German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer on Thursday welcomed the Ukrainian parliament's decision to reform the country's electoral system, saying he was convinced this would ensure the organization of fair elections. "The will of the voters will now be expressed clearly," Fischer told reporters at a meeting attended by 26 NATO foreign ministers in Brussels. The German Foreign Minister reiterated Berlin's refusal to send German soldiers to Iraq, even as part of a NATO operation in the country. "The Chancellor and I have explained to NATO that we are not going to send German troops to Iraq," Fischer said. But he insisted that Germany was training Iraqi police officers and soldiers in the United Arab Emirates, adding: "We started doing this when others were still scratching their heads" over what to do in Iraq. The political situation in Ukraine and the alliance's hopes of expanding operations in Iraq and Afghanistan were at the top of the agenda at the NATO meeting. "The importance of a sovereign and democratic Ukraine will take an important place in our discussions today," said NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, adding however that a scheduled meeting with Ukrainian officials had been called off. "This is not the right moment" for such contacts, de Hoop Scheffer told reporters. But Kiev's political troubles are expected dominate talks later in the day with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. The alliance is braced for more criticism following Russian President Vladimir Putin's accusations earlier this week that Western governments had been interfering in the country's internal affairs. --more 1320 Local Time 1020 GMT
