Britain, Italy Urge Europe Defense Force

LONDON —  Britain and Italy proposed Friday to strengthen the Western European Union to serve as a European defense arm with its own rapid-reaction forces but in close coordination with NATO, a Foreign Office statement said.

“The WEU should be entrusted with the task of developing the European dimension in the field of defense,” the statement said, adding that the move is in the context of European Community moves toward closer political union.

The proposal foresees the WEU acting as a European “defense component” and at the same time strengthening the European pillar of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

The proposed rapid-reaction force would be used in a peacekeeping role or to respond to threats to the interests of WEU members outside the NATO area of operations.

British officials said the initiative, developed in recent months by Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd and Italian Foreign Minister Gianni de Michelis, is intended as a compromise to bridge EC differences over a common defense and foreign policy.

The officials said the proposal will be discussed this weekend at an informal EC ministerial meeting to be attended by Hurd in the Netherlands, the country which currently holds the EC presidency.

The meeting is intended to focus on political union, including common foreign and security policy.

Founded in 1954, the WEU encompasses nine countries that are members of both the EC and NATO--Germany, Britain, France, Italy, Spain, Portugal, the Netherlands, Belgium and Luxembourg.

The Anglo-Italian statement said the proposed new WEU would act both to reinforce the Atlantic Alliance and to contribute to the development of a “European defense identity.”