BACKGROUND: EU's most ambitious project
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By Sami Sillanpää in Banda Aceh
The peace monitoring mission that is getting under way in Indonesia’s Aceh Province is to be the largest, most distant, and most rapidly-implemented civilian crisis management operation that the European Union has ever undertaken.
In addition to the EU, the monitoring group will include representatives from Norway and Switzerland, as well as from five members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). These countries are Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Brunei.
The monitors will be unarmed civilians. According to the plan, about 200 of them will operate in Aceh.
The actual monitoring operation begins on September 15th.
The operation will involve about 30 Finns. They will probably constitute the largest single contingent.
The ongoing preparatory phase in Aceh is being largely implemented by Finns.
The Finnish vanguard of the group was the first on the spot, and its members have already been dispatched to set up local offices in three other towns.
The monitors’ first task is to establish local contacts, become acquainted with local conditions, and prepare for the actual monitoring work.
The operation will be led by Pieter Feith, a Dutch citizen. He will have the authority to make binding decisions in any disputes between the guerrillas and Indonesia.
Feith has experience in mediating in the crises in the Balkans, during the time that he worked for NATO. His previous mission was to develop the EU’s security and defence policy.
Helsingin Sanomat / First published in print 21.8.2005
More on this subject:
 Kalle Liesinen to help disarm Aceh guerrillas
SAMI SILLANPÄÄ / Helsingin Sanomat
sami.sillanpaa@hs.fi
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