Macedonia: The Government is "looking positively" at a request to send gardaí to the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as part of an EU policing operation. EU foreign ministers agreed in principle yesterday to send almost 200 police officers to Macedonia in December.
Ireland was unable to take part in an EU military mission to the country earlier this year because the mission was not covered by a mandate from the United Nations Security Council. Members of the Defence Forces may only take part in operations that are approved by the Government and the Oireachtas and are backed by a UN mandate.
The Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, said yesterday that a policing mission would not require a UN mandate but would be a Government decision.
"We are looking positively at the police mission in Macedonia but there is no decision," he said. A Government source told The Irish Times, however, that a member of the Garda has been made available to be part of the small planning staff that will start preparing the operation next month.
The police mission, to be known as EUPOL, will have its headquarters in Skopje and will seek to consolidate law and order in Macedonia, where ethnic conflicts have threatened to plunge the country into civil war.
The EU police will help in the fight against organised crime, assist in the creation of a border police force and help local police to build confidence within the population.
The foreign ministers yesterday earmarked €7.3 million for start-up costs for the operation and a similar sum for running costs next year.
