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NATO
UK Clarifies 'Out-of-Area' Mandate
24 February 1999
By Thomas Neve
The British Defence Minister George Robertson
testified to the House of Commons Defence Select Committee
on February 17. He stated that non-Article 5 missions need
to be incorporated into the revised NATO strategic concept.
He drew on the example of Bosnia and Kosovo to demonstrate
this as a "pragmatic role that has a legal mandate." He emphasised
that Article 5 must remain at the core of the concept.
When questioned on the legality of the out-of-area mandate
Tony Lloyd, Secretary of State at the Foreign & Commonwealth
Office said that NATO would consider each operation on a case-by-case
basis. He added that a UN mandate would not be needed in every
instance. However, it was inconceivable that NATO would break
international law.
Secretary Robertson added that possible legal bases for military
action would be the UN Charter, UN Security Council Resolutions
and the OSCE mandate. Both stressed that NATO always acted
with consensus among its member-states.
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