US President Bush position is that all new democracies from the Baltic to the Black Sea should have an equal opportunity for accession to NATO, is written in a letter by Donald Rumsfeld, US Defense Secretary. The letter was read at the 6th Southeast European Defence Ministerial meeting, which opened in Antalya on December 20. “The future decision on NATO's enlargement will not be solely motivated by political considerations; the contribution of the individual countries to regional security and stability is also important, Rumsfeld wrote in his letter. “The United States holds the view that the numeric strength of SFOR in Bosnia-Herzegovina must be reduced by one-third, and that the countries of the region should take over the peacekeeping functions. In this context, the Plovdiv multinational brigade should begin to conduct concrete peacekeeping activities,” Rumsfeld wrote.

In his opening address at the Antalya meeting, Turkish Defence Minister Sabahattin Cakmakoglu said that the Plovdiv Multinational Peacekeeping Force of Southeastern Europe brigade has been ready to conduct real peacekeeping operations since May 2001.

Bulgarian Defense Minister Nikolay Svinarov, who participates in the forum,
commented the statement of the US Defense Secretary, saying that no decision on changing SFOR in Bosnia has been taken by the multinational forces.
According to Minister Svinarov President Bush’s statement shows that the United States will reduce their contingent on the Balkans. In his opinion the suggestion has been that the Plovdiv brigade be used exactly on the Balkans. Defense Minister Svinarov pointed out that the multinational Peacekeeping Force of Southeastern Europe have been created for peacekeeping and not peace imposing operations. He added that the announcements concerning the brigade vary, but no decision on locating the multinational peacekeeping forces has been taken so far. A working expert group to combat terrorism in and outside the region is to be created, headed by Turkey. In his speech Minister Svinarov pointed the factors that lead to instability on the Balkans, including terrorist acts, sabotage, organized crime, traffic of unconventional arms.

Ministers or deputy ministers of defense from Albania, Croatia, Greece, Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, Turkey and Italy attend the meeting.

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