VOA标准英语10月-EU Defense Ministers Agree to Phase Out Peacekeep

European Union Defense¹ ministers have wrapped up a two-day meeting in France focused on beefing up the bloc's defense capabilities² and looking at EU missions in Bosnia, Chad and elsewhere. For VOA, Lisa Bryant has more on the talks from Paris.

EU ministers meeting in the northern French city of Deauville agreed to phase out their peacekeeping presence in Bosnia, although they did not set a deadline to do so.
　

Herve Morin speaks during closing press conference of two-day informal meeting of EU defense ministers in Deauville, Normandy, 02 Oct 2008

French Defense Minister Herve Morin called the four-year-old peacekeeping operation a success. The 2,000-member mission has been involved in military tasks in accordance with a deal ending Bosnia's 1992-1995 war.

Morin said several options were now on the table, including phasing out the operation and turning the tasks over to civilians³ and Bosnian soldiers.

Eight EU countries also volunteered to create a maritime⁴ security force to fight piracy⁵ that has been rampant⁶ off the coast of Somalia. In perhaps their most audacious act, Somali pirates have boarded a Ukrainian ship carrying arms. The maritime initiative still needs approval - probably during another EU defense meeting in Brussels next month.

Morin also said the EU ministers had made strides on ways to improve Europe's military capabilities in cooperating more closely. Among other ideas, they are pushing a plan to allow officers to study in military schools across the 27-member block.

1 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

2 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 civilians   

平民，百姓( civilian的名词复数 )； 老百姓

参考例句：

• the bloody massacre of innocent civilians 对无辜平民的血腥屠杀
• At least 300 civilians are unaccounted for after the bombing raids. 遭轰炸袭击之后，至少有300名平民下落不明。

4 maritime   

adj.海的，海事的，航海的，近海的，沿海的

参考例句：

• Many maritime people are fishermen.许多居于海滨的人是渔夫。
• The temperature change in winter is less in maritime areas.冬季沿海的温差较小。

5 piracy   

n.海盗行为，剽窃，著作权侵害

参考例句：

• The government has already adopted effective measures against piracy.政府已采取有效措施惩治盗版行为。
• They made the place a notorious centre of piracy.他们把这地方变成了臭名昭著的海盗中心。

6 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。