Subregional Arms Race

NUREMBERG/JAKARTA (Own report) - The German presidency of the European Council is demanding that the states of Southeast Asia agree to EU military interventions. Preceding the March 14 and 15 meeting of the EU Foreign Ministers with their Southeast Asian, ASEAN, counterparts, it was said that last December's termination of European troop deployment in Indonesia (Aceh), is to be understood "in the region" as "evidence" of the "readiness" to engage in new operations. Proclaimed possible targets of EU security policy activities are Myanmar, the People's Democratic Republic of Korea (North Korea) and piracy. ASEAN is of high geo-strategic significance, because important trade routes cross the territories of several of its member states. The German government is also striving for a stronger position in the region directly bordering on the major power, China. In this region, the competition between the USA, European states and a re-consolidating Russia is becoming more intense. Beijing is also participating in this struggle and seeks to retain its traditional sphere of hegemonic influence.