BELGIUM: NATO ENVOYS AGREE TO DELAY FINAL DECISION ON WHETHER TO SEND THOUSANDS OF PEACEKEEPING TROOPS TO MACEDONIA

Record ID: 647767

  • Title: BELGIUM: NATO ENVOYS AGREE TO DELAY FINAL DECISION ON WHETHER TO SEND THOUSANDS OF PEACEKEEPING TROOPS TO MACEDONIA
  • Date: 21st August 2001
  • Summary: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM (AUGUST 21, 2001) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. WS: FLAGS OUTSIDE NATO HEADQUARTERS 0.04 2. MV: NATO SIGN OUTSIDE HEADQUARTERS 0.07 3. SCU: SOUNDBITE (English) NATO SPOKESMAN YVES BRODEUR: "The meeting today I want to point out was not a decision-making meeting, it was essentially meant to be an information session, of Ralston to report back to the delegations. The tone of his presentation I think was reasonably positive. We have what we think is a generally-holding ceasefire, but it is not for him to decide, essentially now that information has been provided to delegations, it's for members of the alliance to feed that into their own process and then to pass a judgement, so that is where we are at now." 0.48 4. WIDE OF REPORTERS 0.54 5. SCU: SOUNDBITE (English) NATO SPOKESMAN YVES BRODEUR: "Well, now as I said, the delegations have all the information they need to pass a judgement we hope to be in a position to announce a decision by midday tomorrow. But, then again, I just want to be clear here, we cannot prejudge the outcome of that process. So the fact that member states are now deliberating on this doesn't necessarily mean that they will arrive at a positive decision. But we are hopeful that we will have a decision by midday tomorrow." 1.25 6. SV: REPORTERS 1.33 7. SCU: SOUNDBITE (English) NATO SPOKESMAN YVES BRODEUR: "It's a rather simple process, essentially a proposal is put on the table and if by a certain deadline no one objects to it, then it is adopted. It's essentially a reverse process if you wish." 1.53 8. WIDE OF INTERVIEW 1.56 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
  • Embargoed: 5th September 2001 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: BRUSSELS, BELGIUM
  • Country: Belgium
  • Reuters ID: LVA8BCLYMV1JV5TBXB8WT2DSGLAP
  • Story Text: NATO envoys have agreed to put off until Wednesday a
    final decision on whether to send thousand of troops to
    Macedonia as part of a peace paln for the former Yugoslav
    republic.


    NATO will decide on Wednesday (August 22) whether to
    send 3,500 troops to Macedonia as part of a peace accord for
    the war-ravaged former Yugoslav republic, an alliance official
    said on Tuesday.

    The official said the 19 NATO ambassadors needed to
    communicate with their capitals after hearing a report on
    Macedonia from U.S. General Joseph Ralston, the alliance's top
    commander, who visited the country on Monday.

    "This meeting today was essentially to listen to what
    (Ralston) had to say after his visit on Monday to Skopje," the
    official said.

    "The delegations now have all the information they need to
    take a decision," he added.

    Another NATO source told Reuters the NATO member states
    had until noon (1000 GMT) on Wednesday to register any
    objections to the so-called Operation Essential Harvest, which
    would be NATO's third Balkan mission in a decade.

    Under the peace plan, NATO would deploy 3,500 troops to
    collect arms from ethnic Albanian guerrillas while the
    Macedonian parliament passes laws designed to improve the
    status of the country's large ethnic Albanian minority.

    Earlier on Tuesday, NATO's military committee, which
    comprises representatives of the chiefs of staff of the 19
    NATO member countries, gave its blessing to the deployment
    plan.

    Western diplomats fear that any big delay in sending the
    NATO force would create a vacuum which extremists from the two
    camps would be able to exploit, raising the spectre of a wider
    Balkan conflict.


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