Split _ The European Union is considering creating a defence force comprised of soldiers from across the Western Balkans, a Croatian daily reported over the weekend.
Slobodna Dalmacija quoted sources from the NATO Headquarters as saying the armies of Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia, Montenegro and Macedonia would be one of ten regional fighting-tactical groups the EU wants to form as its defence forces.
Groups already in existence include the French and Belgium and Netherlands, Finland and Germany.
The daily said that it learned from the Czech Defense Ministry that by the end of 2008 another group made up of the soldiers from the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Germany would be formed.
NATO sources told the daily that the Western Balkans group “would number between 1,000 and 1,500 soldiers chosen by key national criteria.”
“The current territorial and military dispersion of the Western Balkans countries should be replaced with a compatible arms force. Language similarities of the former Yugoslav countries are a big communication advantage in speeding up the operational efficiency of such groups. In the long term, it is in their interest and an important part of the NATO southeastern wing defence policy, similar to the existing one in the Nordic countries,” a diplomat from a NATO member country told the daily.
The Croatian Defence, Foreign and European Integration ministries did not want to comment on the daily’s report, but some military analysts in Croatia confirmed it.
The idea of a joint Western Balkan force is not new said the daily, suggesting it was mentioned in Montenegro in 2002 as a solution which could overcome the mutual lack of confidence amongst the countries which were embroiled in the 1990s Balkan Wars.
But the daily warned this could trigger controversy in Croatia whose forces clashed with Belgrade-supported local Serb militia and the former Yugoslav army after declaring independence from the former Yugoslavia.
The same dilemma might occur in Bosnia and Herzegovina since its predominantly Muslim army fought both Belgrade and Zagreb-sponsored forces in its 1992-95 war.
#
<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/8484/">http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/main/news/8484/</a><!-- m -->
Wird auch Zeit. Die grechisch-geführte Blakan ist etwas zu wenig für diese Gebiete.
