Europe Armed Forces

Western Europe, which shares everything these days from a currency to regulations on hunting migratory birds, is embarking this week toward the creation of a unified military force, a prospect that has given Washington the jitters. At a summit of the 15 European Union member states Friday and Saturday in Helsinki, Finland, EU leaders are expected to vote for the development of a "rapid-reaction corps" of 50,000 to 60,000 troops under direct EU control.

Western Europe, which shares everything these days from a currency to regulations on hunting migratory birds, is embarking this week toward the creation of a unified military force, a prospect that has given Washington the jitters. At a summit of the 15 European Union member states Friday and Saturday in Helsinki, Finland, EU leaders are expected to vote for the development of a "rapid-reaction corps" of 50,000 to 60,000 troops under direct EU control.

In a move that Western analysts here said has more political than practical importance, the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact nations published Monday for the first time detailed data on their military forces in Europe and their estimates of NATO forces. East Bloc defense ministers said in an accompanying statement that the data shows "rough parity" between the two sides.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization confirmed that it does not plan to base large numbers of foreign combat troops in former Warsaw Pact countries that join the Western alliance. The move was designed to calm Russian fears about NATO's expansion plans. "In the current and foreseeable security environment" NATO does not intend any "additional permanent stationing of substantial combat forces," the alliance said in a statement issued in Brussels. Russian President Boris N.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Thursday gave Russian leaders their first detailed look at an Atlantic alliance offer to unilaterally cut arms levels in Europe, but it remained unclear how far the proposal would go toward dampening Moscow's opposition to an eastward NATO expansion. Albright spent an hour with Prime Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin and more than three hours with her Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Yevgeny M.

The United States and its Atlantic alliance allies are ready to offer unilateral reductions of their conventional force in Europe as a concession to soften Moscow's opposition to the eastward expansion of NATO, senior NATO officials said Tuesday. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has been authorized by the alliance to explain and discuss the offer on arms when she meets a skeptical Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny M. Primakov on Thursday in Moscow, U.S. officials said.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, facing the first test of its resolve to meet the new post-Cold War challenges, has passed up the opportunity to become a significant player in the Middle East crisis, a decision that raises unsettling doubts about its future role.

U.S. Secretary of State James A. Baker III and his Soviet counterpart, Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze, are said to have the long civil war in Afghanistan at the top of the agenda for their planned meeting Wednesday and Thursday in this Siberian city. The two superpowers are reportedly nearing a possible deal that could end the conflict, which poisoned bilateral relations during much of the 1980s.

The chief of the Soviet military staff, Gen. Mikhail A. Moiseyev, called for a "Europe free of military blocs" during a landmark visit to North Atlantic Treaty Organization headquarters in Brussels. Moiseyev met with the 16 NATO chiefs of staff who were assembled to draft the alliance's post-Cold War strategy. He proclaimed that his country threatens no one and asked that NATO consider whether it is still necessary. "He's entitled to his view," said Gen.

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization agreed here Thursday on a dramatic reduction in its nuclear armory in Europe. NATO defense ministers decided to eliminate fully 80% of the alliance's 3,500 nuclear weapons--leaving only 700 air-delivered atomic bombs at European air bases. The ministers also approved the outlines of the sweeping new strategy for NATO in the aftermath of the Cold War, based on smaller, more mobile forces able to respond to contingencies inside and outside Europe.

Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin said Sunday that he remains opposed to the expansion of NATO but predicted he will strike a compromise with President Clinton on the volatile issue when the two meet next month in Finland. Declaring himself "fully recovered" from the ailments that have sidelined him since early last summer, Yeltsin chose the occasion of an important military holiday--the Day of the Defender of the Fatherland--to reassert his power and Russia's position in international affairs.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright met Friday with a thin but alert Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin, finding him mentally "sharp" and "very much in charge" but making no progress with him in softening his stand against the eastward expansion of NATO. Albright--the first American official to visit Yeltsin since his heart surgery in November--received a warm Kremlin welcome from the ailing Russian leader, who wore heavy makeup for their brief appearance before television cameras.

Secretary of State Madeleine Albright on Thursday gave Russian leaders their first detailed look at an Atlantic alliance offer to unilaterally cut arms levels in Europe, but it remained unclear how far the proposal would go toward dampening Moscow's opposition to an eastward NATO expansion. Albright spent an hour with Prime Minister Viktor S. Chernomyrdin and more than three hours with her Russian counterpart, Foreign Minister Yevgeny M.

The United States and its Atlantic alliance allies are ready to offer unilateral reductions of their conventional force in Europe as a concession to soften Moscow's opposition to the eastward expansion of NATO, senior NATO officials said Tuesday. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright has been authorized by the alliance to explain and discuss the offer on arms when she meets a skeptical Russian Foreign Minister Yevgeny M. Primakov on Thursday in Moscow, U.S. officials said.

Soldiers from the United States and 12 European countries on both sides of the former East-West divide met on a remote training field here Monday, opening what military leaders called a historic era in post-Cold War cooperation.

France and Germany took an important step toward the creation of a Western European army Friday, announcing the establishment of a headquarters in Strasbourg, France, by July and calling on other European countries to enlist their forces.

Signaling the possibility of a split with two key allies on the future shape of European defense, a senior Bush Administration official says there is strong concern in the White House over a French and German plan to create a joint military force. His concern, expressed in an interview with The Times, is the first indication from within the upper reaches of the Administration that the Franco-German proposal is seen as a potentially troublesome development.

New negotiations on reducing conventional military forces in Europe could begin before the end of the year, the French and Soviet foreign ministers agreed after talks in Paris. Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze said that "serious negotiations" have become possible because East and West are moving closer together on several issues.

In unusually blunt language for a diplomatic conference, President Bush threatened Thursday to pull the United States back from its central role in NATO if the other members of the alliance let the military organization wither as European unity approaches. Bush's surprise maneuver was intended not so much to bring about a U.S. withdrawal from the 42-year-old alliance as to force NATO to commit itself, in a formal manner, to recognizing the continuation of Washington's pre-eminent role.

Anxious to redefine the most successful alliance in European history, the United States and its 15 NATO allies will confer here today on rewriting the bible of the military partnership that defeated the Soviet Union without firing a shot. The mood among the victors after 40 years of Cold War confrontation is more pensive than exuberant as their two-day summit opens in a Roman suburb. The fruits of their historic victory have come to taste bittersweet.