10. člen MITHUV

1. Sporazum začne veljati z dnem prejema zadnjega obvestila pogodbenic, da so izpolnjeni notranji postopki ratifikacije. Določbe tega sporazuma, ki se nanašajo na operacije sil na ozemlju ene države pogodbenice, začnejo veljati na dan, ko začne veljati sporazum o statusu sil. 2. Sporazum se lahko spremeni ob vzajemnem soglasju pogodbenic. Dopolnila morajo biti predlagana v pisni obliki po diplomatski poti in začnejo veljati v skladu s 1. točko tega člena. 3. Sporazum velja za nedoločen čas. Katerakoli pogodbenica ga lahko odpove s pisnim obvestilom drugima pogodbenicama in sporazum bo prenehal veljati šest mesecev po prejemu obvestila o odpovedi. Podpisano v Vidmu dne 18. aprila 1998 v treh izvirnikih, vsak v slovenščini, italijanščini, madžarščini in angleščini, pri čemer so vsa besedila enako verodostojna. Pri razhajanjih v razlagi prevlada angleška verzija. Za Vlado Republike Slovenije Alojz Krapež l. r. Za Vlado Republike Italije Beniamino Andreatta l. r. Za Vlado Republike Madžarske Győrgy Keleti l. r. The Government of the Republic of Slovenia, the Government of the Republic of Hungary and the Government of the Italian Republic (hereinafter referred as “the Parties”), Confirming their full commitment to enhance the stability in EUROPE; Underlining the importance of a trilateral cooperation in the security field, based on mutual interests and on the development of military relations; Stressing the importance of multinational military cooperation and of one of its main aspects, multinational forces, which represents a highly significant political manifestation of solidarity and cohesion, and a means to enhance interoperability and efficiency; Recalling the political value of the Joint Declaration of Intents signed by the Ministers of Defence on 13 November 1997 in Budapest, have agreed on the following: 1. The Parties, in compliance with their internal laws in force and in respect of their international commitments, shall constitute a Multinational Land Force (hereinafter referred as MLF). Based upon this political – military rationale and due to geographic and geostrategic consideration, the MLF shall consist of a light infantry formation, at a Brigade level. 2. The general purpose of the MLF is: – to set up a readily available, highly operational light infantry brigade capable to provide an effective military response to the newly emerging challenges; – to enhance the level of interoperability among the three Parties establishing the MLF, improving mutual knowledge and the adaptation of commonly agreed operational procedures. 3. Within this framework the main goal is to provide a contribution to overall international security through: – dissuasion against potential adversaries by demonstrating an effective and credible military capability; – force projection to crisis areas for crisis management operations. 4. In order to fulfil the above goal the MLF must be able to: – plan and conduct “visible” multinational training activities aimed to reach and maintain high operational effectiveness and contribute to improving interoperability; – carry out peace support operations, ranging from humanitarian aid, search and rescue missions through peace-keeping tasks up to tasks of combat forces in crisis management operations as it is specified in Article 2. 5. Therefore missions such as those identified in the WEU Petersberg Declaration are included. The geographical area of employment might include the whole of Europe, with a focus on Central-Eastern and South-Eastern Europe, especially in operational theatres characterised by rugged terrain, uneasy or slow ground mobility and harsh climate conditions. However it is possible that MLF or a part of it could be requested to operate also “out of European area” especially as a humanitarian, peacekeeping, preventive or interposition force. 1. The MLF, which in time might be open to other Countries, can be employed in a trilateral or multinational context. It shall be also available to the WEU, or used within the framework of NATO, in accordance with the procedures of those organizations. 2. The MLF shall normally be employed under the mandate of the UN Security Council or OSCE or other International Organizations. 3. The employment of MLF, whether within a trilateral context or within that of international organizations, and irrespective of which of the mission envisaged in the Article 1, shall require the prior adoption of an unanimous decision by the Parties. 4. The MLF shall receive instructions, usually through an operational Chain of Command, from a high level Political-Military Steering Group (hereinafter referred as PMSG) including high ranking representatives of Ministries of Foreign Affairs, Ministries of Defence (MOD) and national General Staffs of the Parties. The PMSG shall establish the conditions for the operational deployment and employment of the MLF as well as for the training activities. 5. The PMSG shall be supported by a multinational staff level Political-Military Working Group including technical expert representatives of MODs and Services Staffs that shall meet as required. These structures shall also provide a forum for discussion on the development of the MLF. 1. The MLF is a Force consisting of permanent integrated Command structures and designated units, based on the concept of “National framework” also known as “leading Nation”. 2. The concept of “National framework” implies that there is not a permanent stationing of forces outside their normal national bases. The appropriate level of integration shall be reached by the assignment of other Parties’ personnel to the framework Nation Brigade HQ. This shall also facilitate the integration of the different components at the beginning of an operation or exercise. 3. The Italian Republic as the “leading Nation” shall provide the MLF Commander and the bulk of the frame Brigade HQ reinforced by a selected number of the other Parties’ personnel on permanent basis and adequately augmented on contingency. 4. The designated units are as follows: – three

(3)infantry regiments or battalions: one by each contributing Parties; – an artillery regiment, provided by the Italian Republic; – brigade support units provided by the Italian Republic with the addition of required National Support Elements (NSE); – each Party shall retain complete freedom in designating its units in the MLF. 5. The designated units are not permanently assigned but ready “on call”, in order to facilitate the force generation and assembly. 6. The units making up the MLF shall be Forces “assembled on request”. Each Party shall be required to identify them annually at the end of each year valid for the coming year. 1. When the MLF is activated the framework Nation Brigade Commander will be appointed as Commander Multinational Land Force (hereinafter referred as COMMLF). 2. For planning and conduction of operations and exercises the COMMLF shall provide the core staff of the MLF, which already includes personnel of the Parties and shall request the necessary augmentations for the task on hand. 3. Based on the received guidances COMMLF shall: – be responsible of operational planning; – contribute to define training standards and logistic requirements to be achieved by the National components; – plan and execute LIVEXs and CPXs; – establish liaison with other existing multinational forces with the aim of exchanging information for the planning of activities. 4. In operations and exercises the operational Chain of Command shall be established jointly by the National Authorities, taking into account the specific employment of the MLF. 5. Upon Transfer of Authority (TOA) the operational control (OPCON) for individual component units of the MLF shall be transferred by each Party to the COMMLF. 6. It is responsibility of the Parties to equip, train and maintain the forces available for the MLF to an operational and readiness status coherent with the standards set up for the MLF. The official languages of the MLF shall be the national languages of the Parties. English shall be the working language. All operational documents shall be issued in this language. Each Party assumes all expenses deriving from the constitution of its MLF assets. Common expenses shall be shared among the Parties, in accordance with actual cost arising on the field of joint exercise, training and assignment in the MLF. Miscellaneous technical details, questions concerning the MLF and other operational aspects will be settled in separate specific technical arrangements. On a contingency basis with the consensus of the Parties, NATO and WEU allies, as well as other friendly Nations forces, can join the MLF for training and operations. 1. As a general principle each Party shall guarantee the protection of any classified information and material according to their national in force laws and regulations in the field of this Agreement. 2. The transfer of information, documents, technical data and materials, whether classified or unclassified, to third Parties made available under this Agreement, will be subject to prior written approval of the originating government or bodies, unless otherwise specifically agreed among the Parties. 3. A separate Agreement, covering the whole security issue, including specific sets of handling procedures, shall have to be developed and signed by the Parties. 1. This Agreement enters into force upon the date of receipt of the last notification of the Parties on the fulfilment of their internal procedures of ratification. The provisions in this agreement concerning the operations of the Force on the territory of one State Party will become effective on the date the agreement on the Status of the Force comes into effect. 2. This Agreement may be amended by the mutual consent of the Parties. The amendment shall be proposed in writing, through diplomatic channels, and shall enter into force according to point 1 of this Article. 3. This Agreement shall remain in force for an unlimited period of time. This Agreement may be terminated by either Party by written notification to the other Parties. It shall cease to be in force six months after the receipt of the notification of termination. It witness whereof, the undersigned Representatives, duly authorized by their respective Governments, have signed this Agreement. Done in Udine on 18th April 1998 in three originals, each in the Slovenian, Hungarian, Italian and English languages, all texts being equally authentic. In case of any divergence on interpretation the English version shall prevail. For the Government of the Republic of Slovenia Alojz Krapež, (s) For the Government of the Italian Republic Beniamino Andreatta, (s) For the Government of the Republic of Hungary Győrgy Keleti, (s)