Mr. Speaker, I would be happy to respond to the hon. member's question. First of all, with respect to the issue of how many troops would be provided by other European countries, I think it is safe to say that still is part of the negotiating process within the NATO member countries. Unfortunately we have not yet got an agreement at Rambouillet although there are increasing signs that the Americans, the French and the British are putting significant pressure on the negotiating parties to come up with an agreement.
Clearly when there was discussion about the number of troops that would be involved, the numbers were somewhere between 25,000 and 30,000 troops. It is obvious that the Europeans would be required to shoulder a significant amount of that burden.
A number of my colleagues and I on the defence committee had the opportunity to visit Germany recently to get briefings on what was happening with the German armed forces and their views along with the foreign ministry officials' views of what was going on in Kosovo. They understand fully the need for more European participation in a Kosovo operation. They understand as well as we do that if the situation in Kosovo is allowed to deteriorate, then the stability of the Balkans itself comes into question. That is something that no members of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization would want to have happen.