President Halonen: Use of EU Rapid Reaction Force in Libya could be considered

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President Tarja Halonen says that Finland must soon consider whether or not Finnish forces, which are part of the European Union’s Rapid Reaction Force, should be deployed in Libya under a United Nations mandate.
      Halonen says that a significant issue is whether or not the UN asks for this kind of help. Once the EU responds to such an offer, Finland will need to take a stand on its possible participation in the crisis management operation.
     
The Finnish Parliamentary elections do not have a bearing on the timing, Halonen says. She notes that UN schedules are not dependent on Finnish elections.
      “Our part is not so dramatic”, Halonen said at the end of a meeting of the government’s foreign and security policy committee on Tuesday.
      “The main thing is that we want to be involved just like before”, she added.
     
“The EU’s combat forces can be deployed after a decision by the EU, on the basis of a recommendation of the EU’s military committee for operations at a radius of 4,000 kilometres from Brussels, where the purpose is to secure or occupy a certain limited area. The aim would be to support a broader crisis management operation.
      The forces have not yet been used on any such mission. Halonen estimates that a Finnish contingent could be assembled in ten days.
     
Halonen said that she is optimistic about the conspicuous cooperation between Greece and Turkey in connection with cooperation between the EU and the countries of North Africa.
      She says that the international community was late to notice what was going on in North Africa.
      “Nobody has a clear picture about what is happening in Libya”, Halonen said.
     
Sweden, Norway, and Denmark are taking part in the no-fly zone operation, unlike Finland. However, they are taking the same view as Finland on the rapid reaction force issue. They are also waiting to see if the UN will put forward a possible request for help, and what the content of that request might be. Readiness to deploy the forces on a humanitarian mission, for instance, does exist.
      The foreign ministers of Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark, and Iceland, who met in Helsinki on Tuesday, issued a joint declaration calling on Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi to resign immediately. The ministers also emphasised the importance of getting a political solution to the crisis in Libya.


Previously in HS International Edition:
  Martti Ahtisaari praises Finland’s decisions on Libya (5.4.2011)
  Finland not taking part in monitoring Libya no-fly zone (30.3.2011)
  Stubb: Sending Finnish planes to Libya would have been a big change (31.3.2011)

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