Germany is willing to offer more than 5,000 troops as well as six Tornado fighter planes to NATO's planned rapid reaction force, Defence Minister Peter Struck said Monday.The contribution would also include minesweepers and units specialised in detecting chemical, nuclear or biological weapons.
Struck said the NATO force "is designed to react rapidly and effectively to particular situations." He said it was especially important to put the Tornados at the alliance's disposal.
The Berliner Zeitung newspaper quoted a defence ministry report as saying that "the German participation corresponds to our actual weight in NATO and our proposed future role."
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization wants to set up the rapid reaction force of some 21,000 troops by 2006, capable of deploying within days to any crisis zone in the world.
The first units are planned to be operationally ready later this year.
Berlin is making 1,200 navy and air force personnel available immediately, while the remaining troops will join the force before 2005, the paper added.
German troops are already heavily involved in peacekeeping missions around the world, notably in Afghanistan and the Balkans.
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