SEDM pledge more presence in international missions

TIRANA, Sept. 27 – On Wednesday Defense ministers from southeastern European countries met in the Albanian capital to discuss strengthening military ties, regional security and participation in international military missions. The annual Southeastern Defense Ministerial Meeting was being attended by U.S. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and senior NATO military officials and ministers from Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Italy, Romania, Slovenia, Turkey and Ukraine. Bosnia, Georgia, Serbia and Montenegro were also invited to attend as observers.
They discussed contributing more to international peace operations saying in a statement after the meeting that they were considering “potential opportunities in other peace support operations.” Many of the countries attending the Tirana conference are NATO members, but some _ including Albania, Croatia, Ukraine and Macedonia _ seek to join the alliance at its 2008 enlargement summit, and Rumsfeld said their success would depend on their ability to implement reforms. Albania said it might increase its troop numbers in Afghanistan, while Montenegrin Prime Minister Milo Djukanovic said his country was discussing contributing to NATO missions. Albania’s defense minister, Fatmir Mediu, opened the meeting by saying it showed the participants’ “will and strong commitment” to cooperate in serving “our common vision for a world of stability, peace and democracy.” Albanian Prime Minister Sali Berisha said that “unresolved issues and terrorism make the security of our region fragile … which makes close cooperation between our countries necessary.” Most countries attending the Tirana conference are members of the South East European Brigade, or SEEBRIG, created in 1998 to coordinate military and security efforts among countries that at the time were not NATO members. Albania was also proud to mention that the idea of creating the SEDM was made known 10 years ago in Tirana. Traffic at the center of Tirana has been at a standstill for two days due to security measures for the meeting. Driving during the two days was difficult.