ARTICLE

December 2002

Multi-National Brigade Set to Deploy in Balkans

Southeastern European nations train together for peace operations in the region

by Elizabeth Book

Military leaders from Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria and Romania recently met in Washington to discuss the upcoming deployment of the South-Eastern Europe Brigade (SEEBRIG). The brigade plans to send a “force offer” to the North Atlantic Treaty Organization by year’s end, according to civilian and military officials.

SEEBRIG was established in 1998 by the South-Eastern Europe Defense Ministerial (SEDM), an informal group of the area’s defense ministers. SEDM includes defense officials from Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Greece, Italy, Macedonia, Romania, Slovenia, Turkey and the United States. The brigade represents seven of these nations, all except the United States, Slovenia and Croatia, which serve as observer nations.

The brigade’s stated goal is to contribute to stability and security in a region known for conflict and tension, and to deploy for missions in support of the United Nations, NATO or the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, said officials. Though the brigade is open to deploying for “coalition of the willing,” peacekeeping or humanitarian-support operations, it will not participate in “peace enforcement” operations, an official said.

“For the first actions, they want to maintain peace and help nations conduct normal business,” rather than peace enforcement, “which is war,” said Mircea Mocanu, Romania’s assistant defense attaché to the United States.

The United States is anxious to see the brigade deployed to assist in regional conflicts. “SEEBRIG is the flagship of the Southern Europe military defense. It has truly been a political success,” said Maria Copson-Niecko, a European policy staff member in the office of the secretary of defense. “But without deployment, something is missing,” she said.

A permanent staff headquarters for SEEBRIG, with rotating chairmen and military commanders from each participating nation, was established in 1999. It has 35 standing personnel, and can expand to approximately 150. The current headquarters are located in Plovdiv, Bulgaria, and because of the brigade’s rotation regulations, will move to Constanta, Romania in July of 2003.

The brigade adheres to NATO procedures and doctrine, said Turkish Col. Ali Demiral, the brigade’s current commander. Demiral reported that the brigade is building up to five battalion-sized units, and once deployed, would provide a force of approximately 3,000 infantry soldiers.

According to planning documents, the structure consists of “four mechanized infantry battalions and one framework mechanized infantry regiment enforced with one infantry company and one mechanized company.” A reconnaissance platoon and a reconnaissance company will also be set up. The documents indicate that a self-propelled Howitzer battery, one engineer platoon, and two tactical air control parties form combat support units for the brigade.

Nations are responsible for the training of their own units, but there have been joint exercises to test compatibility and cooperation. The brigade recently completed two live exercises in Ukraine and Turkey, and a simulation exercise in Greece, said Demiral. Mocanu added that a headquarters exercise also recently was conducted in Bulgaria.

The brigade works as a team with the individual countries contributing logistics, materiel and support according to their abilities and priorities. “Each country presents units it has selected,” said Sorin Ducaru, Romania’s ambassador to the United States. “It is an international and complex mechanism of political balance and practical cooperation.”

“It could be used as a lesson to other regions known for conflict, such as the Middle East, Afghanistan or Timor,” he said.

“We are all presented with the image of the Balkans as the powder keg of Europe,” said Ovidiu Dranga, the civilian chairman of the SEDM coordinating committee. “The results of the South-East Europe initiative is deep agreement that they [the member nations] are not enemies to one another,” Dranga said.

He said that SEEBRIG seeks to combat the powder-keg image by deploying its troops for practical, collaborative projects. SEEBRIG training has in recent months focused on counter-terrorism, counter-proliferation and border security, and could likely be deployed in the region for such purposes, he said. Transport challenges will prevent the brigade from immediately deploying outside the region, he said.

A side benefit of the brigade’s engagement in NATO-style operations is an inducement for the countries to enhance interoperability, even for the countries not yet ready to join NATO, Dranga said.

Greece, Turkey, Italy and the United States already are members of NATO, and Slovenia, Bulgaria and Romania are set to join in 2004. For the countries that are not yet NATO members, the brigade could serve as a “channeling instrument,” to bring the countries up to speed on NATO operational policy, said Dranga.

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