UNITED STATES: NATO SECRETARY GENERAL LORD ROBERTSON SAYS THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION HAS ALLAYED SOME EUROPEAN CONCERNS OVER A U.S. MISSILE DEFENCE SHIELD

Record ID: 222900

  • Title: UNITED STATES: NATO SECRETARY GENERAL LORD ROBERTSON SAYS THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION HAS ALLAYED SOME EUROPEAN CONCERNS OVER A U.S. MISSILE DEFENCE SHIELD
  • Date: 7th March 2001
  • Summary: WASHINGTON D.C., (MARCH 7, 2001) (REUTERS-ACCESS ALL) 1. WS: HEARING ROOM 0.06 2. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) NATO SECRETARY-GENERAL GEORGE ROBERTSON SAYING: "There is a small part of the safety zone one kilometer deep, therefore by five kilometers, which is on the serb-former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia border. NATO is considering but has not yet made a decision to allow Yugoslav troops back into that part of Serbian sovereign territory. There is no intention, no debate, no likelihood, of any Yugoslav troops being led back into Kosovo through whatever border until such time as resolution 1244 has been satisfied. But it is not part of the current debate which should take place and there was a misunderstanding of what I said yesterday when I gave a press conference after meeting with the United Nations Security Council about that. What we're trying to do is create stability in an area where a small number of extremists are trying to create violence, trying to create trouble. We are dealing here with the Kosovo Albanian leadership, with the Albanian leadership of southern Serbia, with the Serbian authorities as well as with the government of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as well." 1.27 3. SV: PEOPLE LISTENING 1.32 4. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROBERTSON SAYING: "But the new Bush Administration's approach which aims to include allies. . . in other words dropping the "N" from "NMD" and to put missile defence into a larger strategy of nuclear and WMD security has helped to address these concerns and the committment to close consultations with the NATO allies by both the Clinton and the Bush administrations has made clear that decisions that so fundamentally affect the security of the NATO allies will not remain over their heads." 2.14 5. WIDE OF AUDIENCE 2.17 6. SCU: (SOUNDBITE) (English) ROBERTSON SAYING: "Europe knows that it can and it must do more to take on the greater share of the defence effort. It can never replace NATO and doesn't want to do so. But the imbalance we have between European and American capabilities at the moment is simply not sustainable. That is the logic behind ESDI. Europe is finally preparing to deliver which the United States has rightly said for so long it wants - a Europe that can share more of the burden and be a better partner to the United States. 2.54 7. WIDE OF HEARING ROOM 2.57 8. MV: LORD ROBERTSON WITH GENERAL COLIN POWELL STANDING FOR PHOTOCALL/SHAKING HANDS 3.32 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 22nd March 2001 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: WASHINGTON, D.C., UNITED STATES
  • City:
  • Country: USA
  • Reuters ID: LVAA2808SZEW94IIJMCQJYDX5TAK
  • Story Text: Speaking on US-NATO and US-European relations ahead of
    a think tank in Washington D.C on Wednesday (March 7), NATO
    Secretary General Lord Robertson said the Bush administration
    had allayed some of the European concerns over a U.S. missile
    defense shield.

    Robertson also said that in an effort to quell violence in the
    region, NATO was considering allowing Yugoslav troops
    into the sovereign Serbian section of the border zone - but
    not into Kosovo itself.

    Later in the day, Robertson met with U.S. Secretary of
    State Colin Powell.



    NATO Secretary General Lord Robertson spoke about
    issues related to US-NATO and US-European relations before a
    committee of Congress in Washington D.C. on Wednesday
    (March 7).

    As NATO seeks ways to quell violence on the Kosovo/Macedonia
    border presumably caused by ethnic Albanian extremists,
    Secretary General Lord Robertson said NATO was considering
    allowing Yugoslav troops back into the border zone
    area which is Serbian sovereign territory - but not into
    Kosovo.

    "There is a small part of the safety zone one kilometer
    deep, therefore by five kilometers, which is on the
    serb-former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia border. NATO is
    considering but has not yet made a decision to allow Yugoslav
    troops back into that part of Serbian sovereign territory."
    But Robertson said there was "no intention, no debate, no
    likelihood" of Yugoslav troops being allowed back into Kosovo
    through "whatever border."
    "There is no intention, no debate, no likelihood. . .of any
    Yugoslav troops being led back into the Kosovo border until
    such time as resolution 1244 has been satisfied. But it is not
    part of the current debate which should take place and there
    was a misunderstanding of what I said yesterday when I gave a
    press conference after meeting with the United Nations
    Security Council about that."
    Robertson added that NATO's goal was to create stability.

    "What we're trying to do is create stability in an area
    where a small number of extremists are trying to create
    violence, trying to create trouble. We are dealing here with
    the Kosovo Albanian leadership, with the Albanian leadership
    of southern Serbia, with the Serbian authorities as well as
    with the government of the former Yugoslav Republic of
    Macedonia as well."
    For the past year, ethnic Albanian guerrillas have based
    themselves in the buffer zone, from which Yugoslav forces were
    banned after being pushed out of Kosovo by NATO bombing in
    1999.

    Diplomats say the main problem is preventing ethnic
    Albanian guerrillas, or "extremists," from operating freely
    across the unmarked mountain borders between Kosovo, Macedonia
    and southern Serbia. American peacekeepers fought presumed
    ethnic Albanian guerrillas near Macedonia's border and a
    landmine killed two Yugoslav soldiers on Wednesday as the West
    sought a way to stamp out the latest Balkan ethnic turmoil.

    Robertson also spoke about the National Missile Defense System
    which China and Russia have opposed and which has concerned
    among European allies. Robertson said some of the concerns
    were being allayed.

    "But the new Bush Administration's approach which aims to
    include allies. . . in other words dropping the "N" from "NMD"
    and to put missile defense into a larger strategy of nuclear
    and WMD security has helped to address these concerns.

    Robertson also spoke about the purposes of an all-European
    force, European Security and Defense Identity (ESDI), and said
    it was not at cross-purposes and would not usurp the powers of
    NATO - once a U.S. concern.

    "Europe knows that it can and it must do more to take on the
    greater share of the defense effort. It can never replace
    NATO and doesn't want to do so. But the imbalance we have
    between European and American capabilities at the moment is
    simply not sustainable. That is the logic behind ESDI. Europe
    is finally preparing to deliver which the United States has
    rightly said for so long it wants - a Europe that can share
    more of the burden and be a better partner to the United
    States."

  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register