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BAKU: NATO, USA to develop military aid programme in Azerbaijan soon

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  • BAKU: NATO, USA to develop military aid programme in Azerbaijan soon

    NATO, USA to develop military aid programme in Azerbaijan soon - daily

    Ekspress, Baku
    2 Sep 04

    "The USA and NATO intend to launch an unprecedented military aid
    programme in the former Transcaucasus republics in the near future,"
    a general of NATO's European command and the director of the Force
    Planning Section [in the Defence Policy and Planning Department], Frank
    Boland, told Ekspress yesterday [1 September], commenting on results of
    US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's visit to the region last month.

    "We are thinking about extending our aid to Azerbaijan within the
    framework of the newly-drawn up programme. Discussions were held during
    Rumsfeld's meetings with Azerbaijani officials," the general said.

    Boland said that the US Congress had envisaged specific budget
    loans for the development of military forces in the South Caucasus
    countries in the current year. "This figure is higher in Azerbaijan
    than in other countries," Boland said. As for specific regions where
    the new programme will be applied, the NATO general said that Baku
    offered the Pentagon mainly two areas - the Caspian basin and [its]
    borders. [Passage omitted.]

    According to some reports, "the new aid initiative" by the USA and NATO
    exceeds the limits of the Caucasus. Boland thinks that the initiative
    is to help beef up onshore, offshore and air security of Azerbaijan
    and Kazakhstan in the Caspian region.

    Touching upon the regional conflicts, Boland said that NATO "is seeking
    new ways" to resolve the Karabakh conflict. He thinks that NATO is
    very much familiar with realities of the Karabakh conflict and "we will
    increase our positive attempts to achieve a solution to the conflict".

    He said that cooperation between NATO and Baku in the fight against
    terrorism and in the sphere of security was an important factor. "The
    main priority for us is that peace and stability assume a lasting
    character in the region, " he said.

    "Numerous projects" between Azerbaijan and NATO are now nearing
    completion. "These projects mainly serve the development of security
    in the region. The interests of NATO and Azerbaijan in the region
    coincide. We will develop more successful projects together in the
    future. I am convinced that these projects will create a need for
    deepening our cooperation in other fields as well," Boland said.

    As for the Cooperative Best Effort 2004 exercises, the NATO general
    said that preparations for the high-profile military event "were
    being successfully completed".

    "We hope that Azerbaijani will entirely fulfil the commitments it
    has undertaken," Boland said.
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