NATO defense ministers in Munich, Germany, Feb. 6 discussed the possibility of pulling all NATO peacekeeping troops out of Bosnia by the end of this year
Published:
14 February 2004 y., Saturday
NATO defense ministers in Munich, Germany, Feb. 6 discussed the possibility of pulling all NATO peacekeeping troops out of Bosnia by the end of this year.
In a press conference here this evening, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said the possible termination of the Stabilization Force mission and a follow-on force of European Union troops was a topic of discussion.
"This is important for NATO, and it's also important for the Bosnian people," Rumsfeld said. "Our objective is to help the Bosnian government re-establish full sovereignty and self-government."
NATO forces have been in Bosnia since the Dayton Accords brokered an end to civil war there in late 1995.
A senior U.S. official speaking on background explained that Bosnia doesn't need SFOR any longer.
The European Union has offered to replace NATO peacekeepers with a mixed police and military force. U.S. officials would like to see a small NATO headquarters, led by an American two-star general, remain in Sarajevo.
Šaltinis:
American Forces Press Service
Copying, publishing, announcing any information from the News.lt portal without written permission of News.lt editorial office is prohibited.
The most popular articles
At the fall meetings of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe on 8 October in Palermo, Lithuania’s Permanent Representative to the OSCE Ambassador Renatas Norkus will deliver a speech about the strengthening of ties between the OSCE and the Mediterranean partners.
more »
Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov thanked Lithuania for helping Russia to fight forest fires.
more »
Lithuania will encourage the governments of the OSCE participating states to take more pro-active measures to ensure the safety journalists and to put more effort into investigating cases of violence against journalists, and will emphasize the importance of media self-regulation.
more »
President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaite presented letters of credence to Dainius Junevičius as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Lithuania to the Arab Republic of Egypt.
more »
President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė presented letters of credence to Loreta Zakarevičienė as the Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of the Republic of Lithuania to the Republic of Poland.
more »
President Dalia Grybauskaitė extended congratulations to President Christian Wulff of Germany on Unity Day.
more »
At a meeting of a group of Moldova’s friends on 30 September in Chisinau, attended by eight foreign ministers, Lithuania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Audronius Ažubalis stressed EU assistance in support of Moldova’s efforts to consolidate democracy in the country.
more »
Dalia Grybauskaitė congratulated Demetris Christofias, President of the Republic of Cyprus, on the 50th anniversary of independence of the Republic of Cyprus.
more »
President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė received the President of the Parliament of Luxembourg, Laurent Mosar.
more »
President of the Republic of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė attended the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the Resolution adopted in 1960 by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe "On the situation in the Baltic States on the twentieth anniversary of their forcible incorporation into the Soviet Union", in the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania.
more »