ATHENS, Dec 1: Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt said on Monday he was confident the European Union could soon have a headquarters to coordinate European defence.

“Regarding the headquarters... we can’t talk about it in the (European) constitution, but I think we are moving in the right direction,” he said after a meeting with his Greek counterpart Costas Simitis.

“The EU needs a capacity to plan and carry out autonomous operations and I am confident that in the near future, after the adoption of the constitution, it will be possible to create that,” he said.

Belgium has been at the forefront of more controversial plans for a fully fledged EU military headquarters.

Verhofstadt added that the announcement in Naples on Friday by Britain, France and Germany of what French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin called “the basis for a proposal” by the trio for a planning cell to boost the EU’s military capabilities was “a big step forward for Europe’s defence.”

Simitis for his part said that the announcement in the Italian city was an “especially positive evolution.”

“Greece believes that there must be a European defence, that it must work in close cooperation with NATO on the basis of certain rules, and that Europe must move forward in the organisation of that defence,” he said.

He added that Greece and Belgium intended to work together to get the proposals of the “big three” accepted and rapidly implemented once the EU constitution had been approved.

On Sunday US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld cautioned against EU moves to set up an independent cell, saying nothing should be done to put NATO at risk, although he did not specifically reject the plans.

The US has raised concerns that a separate EU planning cell would open competition between NATO and the EU for resources.—AFP