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Updated: 22-Nov-2001 Week of 13-19 September 2000

13 Sep. 2000
Slovenian Prime Minister visits NATO HQ

Slovenian Prime Minister Andrei Bajuk visits NATO.

13 Sep. 2000
Council briefed on the Balkans

The Special Envoy of the UN Secretary General for the Balkans, Carl Bildt, addressed the North Atlantic Council (NAC) on 13 September. He gave an update on the situation in the Balkans on the eve of a series of elections in the region. He then stressed the role played by Bosnia and Herzegovina and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (1) in the stability of the region.

This was the first of the NAC meetings since the summer break. Mr Bildt is one of the first speakers to be invited to address the Council. On 20 September, the Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), General Joseph Ralston, also attended the weekly Council meeting. He briefed Ambassadors on the Balkans and, more specifically, on the preparations that KFOR and SFOR have made to be able to provide for security during elections in Kosovo and in Bosnia and Herzegovina this autumn.

Additional information:

  • High resolution photos of the visit to NATO by Carl Bildt, UN Secretary General's Special Envoy for the Balkans

1. Turkey recognises the Republic of Macedonia with its constitutional name.

13 Sep. 2000
Commander of KFOR appointed

The appointment of Lt. Gen. Thorsten Skiadr, Norwegian Army, as commander of the NATO peace support mission in Kosovo, has been approved by NATO's Military Committee. He will take up his functions in Spring 2001 when Lt. Gen. Carlo Cabigiosu will have completed his six month appointment in this rotational post.

13 Sep. 2000
Upcoming elections in Kosovo

Municipal elections in Kosovo are scheduled for 28 October 2000. They will provide the basis for the continued development of meaningful local self government in Kosovo as foreseen in UN Security Council Resolution 1244. The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) and the United Nations Interim Administration in Kosovo (UNMIK) have been preparing for the elections for months, through the registration of voters, inside and outside Kosovo.

Throughout the process, the NATO-led peace keeping force, KFOR, has also been working closely with the OSCE and UNMIK, by maintaining a secure environment. KFOR will continue with this important supporting role and provide logistic assistance during the actual vote.

The October 28 elections in Kosovo will come on the heels of the September 24 Presidential and Parliamentary elections in the FRY. The conduct of these latter elections will not be directly supported by the international community in Kosovo.

14 Sep. 2000
Lord Robertson in Garmisch and Rome

Lord Robertson analysed NATO's new role in crisis management and its impact on the Alliance's agenda at a seminar organised by the George Marshall Center situated in the Bavarian town of Garmisch, Germany, on 14 September. He stated that this new role had affected many issues: "…from our relations with other institutions, to relations with Partners, including Russia, to our own internal adaptation, both politically and militarily."

Lord Robertson then travelled on to Italy where he gave the Eisenhower Lecture, organised by the NATO Defense College in Rome, on "The relevance of Atlanticism". General Dwight D. Eisenhower, the first of the US generals to hold the position of SACEUR from 1951 to 1952, called for the setting up of a NATO College at the time. A NATO Defense College was therefore opened in Paris in 1951 and then moved to Rome in 1966.

Additional information:

   
18 Sep. 2000
George Papandreou, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Greece, becomes Président d’Honneur of the North Atlantic Council succeeding Joschka Fischer, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Germany.
   
19 Sep. 2000
First NATO-EU meeting at Ambassadorial level

The first ever meeting of NATO and the European Union at Ambassadorial level took place at the EU on 19 September. This meeting opened a new chapter in the cooperation between the two organisations that share common strategic interests and play such a crucial role in fostering security and stability in Europe.

The meeting was held in the Justus Lipsius building, where the EU Council of Ministers has its seat in Brussels. It was the first time that the implementation of the decisions on strengthening European security and defence taken by NATO and the EU in Washington, Cologne and Helsinki last year had been discussed jointly at the level of the NAC - NATO's highest decision making body- and the IPSC - the EU's Interim Political and Security Committee.

Ambassadors assessed the progress made by NATO and the EU in the context of the expert contacts on the Headline Goal implementation and the first meetings of the joint NATO-EU Ad Hoc Working Groups in the areas of security issues, Capabilities Goals, EU access to NATO assets and permanent consultation arrangements and held a fruitful discussion on the way ahead in NATO-EU relations.

Additional information:

  • High resolution photos of the Joint Meeting of NAC/interim Political and Security Committee at the Council of Ministers, European Union