Observatory on European defence, June 2010

June 4, 2010
UKRAINE ADOPTS LAW EXPLUDING NATO ACCESSION
The Ukrainian Parliament has passed a law that prevent the country’s participation in political and military alliances, expressly NATO, as a general policy of non-alignment.
The possible admission of Ukraine in the Atlantic Alliance was a friction factor between NATO and Russia in the recent years. The Russian Federation has fully opposed to a further enlargement of the Alliance in its neighborhood. The accession to NATO has also split Ukrainian politics and public opinion: the previous pro-Western administration considered accession as a strategic target, while the current president, Victor Yanukovic, prefers to have better relations with Russia, so he rejects the hypothesis of accession.

June 10, 2010
NEW GUIDELINES FOR ISAF MISSION IN AFGHANISTAN
The NATO Ministers of Defence and the others of the non-NATO countries who contribute to NATO KFOR mission, have noted the progress in the security framework of Kosovo, and have confirmed the decision to reduce the troops to slightly more than 10.000. The mission initially was launched with nearly 50.000 troops, and then it was progressively reduced to 17.000 in 2003 thanks to progresses on the ground.
The Ministers however warned that the mission will remain in Kosovo as long as necessary to transfer the responsibility of security to the Kosovo Authorities. The decision to close the mission will be taken after an assessment of the security situation.

June 14, 2010
EU RENEWS MANDATES FOR EUNAVFOR AND EUJUST LEX IRAQ MISSIONS
The EU Foreign Affairs Council has extended until December 2012 the mandate of mission EUNAVFOR, deployed in the Somali waters to counter piracy. Moreover, the area of operations has been expanded to south and east, covering a wider part of sea to counter the new routes used by pirates.
The Council has also renewed for two years the mandate of EUJUST LEX mission in Iraq, until June 30, 2012. The mission started in 2005 to sustain the reorganization of the Iraqi judiciary and police system. During the next two years the training activities will shift gradually from Europe to Iraq.

June 21, 2010
AGREEMENT ON THE EUROPEAN EXTERNAL ACTION SERVICE
The EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and other representatives of the EU Council, the EU Parliament and the European Commission have signed a political agreement for the establishment of the European External Action Service (EEAS). The text of the agreement will be formalized as a Decision of the EU Council, following the procedure of approval of the European institutions.

June 24, 2010
NATO ESTABLISHES A CENTRE OF EXCELLENCE TO COUNTER IMPROVISED EXPLOSIVE DEVICES
NATO has signed the required Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to establish in Spain a Centre of Excellence to counter Improvised Explosive Devices (IED). The attacks carried by IED are one of the main causes of NATO casualties in Afghanistan.

June 28, 2010
UE-US AGREEMENT ON FINANCIAL DATA EXCHANGE FOR COUNTER-TERRORISM PURPOSE
The UE and the US have signed a bilateral agreement on the handling and the transferring to the US counter-terrorism program of data about the European financial transactions. The previous agreement was rejected by EU Parliament on January 2010, because of concerns about the privacy of European citizens. A new agreement has been negotiated to guarantee an adequate data protection but also the possibility for the US Authorities to search the databases. The data analyzed by the US Authorities will be shared with the EU states to conduct investigations on terrorism.
The agreement will be in force for five years, and it will be renewed automatically for one year, even if a part will not dissent it.