Monthly Archives: May 2023

US Navy fast-attack submarine USS San Juan sails into Limassol, Cyprus, in April. US Embassy Cyprus

In April, the nuclear-powered submarine USS San Juan docked in the port of Limassol in Cyprus.

The submarine's visit was "clear evidence" of the US and Cyprus's "shared commitment to promoting security and stability in the region" the US ambassador to the island country said after visiting the boat with recently elected President Nikos Christodoulides.

The visit illustrates the importance that Cyprus's government puts on its relationship with the US and the value Washington sees in the island amid rising activity and tensions in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Located in the northeast corner of the Mediterranean Sea, Cyprus has a valuable position in an important neighborhood, providing a perch from which to watch activity in the Eastern Mediterranean and to reach into the Middle East and North Africa.

The Republic of Cyprus, as it's formally known, was subject to a US arms embargo imposed in 1987 and had developed close ties to Russia, but that dynamic has begun to reverse in recent years.

At a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in April, Gen. Christopher Cavoli, head of US European Command and NATO's supreme allied commander, said Cyprus is ideally located for the US to project power into the Eastern Mediterranean.

The region is a complicated area "that has seen greatly increased competition as well as Russian naval presence in the past few years," Cavoli said, adding that US naval forces "work extensively down there" and that NATO is devoting a lot of attention to Russian activity in the region.

Russia maintains a naval base in the Syrian port of Tartus its only naval base outside the former Soviet Union and an airbase nearby in Hmeimim. Recent upgrades allow its airbase to support strategic bombers and its naval base to do more repairs for warships.

Russia was also a close military partner and a major arms exporter to Cyprus. In 2015, Nicosia struck a deal granting Russian ships access to Cypriot ports for replenishment. Cyprus is also a major hub for illicit Russian funds.

However, Nicosia has been moving away from Russia and pursuing a closer relationship with the US.

In 2019, Congress voted to increase energy cooperation with Cyprus and other countries in the region. In 2020, the US partially lifted its arms embargo so non-lethal equipment could be exported to Cyprus, and last year, it fully lifted the embargo.

"Sharing an equipment set with another nation creates a strategic bond as well as a practical bond that is very useful," Cavoli said at the hearing when asked about the importance of Cyprus buying American rather than Russian or Chinese weapons.

"We keep a strong military-to-military relationship with Cyprus," Cavoli said.

Cyprus has expanded its military exchanges with the US, including formalizing its relationship with the New Jersey National Guard under the US's State Partnership Program in March. That agreement allows Cypriots "to engage in various training and joint exercises on issues ranging from counter-terrorism to emergency response" said Andrew Novo, a professor of strategic studies at the National Defense University.

Cypriot and American units have already conducted joint exercises and the US is training Ukrainian troops on the island.

Nicosia has also undone some of its ties to Russia. Following Moscow's attack on Ukraine in February 2022, it scrapped the 2015 deal and barred Russian ships from its ports.

Christodoulides, who took office in March, has "strong Western credentials" and wants to continue his predecessor's efforts to bring Cyprus and the US closer and "to promote Cyprus as a force for stability in the Eastern Mediterranean" Novo told Insider.

Burgeoning US-Cyprus ties would appear to benefit NATO, but not all of the alliance's members are happy about it.

Following USS San Juan's arrival in April, Turkey publicly backed a statement by the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus a breakaway territory that only Turkey recognizes that criticized the visit.

The Turkish statement described the US as taking actions "at the expense of disrupting the balance on" Cyprus and called on Washington "to reconsider these policies."

Novo said he doubted that Ankara had "a genuine objection" to US warships visiting Cyprus. "These activities present no real concern for Turkey and are not militarily significant for Cyprus," he added, calling the submarine's visit symbolic. (US submarines also visited the island in 2022 and 2021.)

Rather, Novo added, Turkish leaders are "uncomfortable with the new close ties between the US and Cyprus."

Since Turkey invaded Cyprus in 1974, the island has been divided between the Greek-speaking Republic of Cyprus, which is internationally recognized, in the south and the Turkish-speaking region in the north, which still hosts some 20,000 Turkish troops.

"Putting out an official press release criticizing the docking of an American ship is a way to make a little noise and remind Washington that closer relations with Cyprus make people in Ankara unhappy," Novo said.

Growing US ties to Cyprus is only the latest issue to come between Washington and Ankara, whose relations have deteriorated in recent years, driven in part by warming Turkish relations with Russia.

Turkey bought Russian S-400 air-defense systems which prompted the US to expel it from the F-35 program and opposed sanctions on Russia over its war against Ukraine, and Ankara is now suspected of helping Moscow avoid those sanctions. In April, Russian and Turkish leaders unveiled a Russian-built nuclear power plant on Turkey's southern coast.

Turkey remains one of NATO's largest militaries and occupies strategically important territory in the alliance's southeastern corner. It also hosts alliance forces, including US nuclear weapons.

Asked about Turkey's relationship with NATO during the April hearing, Cavoli said he would "defer" to civilian leaders on policy issues but added "that there is a sharp difference between our military relationships and our other relationships when it comes to some countries."

Constantine Atlamazoglou works on transatlantic and European security. He holds a master's degree in security studies and European affairs from the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy. You can contact him on LinkedIn.

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The US's growing friendship with Cyprus is a problem for Turkey - Business Insider

Taiwan

Former British PM says Taiwan is on the front line of the global battle for freedom during trip that China has called a dangerous political show

Free nations must commit themselves to a free Taiwan and must be prepared to back it up with concrete measures, Liz Truss has said in a keynote speech in Taipei, in which she called for an economic Nato to tackle Beijings growing authoritarianism.

The former British prime minister said she had come to show support for Taiwan, which was on the frontline of the global battle for freedom, under threat from a totalitarian regime in China. Truss arrived in Taiwan on Monday for a five-day visit, and is expected to meet senior government officials.

Truss, who was prime minister for 44 days in 2022 after serving as foreign secretary for the year prior, is the most senior British politician to make the trip since Margaret Thatcher, and drew a rebuke from Chinas UK embassy, which said the visit was a dangerous political show which will do nothing but harm to the UK.

Beijing claims Taiwan as a province of China, and Xi Jinping has not ruled out using force to achieve what he terms reunification. Taiwans government and people overwhelmingly reject the prospect of Chinese rule, and a potential conflict and its fallout are of key concern to the global community.

We cannot pretend we have meaningful deterrence without hard power, Truss said in a speech and panel discussion for a Taiwan thinktank, the Prospect Foundation, on Wednesday. If were serious about preventing conflict in the South China Sea we need to get real about defence cooperation.

Truss said the world could not rely on the UN security council or the World Trade Organization, and instead called for a network of liberty, with free nations working together to develop an economic Nato to coordinate pushback against Beijing.

She said the G7 which will meet this weekend in Hiroshima needed to coordinate economically against Chinese economic coercion, saying bullying on a major scale was taking place across the international area.

Truss said Beijing was using Taiwans international participation as a strategy, and called for Taiwans membership of the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership to be fast-tracked and approved and Chinas denied.

Truss is a hawkish member of the British Conservative party, and her speech appeared to rebuke comments made by current members of government and their European counterparts. Last month the UK foreign secretary James Cleverly singled out climate change as an area in which engagement with China was needed, saying it would be a mistake to isolate Beijing.

On Wednesday Truss said there were too many mixed messages from the free world, which she blamed on a false idea that the west could still cooperate with China on some issues.

The current prime minister, Rishi Sunak, must make good on earlier comments when he declared China the biggest-long term threat to Britain, she added. She called for the shutting down of UK-based Confucius institutes, and for the UK to rule out the resumption of economic dialogue with Beijing, saying: We cannot have more integration with the Chinese economy.

She said Beijing was already working to make itself economically self-reliant whether we want to decouple from the economy or not.

Truss also appeared to swipe at recent comments by the French president, Emmanuel Macron, saying it was completely irresponsible for European nationals to wash their hands of Taiwan because its a long way away or not a core part of our concerns.

Her speech was critical of the Chinese Communist partys rule over China, referring to the Tiananmen massacre, human rights abuses in Xinjiang, and the crackdown in Hong Kong.

Truss is the latest in a long line of foreign dignitaries to arrive in Taiwan, often drawing rebuke from Beijing, which objects to any action that appears to give credence to Taiwans sovereignty.

After the then US speaker Nancy Pelosi visited Taiwan in August, Beijing drastically increased its military harassment of the island, setting a new normal, the head of the Prospect Foundation said before Trusss speech.

Asked whether she considered the potential for her visit to worsen the security situation in Taiwan, Truss said Taiwans government had invited her and they were best placed to understand what will help.

[Beijing] are trying to limit visits, trying to silence Taiwans supporters and intimidate people internationally, she said. I think we need to stand up to that bullying.

An editorial in the Chinese tabloid Global Times on Tuesday night repeated a criticism by Alicia Kearns, the chair of the UK foreign affairs select committee, that Trusss visit was the worst example of Instagram diplomacy.

These types of ugly performances are attracting fewer and fewer audiences, the Global Times said.

Chi Hui Lin contributed to this report

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Liz Truss in Taiwan calls for economic Nato to challenge China - The Guardian

Washington

As the world waits for Ukraine to begin its anticipated spring counteroffensive against Russia, NATO Deputy Secretary-General Mircea Geoan is cautioning China not to provide military support to Moscow as Russia continues its brutal and illegal invasion.

"We have not seen yet signs of China delivering military weapons to help Russia, but we know that discussions are going on," Geoan told VOA in an interview Friday. "This will be a very, very serious decision by China that will be affecting not only their relationship with us, but the reputation of China and the rest of the world."

Russia is the "aggressor" in the Ukraine war, and arming Moscow is "something that we condemn very, very, very, very strongly," he said.

At the Pentagon Monday, Pentagon press secretary Brigadier General Pat Ryder told reporters the U.S. has communicated to China about "the negative consequences of providing lethal aid to Russia."

"Not only would it extend the duration of this, of Russia's illegal occupation of Ukraine, and result in thousands of innocents killed in Ukraine, [it] would also squarely put them in the camp of countries that are looking to eliminate Ukraine as a nation," Ryder said.

In April, responding to persistent Western concerns that Beijing would provide military assistance to Russia, Chinese Foreign Minister Qin Gang said China would not sell weapons to either side in the war in Ukraine.

Geoan, who supports Ukraine joining NATO, told VOA that countries such as Ukraine and Georgia should "have no veto from an external power like Russia about their own destiny."

"The truth of the matter [is] that it's not Russia's business what kind of decision I make for my own country. It's up to me, to my people, to my elected leaders, to make a decision where and how I want to live my life," he said.

Russia, which spans 17 million kilometers (10.5 million miles) and 11 time zones, will never be "encircled by NATO," he added, calling suggestions as such from Russia "propaganda."

Officials say Ukraine has been conducting shaping operations ahead of the planned assault.

Geoan told VOA the front lines in Ukraine were "fluid," with NATO seeing indications of Ukraine gaining territory along the western side of the embattled city of Bakhmut.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has urged patience as Ukraine continues to delay the offensive.

"We still need a bit more time," he told reporters last week.

Geoan told VOA he trusts the judgment of the Ukrainian leader.

"We know that Ukraine has the capacity to launch a successive counteroffensive, but we also know that Russia has the capacity to put forward a significant resistance," he said.

Military experts believe the war in Ukraine will increasingly pit quantity against quality in the coming months.

Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer, NATO Military Committee Chair, told reporters last week that Russia will "have to focus" on larger numbers of conscripts and poorly trained mobilized people while using older weapons like the Cold War era T-54 tank, which he said is still plentiful in Russia's stockpiles.

"The Ukrainians focus on quality with Western weapons systems and Western training. That's the big difference," Bauer said.

But NATO's Supreme Allied Commander Europe, U.S. General Christopher Cavoli, says that while Ukraine has severely degraded Russian ground forces, "in other domains, the degradation has been much less noticeable."

Lessons learned from Afghanistan

Russia's invasion of Ukraine came just six months after the U.S. and international forces' withdrawal from Afghanistan, which resulted in the Taliban retaking control of the country.

Geoan told VOA that NATO members are "obliged" to learn lessons from the Afghan withdrawal, which he called a "difficult" and "traumatic decision."

"We should not turn a blind eye to the things that we have done well and things we have not done well," he said.

More than 120,000 people were evacuated in August 2021, but tens of thousands of Afghan allies were left behind. An Islamic State terror group attack on Kabul's international airport during the evacuation killed more than 170 people, including 13 U.S. servicemembers, and a U.S. drone attack that was meant to target the attacker instead killed 10 civilians.

"I have colleagues in NATO that are still having a difficult time knowing that we left so many Afghans back," he said.

Since the international pullout, the Taliban have restricted women's access to education and banned women from working with international aid groups. Poverty has been rampant.

Army General Michael Kurilla, the head of U.S. Central Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee earlier this year that Islamic State's branch in Afghanistan, known as Islamic State-Khorasan, would be able to conduct terrorist attacks in Europe and Asia "in under six months with little to no warning."

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NATO Deputy Chief Cautions China Against Arming Russia - Voice of America - VOA News

When NATO leaders gather in Lithuania in July, they will return to a question that has haunted the alliance ever since its ill-fated Bucharest summit in 2008. While articulating a process for Ukrainian accession is not the most urgent matter, doing so has become unavoidable.

STOCKHOLM With NATOs mid-July summit in Vilnius fast approaching, the question on everyones mind is how to avoid another debacle concerning Ukraines prospective membership in the alliance. When NATO leaders addressed the same issue in Bucharest 15 years ago, they failed to reach a credible agreement about how to address Ukraine and Georgias aspirations for membership. We have all been living with the consequences.

In the run-up to the 2008 summit, Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko and Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili persuaded US President George W. Bush that NATO membership was the best option for their countries. Bush, in turn, promised that he would deliver a NATO decision in Bucharest. It didnt end well. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel were hostile to the idea, arguing that Ukraine and Georgia were not ready for membership, and that one should not risk alienating Russia.

The first point was undoubtedly valid with respect to Ukraine, not least because large segments of Ukrainian society firmly opposed to NATO membership. It had been only a decade since NATO bombs fell on Belgrade, so the question of joining the alliance was still highly divisive. Had membership been put to a referendum, it is unclear what Ukrainian voters would have decided.

Obviously, Russia, too, opposed the idea. Russian President Vladimir Putin made that clear when he joined the summit (these were different times) and delivered a speech essentially denying Ukrainian statehood. The audience was stunned, but he has stuck unwaveringly to that position for years.

In the event, NATO leaders forged a compromise that represented the worst of all possible worlds. While the alliance made clear that Georgia and Ukraine ought to become members, it hastened to add that accession would not happen then and there. The door to future membership appeared to have been opened, both fanning the flames in Russia and inflating the hopes of those who supported the idea.

Yet neither side had any real foundation for believing what it did. NATOs fuzzy compromise did not really pose a threat to Russia because it did not really bring Ukraine and Georgia materially closer to membership. Until Putins illegal annexation of Crimea in 2014, Ukraine maintained a policy of neutrality vis--vis Russia and NATO.

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Nonetheless, the legacy of NATOs Bucharest debacle has remained a burden to the alliance ever since. Now that there is a renewed push for Ukrainian membership, the issue will take center stage in Vilnius. The situation has changed profoundly since 2014. Russias full-scale invasion of Ukraine last year has rendered fears of provoking the Kremlin moot, and the question of NATO membership is no longer highly divisive in Ukraine. Putins war of aggression has fully united the country in support of it.

Still, the politics of the issue are no less complicated than they were 15 years ago. Plenty of policymakers in Washington and other Western capitals are wary of bringing Ukraine into the alliance too quickly. It remains unlikely that two-thirds of US Senators are prepared to ratify NATO membership for Ukraine in the run-up to the 2024 presidential election. The problem is not only that some Republicans oppose a blank check for Ukraine; it is that Joe Bidens administration and congressional Democrats will not want to hand Donald Trump a useful issue with which to support his America First re-election bid.

Moreover, NATO membership for Ukraine arguably is not the most pressing issue at the moment. While the prospect of the US deploying troops to the frontline battlefield of Bakhmut is a long way off, maintaining a strong, consistent flow of military and financial support to Ukraine is urgent and fully achievable as long as there is political will for it. In the months ahead, concrete support will be far more useful to Ukraine than formal commitments on paper.

Nonetheless, the trauma of Bucharest will hang over this years summit. Many of NATOs Eastern European members feel strongly that now is the time to correct past mistakes and flesh out the vague, unspecified promise that was offered 15 years ago. Another Bucharest-style debacle, they warn, would haunt the alliance for years to come.

In the end, the wordsmiths will have to produce a solution that provides a clear path to Ukrainian membership even as it falls short of immediate accession. Unlike in 2008, there can no longer be any doubt that membership will come one day. Ukraines security is key to European stability, and that will remain the case for decades. Resisting aggression and safeguarding Europe are the reasons why NATO was created in the first place. At stake in Vilnius is not just Ukraines future but also that of the alliance.

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The High Stakes of NATOs Vilnius Summit by Carl Bildt - Project Syndicate

An election representative shows a ballot depicting a vote for Kemal Kilicdaroglu at a polling station in Ankara, Turkey, on Sunday. Ali Unal/AP hide caption

An election representative shows a ballot depicting a vote for Kemal Kilicdaroglu at a polling station in Ankara, Turkey, on Sunday.

Turkish voters will return to the polls on May 28 for a runoff election after longtime leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan and his main rival Kemal Kilicdaroglu both failed to win more than 50% of the vote on Sunday.

The presidential contest comes at a pivotal moment for the country, which is grappling with issues from high inflation to the aftermath of the deadly February earthquakes that left more than 50,000 dead and millions homeless. Many in Turkey have criticized the government's slow response and see the election as a referendum on it.

There are also implications on the world stage: Turkey, which straddles Europe and the Middle East, is a key member of NATO.

It has maintained relations with Russia since the invasion of Ukraine and played a major role in pushing for peace talks and brokering a Ukrainian grain export deal aimed at easing global food shortages. Turkey recently cleared the way for Finland to join NATO, but is blocking Sweden from joining the alliance (over concerns that Stockholm is harboring groups, including Kurdish militants, that it considers terrorist organizations).

Kilicdaroglu a former bureaucrat who leads Turkey's main secular opposition party has spoken about restoring Turkey's relationships with the U.S. and Europe (while maintaining its relations with Moscow).

Erdogan has taken steps to consolidate presidential power during his 20 years in charge, raising concerns about democracy and human rights.

Turkey has been fulfilling its commitments within NATO despite Erdogan's rhetoric while also creating some difficulties for it, notes Alper Cokun, a retired Turkish diplomat who is now a senior fellow in the Europe Program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

He says the outcome of the election could potentially mean big changes for NATO and the region as a whole.

"A lot is at stake not only for Turkey but also for beyond," says Cokun.

Despite concerns about Turkish democracy and human rights under Erdogan's tenure, he remains popular with his conservative base and defied pre-election forecasts by taking 49.4% of the vote on Sunday.

Erdogan seems to have been able to "tap into the public sentiments" better than his opponent, Cokun tells Morning Edition's A Martnez. But he adds that it wasn't exactly a level playing field, since Erdogan had the "full force" of state media behind him and could promote a certain narrative.

Erdogan's reputation has evolved in the years since he came to power, Cokun explains.

The leader who once advocated for Turkey's accession to the European Union is "no longer seen very much as a like-minded person among Turkey's Western allies."

Cokun attributes that to democratic backsliding, multiple forms of misconduct and the government's earthquake response, which many see as underscoring the problems with the centralized form of government and executive presidential system to which Erdogan had transitioned the country.

"Initially he's had a good relationship and good standing, including with the U.S. But with a changing trajectory and more disruptive actions on his part I think though the U.S. or Europe doesn't say it in so many words they wouldn't have minded a change in political guard in Turkey," Cokun adds.

Erdogan faces his strongest challenge so far in Kilicdaroglu, a former accountant with a reputation as a clean politician and champion of secular values. Kilicdaroglu is backed by six opposition parties and won nearly 45% of the vote in the first round.

Kilicdaroglu has campaigned on reversing Turkey into a parliamentary form of government, as well as restoring trust with the U.S. and Europe.

"The opposition has put forward a foreign policy agenda that seems to imply that they would reorient Turkey not forfeiting its relations and the significance of its engagement with countries like Russia or even with China but making Turkey's position in the Western security architecture more central, Cokun says.

Analysts believe a Kilicdaroglu victory would mean a return to democratic norms, pro-NATO foreign policy (at least in some respects) and more cooperation with the U.S.

"The problems that Turkey has with its European allies, even with the U.S., I think, would become more manageable," Cokun says. "So the relationship would become more predictable and easier to handle, despite many challenges that would probably continue to exist."

The Biden administration has so far avoided picking sides.

"I just hope ... whoever wins wins," Biden said on Sunday. "There's enough problems in that part of the world right now."

That hasn't always been his stance. In 2020, when Biden was still a candidate, video surfaced of him calling Erdogan an autocrat and suggesting the U.S. should support the opposition comments that Turkey condemned as "interventionist" at the time.

Erdogan has actually been capitalizing on that criticism, Cokun says.

"He has been referring to that, suggesting that the opposition is working in tandem with foreign forces against him," he says. "And that galvanizes his public support and consolidates his base, and he's done that during this campaign as well."

Both Erdogan and Kilicdaroglu are expected to meet with Nationalist third-party candidate Sinan Ogan, who has suggested his endorsement could secure someone the presidency. Analysts say a deal between Erdogan and Ogan could win him another term, NPR's Peter Kenyon reports.

If that happens, Cokun expects Turkey to continue down its current foreign policy trajectory.

"Turkey and its Western allies and the United States have settled into a transactional relationship," he adds. "And that's really not a resilience form of relationship. It's more unpredictable and I presume that should Erdogan remain in power that would not change much."

The broadcast interview was produced by Shelby Hawkins and edited by Amra Pasic.

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Turkey's elections have implications for the U.S. and NATO - NPR

QinetiQ will provide testing support to the U.S. Navy and NATO during the second portion of Formidable Shield 2023, a multinational exercise for allied forces to demonstrate air and missile defense systems interoperability through joint live-fire drills.

The company said Tuesday military participants are conducting technology demonstrations in a real-world setting at the contractor-operated Hebrides Range in Scotland.

Under a partnership agreement, QinetiQ manages the weapons test facility for the British defense ministry and offers target launch services to the mission rehearsal event.

The U.K.-based defense contractor will help evaluate radars, communications equipment and other tactical platforms designed for a battlespace environment.

Naval Striking and Support Forces NATO and the U.S. Navys Sixth Fleet jointly lead the exercise involving approximately 4,000 military personnel and more than 20 vessels and 35 aerial vehicles.

The first leg of the international event occurred on the Norwegian island of Andoya.

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QinetiQ to Help US Navy, NATO Test Systems at International Air ... - ExecutiveBiz

The Italian and American Permanent Representatives to the Atlantic Council discussed Ukraine and upcoming challenges in the Med and the Indo-Pacific at the event promoted by the NATO Public Diplomacy Division and our sister website

Road to Vilnius.The upcoming NATO Summit (to be held in the Lithuanian capital on July 11-12) will see allies focus on the immediate challenge Russias aggression against Ukraine as well as near-future threats. Two heavyweights the Permanent Representatives to the Atlantic Council of Italy, Ambassador Marco Peronaci, and the United States, Ambassador Julianne Smith delved into the matter on Tuesday at aneventpromoted by NATOs Public Diplomacy Division and our sister website.

Here are some takeaways.

On partnership and consolidation.Allies will reaffirm their unity and determination to support Kyiv in its struggle against Moscow, explained Ambassador Peronaci, and take strategic decisions to strengthen medium- to long-term organisational arrangements while broadcasting the message that NATO is stronger today than when the war started.

On Italys defence spending.Touching upon the NATO threshold for defence spending (2% of national GDP), Ambassador Peronaci stressed that Italy is confident about reaching it. He then pointed out the countrys other contributions to the Alliance, ranging from thebattlegroups deployed in Latvia and Bulgariato theassets made available for air patrolling.

On the Indo-Pacific.The area is the natural extension of the Alliances gaze, highlighted Ambassador Smith, noting that Allies agreed at the last Summit to label China as a systemic challenge for the first time all while Beijing is trying to erode the system Allies created together 70 years ago.

On the Med-MENA area.The Alliances does not omit the South, stressed Ambassador Peronato, including through partnership relations with countries and institutions such as with the Istanbul Cooperation Initiative or the Mediterranean Dialogues. NATO, he said, must be capable of acting before and after wars, with prevention and stabilisation. Other actors occupy spaces that will be hard to recover in the absence of a strong presence of democratic countries, he warned.

On the Italy-US bond.The American ambassador finally remarked on the very strong bilateral relationship and long history of working together to address challenges between Rome and Washington in the Euro-Atlantic space and elsewhere in the world. She noted that global challenges will require even-greater collaboration on areas like climate change, migration, global health, and economic issues.

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Italy and US NATO Ambassadors discuss the Vilnius Summit - Decode39

As Soviet-backed regimes collapsed across Eastern Europe in 1989, some of the most extraordinary scenes played out in Romania. The speed and violence with which a brutal autocracy fell apart, from the first protests in the town of Temesvar to the trial and execution of toppled dictator Nicolae Ceausescu several weeks later, ushered in dizzying changes that many Romanians struggled to absorb. With Romanias post-communist social order initially scarred by widespread poverty and corruption, many observers in the 1990s expressed doubts as to whether Romanians would ever achieve the democratic stability needed to join the European Union.

In those first years after Ceausescus fall, the so-called Mineriad attacks against protesters demanding reform, carried out by miners under the influence of corrupt powerbrokers, raised concerns that Romania could experience the same downward spiral that fueled civil war in Yugoslavia. The emergence of far-right movements stoking resentment against ethnic Hungarian minority communities increased the risk of tensions with Hungary that had the potential to destabilize the wider region. Though a new government attempted to pursue more systematic reforms after 1996, its collapse a few years later was taken by many within the EU as an indication that Romania might never achieve the stability that the unions accession process is designed to encourage.

Yet throughout this turmoil, Romanian governments remained committed to achieving EU membership. The huge wave of outward migration driven by Romanias endemic poverty in the 1990s exposed many Romanians to the stark contrast between conditions in their own society and the prosperity of EU member states. And the prospect of access to freedom of movement across European borders enjoyed by EU citizens increased pressure on the countrys venal political elites to at least sustain a facade of reform.

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Romania Is Punching Below Its Weight in the EU and NATO - World Politics Review

Despite NATOs deepening relations with Indo-Pacific countries, including plans to open an office in Japan, the military alliance is unlikely to get involved in any potential conflict in Asia, said the chairman of the Munich Security Conference, Christoph Heusgen, on Sunday.

The plan to open a liaison office in Tokyo demonstrates the interest of NATO countries in regional stability and underlines the close partnership between NATO and Japan, Heusgen said ahead of the MSCs first-ever Munich Leaders Meeting (MLM) in Tokyo, which starts Monday.

However, when it comes to active involvement of NATO in possible conflict situations (in the Indo-Pacific), this is by definition excluded in the treaty, he said, pointing out that such a scenario would rather be dealt with on an individual country basis.

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NATO not likely to intervene in an Indo-Pacific conflict, says MSC chief - The Japan Times

An archive photo

MOSCOW, 17 May (BelTA) The United States and NATO should reconsider their destructive policy of escalating tension and show their readiness to reckon with the fundamental interests of Belarus and Russia, reads the statement on the common foreign policy priorities of Russia and Belarus signed by Foreign Ministers Sergei Aleinik and Sergey Lavrov following the talks in Moscow on 17 May, BelTA has learned.

The document reaffirms the commitment of Belarus and Russia to building a multipolar, fair and democratic world order that would be based on equal partnership and mutually beneficial cooperation of states and their associations. Our countries strive to promote the principle of indivisibility of security for all states and condemn any violation of it. It is unacceptable to strengthen the security of some countries and their associations at the expense of the security of other states, the foreign ministers of Belarus and Russia said.

In order to put an end to the ongoing security crisis, the United States and NATO should reconsider their destructive course of escalating tension, take steps towards de-escalation and show readiness to take into account the fundamental interests of Belarus and Russia. Political will is needed to develop mutually acceptable parameters of coexistence based on the principles of multipolarity, equality and indivisibility of security, which would minimize the possibility of conflicts, the statement reads.

We stand for the creation of a common Eurasian security space based on the sovereign equality of states, respect for the diversity and equivalence of national development models and forms of government. Such a space would ensure stable and free development of our countries, the well-being and prosperity of their peoples, and the preservation of their identity, the foreign ministers noted in their statement.

In the context of reconsidering global economic relations, Belarus and Russia are striving to build sustainable contacts with countries based on the principles of constructive, respectful and mutually beneficial cooperation. We are interested in developing solutions that would give an impetus to trade, mutual investments and joint projects and strengthen economic and technological sovereignty of Belarus and Russia, the document reads.

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USA, NATO urged to reconsider their destructive policy of escalating ... - Belarus News (BelTA)