Supplementary memorandum submitted by
the Ministry of Defence (9 January 2003)
1. UK ASSISTANCE
TO NATO ASPIRANT
COUNTRIES
A note detailing our assistance is at Annex
A.
2. BUDGET
Agreement was recently reached to increase the
NATO Civil Budget by 2.65% (0.65% above the 2% inflation projected
for Belgium in 2003). The UK aims for zero real growth in its
contributions to international organisations.
3. BILATERAL
MEETINGS HELD
AT THE
PRAGUE SUMMIT
BY SECRETARY
OF STATE
The Defence Secretary had formal bilateral meetings
with:
Mr Donald Rumsfeld, US Defence Secretary.
Mme Miche"le Alliot-Marie, French Defence
Minister.
Mr Ivan S±imko, Slovak Defence Minister.
Mr Jaroslav Tvrdik, Czech Defence Minister.
Dr Buchkovski, Macedonian Defence Minister.
Col Gen Mukhtar Altynbaev, Kazakh Defence Minister.
Mr Pandeli Majko, Albanian Defence Minister.
In addition, Mr Hoon had informal exchanges
with a number of other colleagues.
4. ENHANCEMENT
OF THE
MEDITERRANEAN DIALOGUE
At Prague NATO reaffirmed that security in Europe
is closely linked to security and stability in the Mediterranean.
It announced a decision to upgrade substantially the political
and practical dimensions of the Mediterranean Dialogue as an integral
part of the Alliance's co-operative approach to security. Allies
encouraged intensified practical co-operation and effective interaction
on security matters of common concern, including terrorism-related
issues, as appropriate, where NATO can provide added value. NATO
reiterated that the Mediterranean Dialogue and other international
efforts, including the EU Barcelona process, are complementary
and mutually reinforcing. Heads of State and Government endorsed
a paper entitled "Upgrading the Mediterranean Dialogue"
which details the steps that could be taken to enhance existing
areas of co-operation and put forward suggestions for further
areas where co-operation could be initiated. The latter included:
(a) specially selected activities to improve
the ability of MD countries to contribute to NATO-led non-Article
5 crisis response operations, especially in logistics areas;
(b) defence reform and defence economics
including best practice in the economic and civilian management
of defence forces;
(c) consultations on terrorism, including
intelligence-sharing, and expert-level meetings on the terrorist
threat and measures taken, individually or together with others,
to counter it;
(d) consultations and co-operation on border
security, especially in connection with terrorism and organised
crime;
(e) participation in the Conference of National
Armaments Directors (CNAD)'s Partnership Group on the NATO Codification
System (NCS);
(f) invitation to join the CNAD's Partnership
Group on Safety Aspects of Transportation and Storage of Military
Ammunition and Explosives; and exchanges on obsolete or excess
ammunition and explosives destruction matters;
(g) consultation on air traffic management
issues to promote flight safety and information exchange on civil/military
air traffic control procedures; and
5. "Capability Audit"
There is no single document setting out a "capability
audit" of the kind to which Mr Hancock refers, but rather
a range of processes (and associated documentation) assessing
both the requirements of the Alliance and the capacity of members
and aspirants to meet them. These include the NATO force planning
process. This starts with a NATO biennial strategic analysis of
the risks and challenges that it faces. NATO strategic commands
are then able to determine what forces and capabilities they will
need to meet those risks and challenges. These capability and
force needs are then translated into Force Goals which are assigned
to individual nations. Nations then report their progress in meeting
the Force in NATO's biennial Defence Planning Questionnaire (DPQ).
DPQ replies are reviewed in a series of meetings culminating in
a sequence of multilateral examinations of individual nations'
DPQs, at which NATO Military Authorities, NATO staffs and nations
have the opportunity to assess performance. The data originating
in the force planning process provided the basis for development
of the Prague Capabilities Commitment (PCC) initiative, in which
the most acute capability shortfalls across the Alliance were
identified and action to correct them agreed. Progress on the
PCC will be assessed not only through the routine review component
of the force planning process, but also by regular meetings of
senior officials, by Defence Ministers at their formal and informal
meetings, and by Heads of State and Government at their next summit
in 2004. The next summit will be a major waypoint in taking forward
Alliance capability development.
New members will not take part formally in the
NATO force planning process until accession in 2004, though we
expect their current "Partnership Goals" to evolve into
Force Goals when they do so. Aspirant performance was assessed
at Prague in the form of a consolidated report to Ministers and
Heads of State and Government, which underlined the need for all
aspirants to maintain efforts to reform, and to seek to maximise
their military contribution to the Alliance by the time of formal
accession.
SPECIAL DEFENCE ADVISERS
SPECIAL DEFENCE
ADVISERS APPOINTED
TO NATO INVITEES
Bulgaria
— Civilian Defence Adviser to MoD:
previous incumbent completed tour November 2002; replacement appointed
from February 2003.
— Military Defence Adviser to General
Staff: tour ends July 2003. No discussion yet on possible replacement.
Estonia
— Military Defence Adviser to General
Staff: tour ends October 2003. Firm request for replacement.
Latvia
— Civilian Defence Adviser to MoD:
tour ends March 2003. Replacement appointed from March 2003.
Lithuania
— Civilian Defence Adviser to MoD:
previous incumbent completed tour September 2002; replacement
appointed from January 2003.
Romania
— Civilian Defence Adviser to MoD:
tour ends August 2003. Replacement identified but not formally
agreed yet with Romanians.
— Military Defence Adviser to General
Staff: tour ends July 2003. No discussion yet on possible replacement.
Slovakia
— Military Defence Adviser to General
Staff: tour ends May 2004. No discussion yet on possible replacement.
— Military Defence Adviser (specifically
on personnel issues): tour ends July 2003. Unlikely to be replaced—future
personnel advice to be provided by alternative means.
Slovenia
— Civilian Defence Adviser to MoD:
tour ends August 2003. Replacement expected to be appointed from
August 2003.
SUPPORT COSTS
In all cases, the UK remains responsible for
the pay and allowances of Special Defence Advisers (SDAs), including
travel and subsistence costs. In most cases, the UK has also been
responsible for meeting housing and other domestic support costs
although, in a limited number of cases (Lithuania, for example),
the host country has met an agreed proportion of these costs.
On each occasion that SDAs become due for replacement, we explore
the potential for increasing the level of host country financial
responsibility for the ancillary costs.
OTHER SDA ASSISTANCE
A total of four SDAs continue to provide valuable
support to the most recent members of NATO—Czech Republic
(military), Hungary (civilian) and Poland (military and civilian).
We are now looking to extend the SDA programme to countries beyond
the immediate NATO sphere. We already have two SDAs in Macedonia
(military and civilian); and we are planning to appoint civilian
SDAs in Croatia (January 2003) and Georgia (April 2003).
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