Finland to work with Sweden on EU combat forces
French Defence Minister briefly forgets Finnish EU membership at Brussels meeting
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The ministers of defence of the European Union member states decided on Monday on the establishment of EU combat units by 2007.
The crisis management units would be available for deployment at 15 days'
notice.
The units would be part of a planned EU crisis management force, which is to be ready by 2010. The force would be designed to be the first to arrive on the scene of a crisis area to calm the situation down sufficiently for the arrival of more troops.
Finland also plans to commit soldiers to one of the combat units. Prime Minister Matti Vanhanen (Centre) has said that Finland would be willing to maintain a force of up to 200 professional soldiers for the purpose.
Defence Minister Seppo Kääriäinen said that Finland will work with Sweden, and possibly other countries, to assemble a combat unit. A decision on the number of soldiers and the scope of their activities is to be made next month at the latest.
The defence ministers also decided that by 2008 the EU should have at its disposal an aircraft carrier and an accompanying naval escort. They also confirmed that the EU would set up an office of defence materiel before the end of the year.
EU combat units are to comprise 1,500 soldiers, and fewer than ten are to be set up. Defence Minister Kääriäinen said that initially the larger EU countries would establish units comprising only their own soldiers.
In their statement, the ministers of defence say that the EU countries are committed to be ready by 2010 for all types of crisis management operations that the EU’s treaties allow.
These missions would include humanitarian tasks and rescue work, as well as crisis management combat - including peace restoration activities.
France’s Minister of Defence Michèle Alliot-Marie said at a press conference on Monday that defence is the area in which the EU has made the most progress in the past two years.
Alliot-Marie said that he hopes that the defence materiel office could start work even if some EU member states decide not to take part in it.
He also proposed that countries outside the EU be allowed to take part.
"In this, I am thinking about Finland, for example", he said. A French civil servant quickly corrected the slip to Finnish journalists, saying that the minister was "naturally" speaking about Norway.
Kääriäinen said that Finland would put forward a Finnish candidate for a leadership post in the office.
Helsingin Sanomat
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| 18.5.2004 - TODAY |
 Finland to work with Sweden on EU combat forces |
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