§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what discussions took place at the recent NATO ministerial meeting in Madrid concerning the EU decision at Copenhagen to assume the NATO peacekeeping mandate in Bosnia; and whether(a) NATO and (b) the United States has accepted that decision. [124362]
§ Mr. MacShaneI have been asked to reply.
The European Union has not taken a decision to "assume the NATO peace-keeping mandate in Bosnia". The Conclusions of the Copenhagen European Council of 12/13 December 2002 noted "the European Union's willingness to lead a military operation in Bosnia following SFOR". This would of course require a prior decision by NATO to terminate its mission, as was the case when the EU took over the stabilisation role from NATO earlier this year in Macedonia. The transition of the much larger mission in Bosnia will require extensive discussions between the EU and NATO. There was a brief informal discussion of this issue, as part of the wider discussion of EU/NATO co-operation in the Balkans at the NA TO Foreign Ministers' meeting in Madrid.