§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what plans there are for the EU to take over the operation Amber Fox; and if he will make a statement. [64812]
§ Mr. IngramNATO has been invited by the Macedonian Government to extend the mandate of Operation Amber Fox for a further four months until 26 October 2002. The Netherlands took over from Germany as lead nation on 26 June 2002.
At its recent meeting in Seville, the European Council expressed the European Union's willingness to take over from NATO in Macedonia at the end of NATO's current mandate provided that the permanent arrangements between the EU and NATO are in place by then.
Any follow-on mission would be at the invitation of the Macedonian Government.