U.K. plays down Cohen's remarks

By Hasan Suroor

LONDON, DEC. 7. Britain is trying to play down U.S. fears over the new European defence initiative, particularly its Defence Secretary, Mr. William Cohen's statement that it would weaken NATO and reduce it to a ``relic''.

There is an attempt here to suggest that his statement does not reflect the U.S. official stand and that it is addressed to French ``hardliners'' who want to get NATO off Europe's back. Mr. Cohen's remarks - described as an ``outburst'' in a section of the media here - have embarrassed the British Government which had consistently claimed that Washington was fully behind the proposal to create a European rapid reaction force to handle regional conflicts. A leader newspaper had even got the U.S. Secretary of State, Ms. Madeleine Albright to write a joint article with the British Foreign Secretary, Mr. Robin Cook defending the idea and it was claimed that the article was written with the consent of the U.S. President, Mr. Bill Clinton.

The British Defence Secretary, Mr. Geoffrey Hoon sought to allay U.S. fears on Wednesday saying Britain would ``not sign up for anything that in any way jeopardizes NATO.'' He said Britain regarded NATO as ``the central pillar of our defence and will continue to do so.'' He also claimed that Mr. Cohen had expressed his ``fundamental support for the European defence initiative.'' Notwithstanding the gloss that is being sought to put on Mr. Cohen's statement, its timing has caught the Blair Government on the wrong foot, coming as it did, at a time when the Prime Minister, Mr. Tony Blair is trying to fend off attacks from the Conservatives on the one hand and the Euro-sceptics within his own Cabinet on the other. The Guardian today quoted unnamed officials as blaming the French for Mr. Cohen's sharp reaction. They suggested that it was the strong anti-U.S. sentiment in France and a bid by Paris to advocate a more independent role for the new force that had apparently angered Mr. Cohen.

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Section  : International
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