ITEM 1: Newspackage EU TO TAKE ON ITS FIRST MILITARY MISSION

Duration 15:15

Background note
Next week, at the Foreign Affairs Council (General Affairs Council) of 18 March, the EU will announce officially its readiness to take over from NATO the peacekeeping operation in Macedonia. It will be the first mission of this kind for the European Union, in the framework of its new Rapid Reaction Force which will become fully operational at the end of March 2003, with the transfer of military responsibilities from NATO to the EU.

The EURRF will be deployed wearing sky blue EU berets, with EU insignia stitched onto their national uniforms. After an agreement signed with NATO last December, headquarters for the operation will be in NATO facilities at Mons in Southern Belgium, and commanded by Germany's Admiral Rainer Feist, Deputy NATO Supreme Allied Commander for Europe. This first military mission will follow hard on the heels of the deployment of an EU police force in Bosnia-Herzegovina at the beginning of January. Five hundred officers, led by a Danish police commissioner, will train a civilian police force in the protectorate over the next three years.

Discussions have started on the take over of the NATO-SFOR military operation in Bosnia by the EU Rapid Reaction Force.

Start
00 :00 :00
stockshots
NATO exteriors, flags and logo of NATO headquarters in Brussels

00:00:42
Stockshots
George Robertson, Secretary General of NATO and EU High Representative Javier Solana, press conference in NATO, 11 March 2003

00:01:02
Statement Lord George Robertson, secretary general of NATO, 11 March
"This meeting was of particular significance because it marks the virtual completion of Berlin Plus, a detailed and complicated set of relationship that will bind NATO and the EU together in handling future crises in Europe. Very large volumes of paper have been exchanged between us, which make up the body of documentation that will allow the EU to take over operations in the Balkans from NATO but also provides the basic framework for future relationship between us, another option in the European theater for crisis management. We are virtually at the point of making that decision where the NATO operation in former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia will be taken over by the EU, on the basis as just as robust, just as tough, just as strong commitment to preserve peace and security in that country as it has been since NATO first deployed there 2 years ago. We are working very closely together, both on this operation but also on civil emergency planning, on consequences in management if terrorists should attack and on developing a broad framework for strategic relationship. Berlin Plus is a considerable achievement that followed the historic agreement in Copenhagen between NATO and EU leaders, which was paralleled by the discussions here on the 13th of December as well. Big step forward today in NATO EU relations leading, we hope, in the near future, to very historic handover of the crisis management operation; the first one to be taken on by the EU under its European Security and Defense policy. "

00:03:00
Statement EU High Representative Javier Solana, 11 March:
"We have started working in the end of December in the EU when we finished in the EU, the scheme for the Berlin Plus, and we have been working a few weeks at such a rythm that proves the capabilities of both organizations to work together and to work in an efficient manner. Berlin Plus is a strategic scheme where EU and NATO are going to relay to each other. It is a strategic concept that will allow both organizations to do their job which can be describe as common, security, stability, not only in the region where we are now, but beyond that region. Therefore that is a very important document. We are going to continue working along these lines to evaluate what more we can do together strategically in the Balkans. But, as the NATO secretary general has said, we talked today also about the operation in Macedonia. In the EU we have finished the operational plan, we have passed it to NATO, NATO is going to analyze it and it is going to give it back to us, and we will be in the position to do the transfer of the operation. I would like to emphasize that all this has been done in a very short period of time proving that both organizations are willing and ready to work together. This is a reassuring example for all the peoples of Europe and the Balkans"

European Council of Laeken, Belgium 14/15 Dec Dec 2001.

Background note
During the European Council in Laeken in December 2001, the EU has adopted a declaration on the operational capability of the European security and defense policy. That means that the EU declared itself capable to conduct crisis management operations and that it is preparing to have a Force with 60.000 troops ready to deploy in crisis regions in one month.

00:04:52
Stockshots
Exterior views of Castle of Laeken

00:05:10
Round table of the meeting between Heads of States and Governments and Ministers of Foreign Affairs

00:06:13
INTERVIEW Brussels, 11 March
Mark Laity, NATO spokesman, on political difficulties
"At some stages it was politically difficult. Once we got to the point of Berlin Plus, in principle, political difficulties were gone. Once we've agreed the strategic partnership between EU and NATO should take real shape, that meant that political differences were sorted out. EU and NATO, with a huge overlapping membership, always knew that they have far more in common than things separating them. But when you have two different organisations with different backgrounds, both of them keen and jealous of their own independence and authority, it is inevitable. When they came together it is not easy. And it wasn't easy."

00:07:03
Stockshots
European Council Building in Brussels

00:07:21
INTERVIEW Brussels, 13 March
Cristina Gallach, Javier Solana's spokeswoman
"This is an important partnership. It will allow EU countries and the institution to get from NATO the military support that might be needed in order to conduct joint operations led by EU with NATO support. This is logic because most of the nations of EU are also members of NATO. Therefore, that is logic that we share what we already have in common. If those assets are already in common in NATO, and the EU decides to conduct an operation, the logic thing is to have the availability of those military assets used than by the EU under certain norms and rules. That's why this has been a long process. Than the EU will be able to conduct operations with assets that belong to members of NATO. This is a very good partnership. NATO and EU are striving for the same objectives for stability, helping nations that have gone through instability. The logic thing is to cooperate and to establish this mechanism that allows for an automatic access to NATO assets. "

00 :08:50
Stockshots
EU Police Mission in Bosnia

00:10:45
INTERVIEW
Mark Laity, NATO spokesman, on NATO confidence in EU
"The EU has got an amazing, remarkable achievement behind itself, but it has never done military operations. The reason we have confidence is because we work so closely together to make sure that it is going to be all right. The EU are specialists in many things, we are specialists in military operations. If we didn't think that it was right, than we have kept on talking until we've agreed that it was right. The EU was equally determined. "

00:11:16
INTERVIEW
Cristina Gallach, Solana's spokeswoman on the details on the ground troops in Macedonia
"The mission will have about 300 to 450 soldiers. That is more or less the size of the NATO mission. The mandate is for 6 months. We hope very much to take the formal decision very soon and it means that the troops will be able to deploy by the end of March. The take over then will happen before the end of the month. The participation of the nations is going to be in the manner that all EU members and members of NATO and not yet of the EU will also participate."

00:12:04
Stockshots
British troops in Kosovo, on the streets, with people

00:13:19
INTERVIEW
Mark Laity, NATO spokesman on EU taking over in Bosnia
"The EU has indicated that it is willing to take over the operation in Bosnia and they already have a massive presence in Bosnia including the police mission. It is too early to be sure. NATO is doing the job in Bosnia and NATO must decide that it wants to give up this job in Bosnia. It is a long way to go in the EU NATO collaboration. When Macedonia was on the brink of civil war, it was the EU and NATO working together that was fundamental to Macedonia pulling itself back from the brink by its own efforts and by cooperating with NATO and EU. We are having a good pattern of working together. And we will do it in the future. But we shouldn't run ahead of ourselves. NATO is doing the job in Bosnia and will carry on doing this job. Obviously, this is a potential feature ahead but no decision has been made."

00:14:24
INTERVIEW
Cristina Gallach, Solana's spokeswoman on EU taking over in Bosnia or Kosovo
"There is some thinking about that. Some ideas are already on paper. Reflection has started few months ago. There is willingness to look at this possibility. No formal decision has been taken, but in any case, the logic is that since the EU is the major reference of all the countries of the Balkan region, the provider of economic prosperity and stability, political engagement, and, what is more important, those countries want to become members of EU so it is logic that EU takes over missions, functions; which have already been done by other organizations."

00:15:15
End

FEATURE STORY: CROSS-BORDER CRIME NEEDS CROSS-BORDER RESPONSE

Duration: 9'10''
Start: 00:18:20:00
End: 00:27:37:00

FEATURE STORY | 8 Minutes | ENGLISH TRANSCRIPT

In the mountains between Kosovo and Montenegro, horses and donkeys are the traditional means of transport. Today, they are still used intensively to carry all kinds of goods, mostly smuggled across the border zone which has become a haven for traffickers. The police discover fresh horse tracks. And in this car, all the equipment needed for petrol smuggling. This man admits that he earns up to 500 euro a day, selling petrol illegally. Even real petrol stations have set up in this no man's land. Their owners pay tax to no-one. Long queues for cheap petrol on both sides of the border have turned this place into the most interesting duty-free zone in Europe.

Interview Allan Clarke, UNMIK Border Police

"It's difficult because we have a unique situation here. We are on an administrative boundary line, and it's not officially a border. So it creates difficulties for us."

The difficulties are obvious and in spite of frequent controls, smuggling remains THE source of income for many people, while Kosovo and the region remain hot spots on the map of international crime.

Interview Ramush Tahiri, Adviser to the Kosova Assembly President

"I don't think that Kosovo and the Albanians are the source of crime. What we have here is a transit zone. So they are the middlemen."

No matter where the source is, organized crime spreads out from the region. It is estimated that about one thousand tons of smuggled cigarettes cross the Adriatic Sea every month ending up on the European market.
The port of Ancona in Italy is an important control point on the Adriatic route. Cigarette smuggling involves inter-connected chains, sometimes linking the producers all the way down to street dealers. In fact, the amount of cigarettes legally imported into some Balkan countries would suggest that every citizen smokes about 17.000 cigarettes a day.
But more terrifying than cigarettes, is the traffick in human beings. In a single raid, the Belgrade police found 46 jailed Moldovan women and the resources human traffickers need- weapons, money and fake documents. This flourishing business is becoming as profitable as drugs trafficking. Instead of getting a promised job and a better life abroad, thousands of women end up forced into prostitution in the Balkans or in Western Europe. Every year, 200.000 women are trafficked through the Balkans on their way to big European cities. Another Balkan route is used by drug traffickers to bring narcotics from Asia to Europe.
Here in Great Britain, officials say that gangs from the former Yugoslavia and Albania control 70 % of the heroin market. Faced with this growing threat, representatives of 57 countries gathered in London last November to draw up a common strategy to crack down on criminal networks, which are seriously poisoning relations between Balkan countries and the international community.

Upsound Jack Straw, British Foreign Secretary

"We can only defeat the scourge of organized crime if we tackle it together"

Interview Javier Solana, EU High Representative for Common and Security Policy

"You can imagine that a country of which the people don't have the perception that it is a country under rule of law, a country that is run by institutions or by mafias, by groups of organised crime, criminals, …that country will never get money from the international community, the investors will not have trust, …"

Interview Alessandro Buttice, European Commission Anti-Fraud Office

"The geographical position of the Balkans between the EU, Eastern Europe and the Middle East, is a crossroads for cross-border smuggling."

The geographical position is one thing. But wars in the region have also created fertile ground for organized crime. Macedonia managed to avoid a major conflict in 2001, but the country still has to cope with the criminal gangs who took root during these tensions.

Interview Boris Trajkovski, President of Macedonia

"We have to face the fact that the speed of our integration into Euro-Atlantic structures will depend on our own efforts and results in combating organised crime. Let's be serious, we cannot be partners nor negotiators with the EU and NATO if we don't deal with this properly."

The Macedonian police recently took action against sex trade gangs that have for a long time been untouchable. Political will is the key in the fight against crime, but it is impossible to achieve results by acting only at national level. This workshop where all kinds of fake documents, visas and passports are produced demonstrates how criminals operate: internationally. For them, borders are no obstacles.
International crime needs an international response. In Bucharest (Romania), this building which used to be the symbol of the Ceaucescu regime is now the focal point for regional anti-crime action, under the framework of the Stability Pact. Under one roof are found the Pact's Organised Crime unit, a connection to Interpol and the SECI centre for fighting cross-border crime.
Customs officers and policemen from 12 Southeast European countries work together here. Their main goal is the swift exchange of information within the region. The head of this center is Turkish. This demonstrates the need to share information on a wider scale in Europe's Southeastern corner.

Interview Yalcin Cakici, Head of the SECI center

"When we look at the map of the region we see that Turkey is gateway from Asia to Europe. In the old days it was used for trade purposes. But nowadays it is used by criminals."

Interview Ferenz Banfi, Deputy Head of the SECI center

"Most of the national law enforcement agencies have one type of information, but if this information is dispersed or divided or if we are not able to combine it, it means that we are not able to investigate the whole criminal network."
Exchange of information is only the first step. What really counts, is the number of criminals put behind bars. With different legislation still in place in different countries, criminals remain at large. What is considered evidence in one country might not be recognized in an other. This is one of the main goals of the Stability Pact. It encourages the countries of the region to harmonize their laws, and offers best practice to upgrade the fight against organized crime.
Interview Gabrijela Konevska, Stability Pact Initiative against Organized Crime
"Nobody is going to give you a testimony or to be a witness in front of any court if he or she doesn't have enough protection for that. Because after that if you don't have a protection program your life and life of people around you can be in big danger."

Porous borders in the Balkans still cause more trouble for the police than for the criminals. As a natural border between a number of countries, the Danube is one of the ideal places for illegal border crossing. This group of illegal immigrants was arrested in Croatia last autumn. As long as mafia gangs have better regional cooperation than the police, the fight against organized crime will not be successful, says the head of the Croatian police.

Ranko Ostojic, Head of the Croatian Police

"The criminal comes from Bosnia and Herzegovina, commits a crime in Croatia, and then flees to Yugoslavia. The concrete situation is: in BiH they are happy that the criminal has gone, in Croatia we don't have any record about this criminal, and in Yugoslavia he's spending his money so they are also not motivated to arrest him there."

In March 2001, the Belgrade police discovered 600 kilos of heroin in a bank safe: a special deposit made by the police itself, when Milosevic was still in power. The heavy legacy of a regime, in which the dividing line between state and mafia gangs was blurred, has finally been brought to light. The heroine has been destroyed. But the ashes of crime remains. On Belgrade newsstands, headlines scream of mafia leaders and former warlords settling scores. This shows that Balkan countries will need more time, political will and international support to heal their societies, and truly move forward.

FEATURE STORY (TRANSCRIPT IN SERBO-CROATIAN): CROSS-BORDER CRIME NEEDS CROSS-BORDER RESPONSE

U planinskom podrucju na granici izmedju Kosova i Crne Gore, konji i magarci cesto su jedino moguce sredstvo prevoza. U poslednje vreme intenzivno se koriste za sverc svih vrsta robe koji cveta u pogranicnoj zoni. Policija otkriva sveze tragove konja, a u automobilu citavu masineriju za sverc benzina. Ovaj covek priznaje da ilegalnom prodajom zaradjuje i do 500 eura na dan. Na nicijoj zemlji jedno vreme rade prave benzinske pumpe izbegavajuci tako placanje poreza. Redovi za jeftin benzin sa obe strane granice napravili su od ovog mesta jednu od najzanimljivijih duty free zona u Evropi.

Allan Clarke, UNMIK pogranicna policija
Imamo probleme zbog jedinstvene situacije ovde. Ovde smo na administarivnoj granici ali to nije i zvanicna granica. To nam stvara teskoce.

Teskoce su ocigledne i uprkos brojnim kontrolama sverc ostaje izvor prihoda za mnoge a Kosovo ali i siri region - znacajno mesto na mapi medjunarodnog kriminala.

Ramush Tahiri, savetnik predsenika parlamenta Kosova
Ja ne mislim da su Kosovo i Albanci izvor kriminala. Ovde je rec o tranzitu a Albanci su samo prenosioci kriminala.

Bez obzira gde nastaje, organizovani kriminal ne zadrzava se u regionu. Smatra se da oko hiljadu tona svercovanih cigareta mesecno prelazi Jadransko more da bi zavrsile na evropskom trzistu. Luka Ancona u Italiji je jedna od vaznih tacaka kontrole na jadranskoj ruti. Lanac sverca nekad ide od samog proizvodjaca pa sve do ulicnih prodavaca. Kolicina koju legalno uvezu neke balkanske zemlje znacila bi da svaki njihov gradjanin pusi oko17 hiljada cigareta dnevno.

Strasnija od trgovine cigaretama je trgovina ljudskim bicima. U samo jednoj akciji beogradska policija otkrila je 46 zatocenih Moldavki i komplet opreme jednog trgovca ljudima - oruzje, novac, lazna dokumenta. Ovaj rastuci posao postaje unosan koliko i sverc droge, a hiljade devojaka umesto obecanog posla zavrsava u prinudnoj prostituciji na Balkanu ili negde u Zapadnoj Evropi. Smatra se da oko 200 hiljada zrtava trgovine ljudima godisnje prodje kroz Balkan na putu ka nekom od zapadnoevropskih gradova. Sverc droge drugi je balkanski kanal, kojim se narkotici iz Azije krijumcare u Evropu.

Ovde u V. Britaniji zvanicnici kazu da bande iz ex Jugoslavije i Albanije kontrolisu 70 odsto trzista heroina. Rastuca pretnja okupila je proslog novembra u Londonu predstavnike 57 zemalja u pokusaju da se pomogne zemljama Balkana i nadje zajednicka strategija za problem koji je sve veca smetnja u odnosima sa medjunarodnom zajednicom.

Jack Straw, ministar spoljnih poslova Velike Britanije
Posast organizovanog kriminala mozemo poraziti samo ako delujemo zajednicki.

Javier Solana, Visoki predstavnik EU za spolnu politiku i bezbednost
Mozete da pretpostavite da zemlja u kojoj ne postoji vladavina prava, za koju se veruje da je vodi mafija ili grupe organizovanog kriminala - da ta zemlja nikada nece dobiti novac od medjunarodne zajednice, da investitori nece imati poverenja.

Alessandro Buttice, Evropska Komisija "Anti-Fraud Office"
Geografska pozicija Balkana izmedju Evropske Unije, Istocne Evrope i Bliskog Istoka, znaci ucinila ga je raskrsnicom sverca na medjunarodnom nivou.
Osim geografskog polozaja, ratovi su drugi faktor jacanja organizovanog kriminala. Makedonija je 2001. izbegla veci sukob ali se sada suocava sa posledicama kriminala koji je upravo tada pustio korene.

Boris Trajkovski, predsednik Bivse Jugoslovenske Republike Makedonije
Mora da nam bude jasno da che tempo priblizzavanja zemalja ka evro atlantskim integracijama zavisiti od njihovih zalaganja i rezultata u borbi protiv org. kriminala. Ne mozzemo biti ozbiljni partneri i pregovaracci za cclanstvo u NATO i EU ukoliko ne izagjemo na kraj s ovim fenomenom.

Makedonska policija nedavno je presekla neke od dugo nedodirljivih kanala trgovine ljudima. Politicka volja kljucna je u borbi protiv kriminala ali ona nije moguca samo unutar nacionalnih granica. Ova radionica laznih dokumenata, viza i pasosa potvrdjuje da org. kriminal deluje medjunarodno a da granice cesto nisu prepreka. Medjunarodni kriminal zahteva medjunarodni odgovor . U Bukurestu u SECI centru za borbu protiv prekogranicnog kriminala carinici i policajci iz 12 zemalja Jugoistocne Evrope rade zajedno pod istim krovom. Cilj je brza razmena informacija unutar regiona. Na celu centra je predstavnik Turske, sto pokazuje znacaj sto sire razmene podataka na jugoistoku kontinenta.

Yalcin Cakici, sef SECI centra za borbu protiv prekogranicnog kriminala
Ako pogledamo na mapu vidimo da je Turska kapija na putu iz Azije u Evropu. Taj put je nekada sluziop za trgovinu, ali danas ga koriste kriminalci.

Ferenz Banfi, SECI centar
Vecina policija ima odredjenu vrstu informacija, ali ako su informacije nepovezane i rasturene, onda nismo u stanju da ih povezemo u celinu a to znaci da nismo u stanju da istrazujemo celu mrezu kriminala.

Razmena informacija je samo prvi korak jer ono sto se racuna je broj kriminalaca u zatvoru. Sa razlicitim zakonima od zemlje do zemlje kriminalci ostaju na slobodi jer ono sto je dokaz u jednoj drzavi nije u drugoj. Pakt za stabilnost pokusava da uskladi zakone i svakoj zemlji ponudi model za ono sto nedostaje u borbi protiv kriminala.

Gabrijela Konevska, Pakt za stabilnost Jugoistocne Evrope
Niko nece prihvatiti da bude svedok ni pred jednim sudom ako posle toga ne postoji odgovarajuci program zastite. Ako nemate program zastite, zivot svedoka i njegove okoline moze biti u ozbiljnoj opasnosti.

Porozne granice Balkana jos uvek su veca prepreka za policiju nego za kriminalce. Kao prirodna granica izmedju vise zemalja u regionu, Dunav je jedno od mesta ilegalnih prelazaka. Ova grupa ilegalnih imigranata uhapsena je prosle jeseni Hrvatskoj. Sve dok mafija bude imala bolju regionalnu saradnju od policije, necemo biti uspesni u borbi protiv org kriminala, kaze sef hrvatske policije.

Ranko Ostojic, Sef Hrvatske Policije
Pocinitelj je drzavljanin Bosne i Hercegovine, izvrsi kazneno djelo u Republici Hrvatskoj, a sakrije se u Jugoslaviji. I, imamo konkretnu situaciju da u Bosni i Hercegovini su zapravo sretni sta njega tamo vise nema, U Hrvatskoj nemamo niti jedan podatak o takvoj osobi a u Jugoslaviji trosi novce, prema tome nisu zainteresirani za njegov progon.
Marta 2001 beogradska policija otkriva u sefu banke 600 kg heroina koji je tu deponovala upravo policija u vreme Slobodana Milosevica. Na svetlo dana izaslo je tesko nasledje rezima u kojem nije bila jasna granica izmedju drzave i mafije. Pola tone heroine je tada unisteno ali naslovne strane beogradske stampe pune mafijaskih obracuna i bivsih gospodara rata jos uvek pokazuju da treba mnogo vremena, jasne politicke volje i medjunarodnu podrske da bi jednom infincirano drustvo moglo da krene napred.