Majorca hosts top defence meeting

Majorca was the setting for a meeting between Spain's Defence Minister Eduardo Serra and his German counterpart Rudolf Scharping yesterday and as the two emerged from talks at the Hotel Residencia in Deya, they announced that a general headquarters for the European army, which currently involves 40'000 United Nations soldiers, is to be set up in Kosovo so that the military's role in bringing stability to the country can continue. Head of the new headquarters will be Spanish general Juan Ortuño, who was recently named commander of the European army. The European force is made up of troops from France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Spain and Germany as was established in order to boost Europe's defence system. Serra and Scharping also discussed the need for a greater level of communication between the various states in the Mediterranean arc and that they should co-operate more in establishing peace in the Middle East. Serra said that Germany and Spain want to establish closer relations and “a more intense dialogue.”