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Feb 3: Plassnik: "EU must constantly monitor the justification for the EUFOR mission in the light of |
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Meeting of the EU Political and Security Policy Committee on 3 February at the request of Austria
 Vienna, 3 February 2008 - "The new development in Chad must spur the EU to keep a close eye on the justification for the EUFOR mission," stated Foreign Minister Ursula Plassnik today. It had always been clear that this exclusively humanitarian non-partisan mission could only be carried out in close coordination with the UN and the government in Chad. "As long as we don’t know how the UN assesses the new situation and how things develop in Chad, there can be no final decision on the future of this mission," emphasised Plassnik. The Foreign Minister is also maintaining direct contact with her Irish and Swedish counterparts.
The EU’s Political and Security Policy Committee (PSC), which is responsible for the political control of the mission, has assembled at my initiative in Brussels today. The Austrian contention that the issue now is not only about technical decisions at the military level but an overall assessment of the situation has met with widespread approval. "The PSC will continuously analyse the political preconditions for the mission in the course of the next few days," continued Plassnik.
It was also evident, continued Plassnik, that as long as the situation was not clear there would be no further dispatch of soldiers, including Austrian ones, to Chad. There was agreement between herself and the Minister of Defence Norbert Darabos that the security of the Austrian soldiers had priority. The Ministry for European and International Affairs and the Ministry of Defence were maintaining continuous contact in this field, concluded the Foreign Minister.
Contact:
Federal Ministry for
European and International Affairs
Press Department
Tel.: ++43 (0) 50 1150-3262, 4549, 4550
Fax: ++43 (0) 50 1159-213
abti3(at)bmeia.gv.atabti3(at)bmeia.gv.at
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