§ Mr. JenkinTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence if the European Union will be ready to take over in the autumn Operation Amber Fox in Macedonia. [57794]
§ Mr. Ingram[holding answer 20 May 2002]: NATO 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 will take over from Germany as lead-nation on 26 June 2002.
At Barcelona, the European Council expressed the European Union's availability to take responsibility for a follow-on to the NATO mission in Macedonia, Operation Amber Fox, following Macedonian elections set for 15 September 2002, and if the Macedonian Government so requested. The offer was conditional on the permanent arrangement on EU-NATO co-operation ("Berlin Plus") being in place by then.
At the present time no decision has been reached on the requirement for any follow-on mission.