Thursday

28th Mar 2024

Deadlock in NATO continues

  • NATO - France, Germany and Belgium gave no sign that they would give in and allow the alliance to start - what they see - as preparations for a possible US-led war against Iraq. The crisis is being described as the worst during the 54-year history of NATO (Photo: NATO)

The deadlock in NATO over when to start planning assistance to Turkey continued on Tuesday, with ambassadors from the 19 NATO countries ending a short 20 minute formal meeting without result. The North Atlantic Council (NAC) will reconvene tomorrow at 9.45am amidst debate over whether the on-going crisis has really blown NATO's credibility in American eyes and put the Alliance’s relevance as a military organisation into question.

France, Germany and Belgium gave no sign that they would give in and give the go-ahead for the Alliance to protect Turkey in case of war in Iraq. Such a concession, in their eyes, could suggest that they had given up on diplomatic efforts to avert a war.

France is the key

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Turkey is the only NATO member bordering Iraq and a potential launching pad for strikes against Baghdad. In 1991 during the Kuwait crisis, NATO agreed to assist Turkey in a similar way. The Defence Planning Committee, DPC, took the decision at the time. France is not represented there as it pulled out from NATO's military structures in 1966.

Today the assistance to Turkey is discussed in the North Atlantic Council, NATO's highest decision making body, The North Atlantic Council (NAC) which includes France. And this is where the difference is, high-ranking NATO officials told the EUobserver. Without French support, Germany and Belgium could not hold up the go-ahead for NATO to support Turkey.

Three failed sessions

This is the third failed meeting of the NAC in two days. Sources close to the Council said that such exchanges between the different camps, as took place on Monday, had never before been heard at NATO.

Officials told the EUobserver, that an agreement was not expected before Friday this week, after the chief UN weapons inspector, Hans Blix, for the second time has reported to the UN Security Council on his findings in Iraq. Some clearly would prefer that a decision to help Turkey is taken purely within the NATO framework without involving the decision in UN procedures. If Turkey is under threat, then the Alliance should respond with support, argue certain quarters.

Worst crisis in Alliance’s 54 year history

The crisis is being described as the worst during the 54-year history of NATO. It

was triggered when France, Germany and Belgium blocked NATO plans to

begin shipping defensive equipment to Turkey. The shipping could take up to

30 days.

The Greek EU presidency has called for an emergency EU summit on Iraq to be held in Brussels on Monday 17 February. This meeting will be attended by the leaders of the 15 EU member states.

The Iraq crisis has split the Europeans completely and left the fledgling Common European Security and Defence Policy in ruins - just a month ahead of the first EU military operation to start in Macedonia.

Earlier this month Italian, British, Spanish, Portuguese, Danish, Polish, Czech and Hungarian leaders signed a letter supporting the US policy over Iraq. A group of candidate countries hoping to join the EU next year, the "Vilnius Ten", also issued a declaration supporting the US.

Robertson struggles to heal NATO rift

The North Atlantic Council (NAC) met again Wednesday morning and considered a compromise solution for the protection of Turkey. NATO spokesman Yves Brodeur indicated that all 19 members of the Alliance now think they have a solid basis for discussion. This was the fourth meeting in three days and the crisis continues.

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