on the 8th. The actual meeting will take place on the 8th. There'll be an informal dinner on the 7th, but that doesn't have any sort of professional element to it. So on the 8th. There will be a number of meetings, NATO meetings, the meeting of the EAPC Defence Ministers, a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission. Because of scheduling difficulties there will not be a meeting of the NATO-Russia Council of Defence Ministers' Meeting, but they are looking at an alternative date to hold that. So I want to stress there are no... this is not diplo-speak for any tensions. It really was just a scheduling conflict with the Russian Defence Minister. We will reschedule that meeting relatively soon. What I think is worth noting is that we will be having a meeting of the North Atlantic Council in ISAF format... I'm sorry, a ministerial meeting in ISAF format. In other words, all of the troop-contributing nations will be at the table for this meeting. That means, for example, Australia and New Zealand will be invited to participate as well, and the Afghan Defence Minister, Minister Wardak, will participate in the meeting as well. Q: (inaudible)... APPATHURAI: Is it the first meeting or is it the first time? Q: (inaudible)... APPATHURAI: Is it the first ministerial in that format? Good question. It may well be. I believe it is, but I'll check and get back to you. Maybe... unfortunately Carmen's not watching today so she can't send me one of her magic text messages, but I believe it may be the first ministerial meeting in ISAF format, and Minister Wardak will be there, so I think you can anticipate, of course a discussion around Afghanistan, and the Secretary General will give a press conference with Minister Wardak as well, during the meeting. We'll send out a more precise press advisory with all the timings, etc., but that's to give you a flavour of what will take place. As I said, there will also be an EAPC or Atlantic Partnership Council meeting and a meeting of the NATO-Ukraine Commission with Minister Hrytsenko. Yesterday, there was a NAC meeting with two ministers from the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia . You have already seen reports on that, I'm sure. In short form, the ministers heard, I would say, three messages. One was encouragement and I think recognition... encouragement... recognition of real progress since even the last review of the country's progress in meeting NATO's standards. And that was, I think, shared around the table by all ambassadors. The second message was encouragement for further efforts, particularly in areas that are perhaps not purely military. For example, in efforts to combat trafficking reform in areas of the judiciary and the police, and certainly the two ministers heard those messages clearly. The third theme was a reiteration of what you already know, and that is NATO does not expect in the upcoming summit at the end of November in Riga to issue invitations on membership, but does expect to give a clear signal on membership and flowing from that, that all aspirant countries, particularly the three MAP countries, should continue their efforts and not lift their foot off the peddle when it comes to reform. That message, at least, will be reiterated today, because as we speak the Albanian government, Albanian Minister is in front of the North... was speaking with the North Atlantic Council, and on Monday Croatia will take its turn in the North Atlantic Council. So this is... if you extend the week, this is MAP week for us where Ministers and Ambassadors will have the chance to discuss the progress that each country is making in meeting NATO standards. Finally, let me mention very simply that the Secretary General will be going next week to Paris to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, which takes place... well, it's taking place for quite an extended period. The Secretary General will be there on Tuesday. So if you have colleagues who wish to attend I believe on Tuesday Madame Alliot-Marie is also going to be speaking at the NPA and then the Secretary General. So it might be... I think it will be an interesting meeting. That is what I had to say to you and I'm very happy to take your questions. Q: On Darfur , the extension of the NATO support, would it also mean extra NATO personnel or equipment over there to help the African Union? APPATHURAI: Certainly it means a limited number of NATO personnel there. That's quite clear. But there means, as I say, very limited numbers and principally in Addis. There may have been... there may be a requirement, as there has been in the past, for a very, very low number of air traffic controllers, for example, to go forward to Al Fasher simply for the inward movement of the aircraft that we're talking less than five. This is very, very low numbers. But as I say, from what has been agreed now between NATO and the African Union, it would not required a significant expansion of the numbers that we have had until now. Why don't we just go back from here. Q: Yeah, David Brunnstrom from Reuters. I wonder if you've got any comment on the reports that have been in the press this week about plans for... to establish an anti-missile site in Europe , which is designed to stop attacks from the Middle East . I'm wondering what, if any, NATO aspect there is to the... APPATHURAI: I think it's worth clarifying because it's an interesting point. Someone sent me a message so I'll just see. Q: Carmen. APPATHURAI: No, no, it's not Carmen. She's in with the Albanians, so I don't know who sent me that. No, that's my wife, okay. She's not watching. (LAUGHTER) APPATHURAI: I have no comment on the articles, but what I think is worth doing is clarifying what are the three streams, if you want to call them that, of missile defence activity, which I think is important for all of us to, including me, to understand. One stream is, of course, the U.S. effort, which has been under way for quite a long time, which is already in the deployment phase and that the United States has already deployed interceptors within the continental United States . The United States is also in discussion, and these are the articles to which you're referring, in discussion with individual European countries on a bilateral basis with regard to that system, that is already in the deployment phase. There is a second...(BREAK IN TRANSMISSION)...track, that is the NATO track, related to theatre missile defence, the protection of deployed forces. That effort is relatively well-developed and we are also, as you probably know, in discussions in cooperation... on cooperation with the Russians on theatre missile defence, but this is, as I say, theatre. So low level defence of deployed troops. There is a third track, and that is a study that has been taking place within NATO. The feasibility study has now been presented from our National Armaments Directors to the nations on the feasibility of a European missile defence system to protect Europe in terms of its territory and populations. The feasibility study, which has some 10,000 pages, but an excellent executive summary, basically concludes that it is feasible, that it is technically feasible to do this. But there has been no political discussion of the desirability of building this kind of system, nor the technicalities related to it. These are three obviously... these are three separate tracks, and I think that's about all I can say on the subject, unless you have a follow-up... Q: For the ISAF meeting did you invite the Afghani Minister Abdullah to attend or not? And did... during the meeting did someone raise the question of the last attack in the southeast and the number of civilian casualties and how it could harm the effort of ISAF and others in Afghanistan ? APPATHURAI: There were no ministers invited to today's meeting. This was, as I say, the outgoing meeting, the outgoing presentation of COMISAF. There was also no discussion of the incident to which you refer, which I understand is being dealt with directly between the President and OEF, what I've seen in press reports. But there's been no discussion of that in the NATO context. Q: If you can give some details of the opinion of the Ambassadors concerning the reform... defence reform in Albania and other reform in the political area? APPATHURAI: Well I wish I could, but frankly the meeting is taking place now, so Carmen, if you call her in about an hour and a half will be able to give you the answer to that, but I... she's there and I'm not, so sorry. That's the best I can do. Q: On another issue, if you allow me, would you have any comment to make on yesterday's collision in the Aegean Sea between the Greek and the Turkish aircrafts? APPATHURAI: I have no comment to make on that issue. Leon ? Q: A follow-up to that. The Turkish Defence Minister specifically said publicly that the flight plans had been communicated to NATO. He didn't give details of that. Can you confirm that, and can you confirm also, because he also said this, that that is the procedure when their flights fly over the Aegean Sea , is to communicate their plans to NATO. APPATHURAI: I will not comment on NATO procedures in this regard. What I will tell you, on this issue, what I can say, is that it would not be a NATO procedure, nor was it the case for this incident that NATO would have, nor did it have, any air traffic control role in this incident. Q: Can you be more specific about the reasons of the non-celebration of the NATO-Russia meeting? APPATHURAI: Why it's not taking place? Q: Yes, yes. APPATHURAI: I can be very clear, though I don't want to speak for the Russian Federation, but I know that Minister Ivanov had another engagement relating to other responsibilities which he could not shift, and the dates of our own... the timing of our own NATO meeting was moving, so by the time that that became clear he had already made another commitment for that particular time and simply couldn't make it in time. And since he wants to attend the meeting of the NATO-Russia Council and Defence Ministers formal all the allies agreed to find another date. There is another date, frankly, being confirmed now. So relatively soon you will see a rescheduling of this meeting. But I really do want to stress, and I'll do that off the record too, there really is no underlying political subtext to this. It really is very simply a scheduling conflict. Q: Is this meeting going to take place in Brussels or elsewhere, in Moscow , or... APPATHURAI: The potentially rescheduled meeting or...? Q: Yes. APPATHURAI: I'll let you know when it's to take place. I doubt in Brussels . We're going to try to find another convenient location. Q: I take it at this ministerial the EAPC... have invitations gone out to Belarus and Uzbekistan , or do you expect them to come? APPATHURAI: In fact, in the case of the EAPC it's not a question of invitations in that nations are not invited by the Secretary General to attend the EAPC, so he doesn't send invitations to them. Do I expect them to come? Uzbekistan has, since the Andijan incident not attended these meetings. What decision the Belarusian authorities will take I do not know. You know that NATO certainly has the relationship with Belarus under (inaudible) review and has indicated its disquiet with the conduct of the elections and has kept at a very, very low level the relations that we have with Belarus . The level at which Belerus will be represented at this meeting, if they're represented at all, is to be seen. Q: You don't have any say really... I mean, how does that work out? They can just show up at the ministerial level and you're stuck with it. APPATHURAI: Of course there are always informal discussions between all parties on the level of representations, but as I say, formally the Secretary General doesn't invite anyone. But Belarus is well aware of NATO's views, both formally and informally, and we will see what level of representation there will be at the meeting.