War on Terror - February 2003

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War on Terror - February 2003



February 06, 2003

Nato newcomers pledge their support for Bush
By Roger Boyes, Rory Watson and Philip Webster



SEVEN new Nato states from Eastern Europe were drafting a letter of support
yesterday for Washington’s policy towards Iraq to show President Bush that
they form a “new Europe”.

The move is being co- ordinated by Lithuania and includes Bulgaria, Romania,
Estonia, Latvia, Slovakia and Slovenia — all invited to join the alliance at
the summit in Prague in November. Albania, Croatia and the Former Yugoslav
Republic of Macedonia are also expected to sign.

The initiative was inspired by the eight nations, including Britain, which
published a similiar letter of support for Mr Bush last week. That letter
was designed to undercut French and German opposition to military action
against Iraq and provoked anger from France and Germany, which were not
asked to sign it.

To try to heal that rift and show that European leaders can still work
together, Tony Blair, President Chirac of France and Gerhard Schröder, the
German Chancellor, lined up together yesterday to make a symbolic demand for
the European Union to move faster towards economic reform.

The three leaders wrote to the EU’s Greek presidency urging more progress on
liberalising markets, especially energy and airspace, “to open up new
opportunities for our businesses”. They called for the spring EU summit to
commit itself to proposals for simplifying and reducing the burden of red
tape on business.

The new letter from the Nato newcomers begins: “Our countries understand the
dangers posed by tyranny and the special responsibility of democracies to
defend our shared values. The transatlantic community, of which we are a
part, must stand together to face the threat posed by the nexus of terrorism
and dictators with weapons of mass destruction.”

It goes on to say that “it has now become clear that Iraq is in material
breach” of UN Resolution 1441. “In the event of non-compliance with the
terms of this resolution, we are prepared to contribute to an international
coalition to enforce its provisions and the disarmament of Iraq.”

Imants Liegis, Latvia’s Ambassador to Nato, said: “We felt that we had
something to say about this particular issue and we regard it as very
important to maintain solidarity.”

For the United States, the initiative has largely symbolic value and was
being interpreted by American diplomats as a gesture of gratitude for being
admitted to the Nato alliance.

But the declaration is not being taken lightly by the signatories. First, it
signals that Eastern and Central Europe is shifting away from German
stewardship. Germany was always regarded as the champion of the East in the
European Union and Nato. In last week’s letter Poland, the Czech Republic
and Hungary firmly aligned themselves with “new” Europe. The new declaration
also signals the readiness of the political class in the East to defy
domestic public opinion on the Iraq war.

In Slovakia protest groups want a referendum on joining Nato. Opposition to
a war against Iraq is growing in Poland, fuelled by the Pope’s new year
appeal against military action. Hungary is allowing 3,000 Iraqi exiles to
train at a military base, despite popular opposition to a war. In the Czech
Republic, 61 per cent oppose joining a war against Iraq.