NATO Seeks Plan to Extend Its Peace Mission in Bosnia

Moving the United States and its allies closer to an extended troop presence in Bosnia-Herzegovina, NATO foreign ministers ordered alliance military commanders Tuesday to swiftly develop a plan to continue the Balkan peacekeeping mission after its mandate expires June 30.

President Clinton later told a Washington news conference that he intends to announce his decision on whether U.S. troops will participate in a follow-on Bosnia force before he departs Sunday for a pre-Christmas visit to the region.

But Secretary of State Madeleine Albright warned that the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s post-Cold War credibility is on the line.

“The United States has supported an effective NATO mission in Bosnia,” she said. “We have done so because it did not serve American interests to see aggression undeterred; hatred unleashed; genocide unchecked and unpunished in the heart of Europe. It would not have served our interests to see NATO become an alliance that stands up bravely to hypothetical future challenges while running away from the real challenges of the present.”

Given words like that, it would seem that it would be difficult for Washington to pull its troops out until stability is restored in Bosnia, and Albright told a news conference at North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters here: “It ain’t over till the president says so.”

Although the military commanders were told to consider four options--including withdrawal--the ministers and their advisors indicated that some sort of NATO-led military force, probably somewhat smaller than the one now in place, will remain in Bosnia.

“This mission requires boots on the ground,” a senior NATO official quoted U.S. Gen. Wesley Clark, the alliance’s top military officer, as telling the closed meeting.

As they have in the past, European members of NATO left no doubt that they will not keep their troops in Bosnia unless U.S. forces stay too.

The military commanders were told to report back by the end of next month but first to consider: complete withdrawal; continuation of present force levels; creation of a smaller force with a broad military and civilian-assistance mandate; or setting up an even smaller force limited to military tasks.

Officials said it is unlikely that the alliance will agree to pull out or continue the status quo, leaving the options for a smaller force as the probable alternatives. Officials said the alliance hopes to make a final decision on deployment by March 1.

The foreign ministers said Tuesday that the next summit will be in Washington in the spring of 1999, the alliance’s 50th anniversary.

Albright also suggested that, with the collapse of the Soviet Union, NATO faces a “unifying threat” from rogue states such as Iran and Iraq, which U.S. officials have said promote terrorism and aim to develop weapons of mass destruction. But she complained that some allies leave the hard work to the United States while seeking commercial advantage in dealing with rogue states.

“I know there is a sense among some Europeans that the United States is too inclined to act unilaterally and too quick to pull the sanctions trigger,” she said. “There is likewise a sense among some Americans that too often, the United States takes the heat for dealing with difficult issues while others take the contracts--that our willingness to take responsibility for peace and security makes it easier for others to shirk theirs.”

Although Albright did not name any names, the French oil company Total recently signed a lucrative contract with Iran.

At his Washington news conference, Clinton said that regardless of the decision on a U.S. presence in Bosnia, America and its allies must work harder to help build a professional, multiethnic police force there that can maintain law and order after foreign troops gohome.

In Brussels, Albright challenged European members of the alliance to put up more money for police training.

“Why has the United States provided 90% of the funds for training and equipping the Bosnian police when law and order is so critical to any sensible exit strategy?” she asked.

But a senior NATO official dismissed Albright’s complaint. He said European countries have provided more than 70% of the troops assigned to the Bosnia force.

“There are thousands of tasks to be done,” he said. “It is not possible to focus on one aspect of burden-sharing and ignore others.”

In the ceremonial centerpiece of Tuesday’s session, the 16 NATO foreign ministers and the foreign ministers of Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic formally signed an agreement designed to bring the three former Soviet satellites into the alliance in time for the 1999 Washington summit.

Although NATO presidents and prime ministers voted in July to open the alliance to the three Central European states, it took diplomats almost six months to hammer out the details. Tuesday’s action set the stage for ratification of the expansion plan by the parliaments of the present members.

“Today the people of the Czech Republic, Hungary and Poland take one more step in their journey to freedom,” Albright said. “Today these three nations are one step closer toward regaining the place in Europe they lost 50 years ago.”

Polish Foreign Minister Bronislaw Geremek struck a similar note, saying: “This ceremony is truly a unique event in the history of my country. For over 200 years, when foreign leaders put their signatures under documents concerning Poland, disasters were sure to follow. Today, I am to witness Poland’s friends sign a document which is a source of joy, pride and hope for me and my compatriots.”