Contacts between the newly-appointed Secretary General of NATO, Hopp Scheffer, and EU High Representative for Foreign Policy and Common Security, Javier Solana, began last week, with a view to the “European Union’s possible taking over of the SFOR Stabilization Force in Bosnia at the latest by the end of the year”. The deal would be the realization of an understanding between the Atlantic Alliance and the EU reached at the beginning of 2003, to confer on the EU military command the mission of the maintenance of peace in Bosnia, in force under NATO command since 1995. During a joint press conference, Javier Solana declared he had received authorization from the 25 member states for the EU to assume command of a contingent of 10-12,000 troops. The final decision could be adopted at the next NATO summit due to be held in Istanbul in late June.
