Category Archives: NATO

Scientists and experts from Norway and NATO partner countries discussed opportunities for practical cooperation to address common emerging security challenges during a Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Programme Information Day held in Oslo on 14 June 2017. Successful cooperation between Norway and NATOs SPS Programme included activities in the areas of Women, Peace and Security and unexploded ordnance (UXO) detection.

Organised in cooperation with the Norwegian Delegation to NATO and the Norwegian Research Council, the SPS Information Day provided an opportunity to exchange on possibilities for capacity-building and research cooperation with partners in defence and advanced technologies such as cyber defence, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) technology and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) defence.

Norway has traditionally been a strong partner in the SPS programme, said Rune Resaland, Head of Department for Security Policy and the High North, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In the period from 2000 until 2014, Norwegian researchers participated in more than 60 SPS projects. Currently, there is only one project with Norwegian involvement in the SPS. We hope that the SPS Information Day can contribute to more interest for SPS in Norway and sow the seeds for projects between Norwegian researchers and international partners in the future.

Human and social aspects of security, including civil-military relations, counter-terrorism and the Women, Peace and Security issues were a focus of discussions. Norway recently conducted an SPS research workshop aimed at sharing good practices for handling gender-related complaints in the armed forces, co-organised by the Geneva Centre for the Democratic Control of Armed Forces (DCAF). Experts dealing with gender-related harassment and discrimination engaged in a frank and open discussion and exchanged best practices. Their work resulted in the publication entitled Gender and Complaints Mechanisms Handbook to prevent and respond to gender-related discrimination.

Norway is also working with Ukraine on an SPS multi-year project to develop a 3D mine detector. This project complements other SPS efforts in support of humanitarian demining and forms part of NATOs Comprehensive Assistance Package for Ukraine that was endorsed at the Warsaw Summit last year, says Dr Jamie Shea, NATO Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Emerging Security Challenges. Together, these countries aim to design a state-of-the-art digital ground penetrating radar system which will detect dangerous targets such as mines, improvised explosive devices and explosive remnants of war. The device will provide a visual 3D image and automatically recognise the type of the detected object in up to three meters depth. Ultimately, the technology will allow faster, cheaper and safer clearance of former conflict zones and help to avoid victims among civilians and the military.

Read the original:
Norway strengthens scientific cooperation with NATO partners - NATO HQ (press release)

TIRANA - At the venues of the Albanian Joint Support Command Wednesday was held ceremony on occasion of the first contingent of EOD (Explosive Ordnance Disposal) setting out for Latvia where it will join the NATOs Enhanced Forward Presence there, ATA reports.

The event was attended by Minister of Defense Mimi Kodheli, Commander of the Joint Support Command, Colonel Ardian Bali, and other leading figures of the General Staff and the Ministry of Defense.

Kodheli said in her speech delivered on this occasion that following the NATO membership, the concept of collective defense has evolved our perception of defense because now the borders of every ally country are even our borders and this is an embodiment of the values of freedom and democracy.

In this context, these soldiers depart today to make a contribution to defense, prevention and what is more in guaranteeing the security of the NATO ally countries in Eastern Europe.

Further on, Kodheli highlighted the government and the Armed Forces responsibility and seriousness for holding the burden that belongs to it within the Alliance as well as devotion and fulfillment of the obligations in the context of commitments in relation to the ally countries in line with agreement reached at Warsaw summit.

In addition to engagement within the country, EOD makes a contribution in Mali, Africa and actually in Latvia. Albania is part of the Canadian-led NATO battalion in Latvia in which take part Italy, Poland and Slovenia.

Read more here:
Albania sends first EOD contingent to NATO battalion in Latvia - European Western Balkans (press release)

ATHENS

Macedonia asked Greece on Wednesday to help its bid to join NATO and the European Union, efforts frozen by a decades-long dispute over the ex-Yugoslav republic's name.

Greece, a member of both groups, says Macedonia's use of the name could imply territorial claims on Greece's most northerly province of the same name.

It is withholding support for Macedonia's further integration until it agrees to change it and has managed to get many international bodies, including the United Nations, to formally refer to it as the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, or FYROM.

"I'm here to ask for your support," Foreign Minister Nikola Dimitrov, at one point Skopje's negotiator with Greece over the name, said in Athens.

"I'm convinced that you have the leverage in your hands and this leverage can help towards closing the way for the one open issue," Dimitrov said through an interpreter.

Athens would support Macedonia's integration "in every way, once the name issue has been resolved," Greek Foreign Minister Nikos Kotzias said during a joint news conference.

"That is a the prerequisite and I believe we must, and can, work towards a good compromise benefiting both sides," Kotzias said.

Compound name

The Macedonia name dispute has dragged on for almost 26 years with no clear progress. Athens has previously insisted that Skopje use a compound name such as "New" or "Upper" Macedonia.

It also blockaded Macedonia's southern border in the early 1990s, at least in part leading to a change in Macedonia's first flag, which depicted the Vergina Sun, a symbol from the gravesite of the ancient kings of Macedon, which is in Greece.

Macedonia's former prime minister, Nikola Gruevski, built his nine-year rule on nationalism and a rejection of Greek demands.

But the new administration of Prime Minister Zoran Zaev, in coalition with parties representing the country's ethnic Albanians, has pledged to speed up the country's bid to join the EU and NATO.

Dimitrov will oversee the U.N.-sponsored negotiations with Greece that have been stalled for several years because of the political and debt crises affecting the two countries.

"In this region ... we rise or fall together," he said, switching to English.

"As we are on our way up, we need help and I am sure at some point there will be an overwhelming realization that that's a good thing for your country ... that's a good thing for the region and that's a good thing for Europe."

More:
Macedonia Seeks Greek Support to Join EU, NATO - Voice of America

YEREVANOn June 13, Armenian President Serge Sarkisian received the North Atlantic Treaty Organizations (NATO)Secretary Generals Special Representative for the Caucasus and Central Asia, James Appathurai.

(L to R) James Appathurai and Serge Sarkisian, during their June 13 meeting (Photo: Press Office of the President of Armenia)

Welcoming the guest, the Sarkisian noted that such visits are a good opportunity to discuss the agenda of NATO-Armenia cooperation, as well as exchange ideas on the regional and international developments.

During their meeting, Sarkisian recalled his meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, which took place at the NATO headquarters on Feb. 27. Appathurai, for his part, thanked the Armenian President for the reception and expressed gratitude to Armenia on behalf of the organization for its participation in efforts aimed at the establishment of peace and contribution to the international peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan and Kosovo.

Appathurai also stressed that in the recent years Armenia-NATO relations have developed in the climate of confidence and mutual understanding and that he will leave Armenia with a conviction to continue that efficient cooperation.

Upon Appathurais request, Sarkisian briefed him on the process of shifting to a new system of governance and the significance of the constitutional amendments as well as on the developments regarding the Nagorno-Karabagh conflict resolution.

A day earlier, on June 12, Appathurai said the issue of increasing the number of troops participating in NATO-led missions will be on the agenda of the Armenian Defense Ministers upcoming visit to Brussels.

All NATO allies are concerned by the increasing level of armaments in the region also because its increasing the level of hostilities and political tension. Two of the members of the OSCE [Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe] Minsk GroupFrance and the U.S.are NATO allies. We can all see from the activities and statements of the Minsk Group like all NATO allies they are committed to a peaceful resolution. Overall, NATOs position is to seek a reduction in tension, a reduction in hostilities and a peaceful resolution, Appathurai said.

We do follow very closely the security situation in the region, receive regular updates, and there is a higher level of concern among the allies with regard to the situation. As you know over the past year we have seen more military activity, higher level of military rhetoric, casualties and military exchanges, he added.

During the press conference, Appathurai said that while NATO is not directly engaged in the Karabagh issue, its position is to support the OSCE Minsk Group. We would support any steps by the two countries or the Minsk Group that would help decrease tensions, he said, adding that he welcomed the balanced foreign policy that Armenia has.

It causes us no complication that Armenia is in the CSTO or the Eurasian Economic Union. From NATO point of view Armenia is and has been a reliable partner, Appathuirai said.

Well continue the static cooperation and the practical improvements where it makes sense for both parties, he added.

View post:
NATO Representative Visits Yerevan, Calls Armenia a Reliable Partner - Armenian Weekly

Macedonia is taking steps to settle a long-running argument with Greece in order to restart its bid to join the European Union and NATO. Russia and Serbia are not happy about it.

On Monday, Zoran Zaev, the Balkan states new prime minister, traveled to Brussels to tell European leaders that a compromise with Greece to settle a 27-year-old dispute over the use of the name Macedonia is in the works. Macedonias foreign minister, Nikola Dimitrov, and his Greek counterpart, Nikos Kotzias, are expected to meet in Athens Wednesday.

I know that if we have friendly relations and a good approach then a solution is feasible, Zaev told reporters Monday.

Zaev then said he wanted to join both the European Union and NATO in the shortest possible time. As a bid to pour some oil on troubled waters, he suggested that his country could participate using the rather clunky name it employs at the United Nations Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, or FYROM. Calling the country simply Macedonia puts it at odds with Greece, a country with a northern region of the same name a region that Athens has long worried Skopje covets. In large part because of the name fight, Greece vetoed Macedonias entrance into NATO in 2008.

Now, just after admitting Montenegro, the transatlantic military alliance seems open to Macedonian membership eventually.

We want to see your country as part of a stable, democratic, and prosperous region. NATOs doors are open, we support all aspiring countries, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said Monday, standing beside Zaev. The Macedonian leader is expected to deliver a report on reforms demanded by Brussels Wednesday.

Whos not thrilled about the prospect of Macedonia joining NATO: Russia, which warns against any additional expansion of the alliance. According to the Organized Crime and Corruption Reporting Project (OCCRP), Russia has been spreading propaganda to disrupt politics in the Balkan nation for nearly 10 years.

Russian officials have denied the charge. The claims of the OCCRP, sponsored by the U.S. state funds and George Soros clearly fit into the frame of anti-Russian hysteria, retorted the Russian Embassy in Macedonia. (The charges against Russia, however, are not far-fetched: The Kremlin allegedly plotted a coup on the eve of nearby Montenegros October 2016 parliamentary elections.)

Macedonias neighbor, Serbia, is also none too pleased about Skopjes westward tack. Belgrade was bombed by NATO in 1999 during the Kosovo War and has nursed a grudge against the alliance ever since. A majority of the countries bordering Serbia including, most recently, Montenegro are already NATO members. Macedonias ascension raises the possibility that the alliance could encircle the Serbs. Officially, Serbia maintains a policy of military neutrality, but Belgrade has held exerciseswith Belarus and Russia for the past three years running.

Photo credit: EMMANUEL DUNAND/Getty Images

Twitter Facebook Google + Reddit

Excerpt from:
Macedonia's New Leader Aims to Join the EU and NATO | Foreign ... - Foreign Policy (blog)

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg welcomed Prime Minister Zoran Zaev to NATO headquarters on Monday (12 June 2017) for talks on the partnership between the Alliance and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. The Secretary General congratulated Prime Minister Zaev on his appointment and welcomed the formation of a new government.

Mr. Stoltenberg encouraged all political parties to focus on necessary reforms, including on good governance and the rule of law. He noted that these reforms will benefit all citizens of the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and will further advance the countrys Euro-Atlantic aspirations. We want to see your country as part of a stable, democratic and prosperous region, he added.

Calling Skopje an important partner for NATO, the Secretary General also thanked Prime Minister Zaev for his countrys contribution to NATOs Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan. He noted that the Alliance will continue to support Skopjes path towards Euro-Atlantic integration, including NATO membership.

Read the original:
Secretary General welcomes Prime Minister Zaev to NATO Headquarters - NATO HQ (press release)

Lieutenant General Jan Broeks, Director General of the NATO International Military Staff (DGIMS) visited Romania on 9-11 June 2017. During his visit, Lieutenant General Broeks addressed the Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum and held staff talks with Romanian officials.

At the Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum, Lieutenant General Broeks participated in a panel on the Security challenges in the Black Sea area and the Balkans. Other participants in the panel included: Mr. Dan Dungaciu, member of the Scientific Council of the New Strategy Center (Chair); General Nicolae Ciuc, Chief of the Romanian General Staff; Mr. Mustafa Aydin, rector of Kadir Has University Istanbul and president of the International Relations Council of Turkey; Mr. Przemysaw urawski vel Grajewski, advisor for defence issues to the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs; and Mr. Robert Bari, Lecturer at the Croatian Defense Academy.

During his address, Lieutenant General Broeks highlighted the importance of the Black Sea as a key strategic intersection linking NATOs Eastern and Southern flanks and the Balkans role as a gateway to Europe from the Southern Caucuses, the Eastern Mediterranean and the broader Middle East. Lieutenant General Broeks also stressed that the Region has become the central focus of Russias larger strategic ambitions and revisionist agenda, making it a potential flashpoint for future conflict on NATOs border.

While in Bucharest, the Director General met with Romanian military officials to discuss the security environment in the Black Sea region and the Romanian Armed Forces transformation process. Lieutenant General Broeks took the opportunity to thank Romania for hosting and activating the Multinational Division South-East Headquarters as well as its role in strengthening NATOs forward presence with a Romanian-led multinational framework brigade on land. They also discussed the deployment of the British Typhoon fighter aircrafts who will be working alongside the Romanian Air Force to help keep the skies over Romania safe, as part of NATOs Air Policing mission.

Finally, Lieutenant General Broeks praised Romania for its valuable contributions to NATOs Resolute Support Mission in Afghanistan and to the KFOR peacekeeping mission in Kosovo.

See the original post here:
Director General of the NATO International Military Staff addresses the Black Sea and Balkans Security Forum - NATO HQ (press release)

A top NATO military chief can't see an end date to operations in Afghanistan on the horizon.

Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, General Petr Pavel is in Canberra for talks with Australia's Defence Force Chief Mark Binskin this week.

The Turnbull government recently made a modest boost to Australia's military contribution in Afghanistan - an advisory and mentoring role - at the request of NATO.

This brought Australia's total deployment to 300 defence personnel up by 30.

General Pavel said NATO was doing its best to align military and financial support with the Afghanistan government's next four-year plan.

"We have to take a long-term approach," he told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

"The scope, duration of the mission has not been set, we talk about (a) conditions-based approach."

NATO countries including the US are still considering adjustments to their own military commitments.

General Pavel said as well as discussing Afghanistan, the purpose of his visit was to also better understand regional issues such as the South China Sea dispute.

AAP 2017

Auto News:2017 Mercedes-AMG E63 S - the one we've been waiting for - caradvice.com.au

Career news: Three common career progression questions answered- seek.com.au

Auto news:New BMW M5 detailed - caradvice.com.au

Auto news:Ford Australia vs Holden; who will win the battle on the racetrack? - caradvice.com.au

Auto news:Suzuki is Australia's lovable underdog - caradvice.com.au

Auto news:Jaguar's tough limited-tun XE SW Project 8 sports sedan - caradvice.com.au

Auto news:Battle of the V8 Beasts: 5.0L Ford Mustang vs 6.2L Holden Commodore - caradvice.com.au

Follow this link:
NATO military chief in Canberra for talks - 9news.com.au

NATO forces load bombs at Aviano air base, in northeastern Italy, on March 29, 1999. (File photo by AFP)

Serbia has formed an international legal team to file a lawsuit against NATO over its alleged use of depleted uranium munitions during its three-month bombing of Yugoslavia 18 years ago.

Lawyers and doctors from the European Union, Russia, China, India, Britain, Turkey, and Serbia are preparing the lawsuit in an effort to charge 19 countries that were part of the alliance during the 1999 bombing of Yugoslavia.

NATO launched a series of airstrikes against the then-Federal Republic of Yugoslavia in March 1999, during the Kosovo War. The airstrikes, which had no United Nations mandate, claimed the lives of hundreds of civilians.

The alliance launched the military campaign after the then-Yugoslav president Slobodan Milosevic refused to agree to a peace deal to end a crackdown on Kosovo Albanians seeking independence.

Eighteen years on, the bombings still continue to take civilian toll due to the disastrous consequences of the alleged use of uranium.

The NATO bombing of Serbia in 1999 used between 10 and 15 tons of depleted uranium, which caused a major environmental disaster, said Srdjan Aleksic, a Serbian lawyer who leads the legal team.In Serbia, 33,000 people fall sick because of this every year. That is one child every day.

The lawyer said the then-NATO members, including the US, Britain, Turkey, France, and Germany, needed to pay compensation for the financial and non-financial damages... to all the citizens who died or fell sick as a proven result of the NATO bombing.

In addition to providing treatment to our citizens who are suffering from cancer, he said that the alliance must also provide the necessary technology and equipment to remove all traces of the depleted uranium from Serbia.

At least 50 people from the Serbian city of Nis, who have been suffering from cancer and have seemingly relevant medical documentation, have also asked the legal team of the lawyers and professors to represent them in the case against NATO.

NATOs press office said it was aware of the claims by Serbiabut refused to give further comments.

In a report on depleted uranium conducted back in 2000, the alliance admitted the use of the weapons both in Iraq and the Balkans. According to the report, American and British troops fired about 300 metric tons of depleted uranium ammunition in Iraq.

The report also said that NATO confirmed the use of DU [depleted uranium] ammunition in Kosovo battlefields, where approximately 10 metric tons of DU were used.

The UN International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has also admitted the use of depleted uranium projectiles by NATO aircraft during the bombing, but said there was no specific treaty ban on the use of DU projectiles.

The UN General Assembly last year passed a new resolution the sixth to be adopted since 2007 on depleted uranium weapons, which highlighted the concerns of affected countries. The US, UK, France, and Israel have been continuously opposing such resolutions.

Original post:
Serbia to sue NATO for use of depleted uranium munitions in 1999 bombing - Press TV

When President Donald Trump travels to Poland this week to meet with its embattled president Andrzej Duda, the two will have a lot to talk about. Both are alternately ridiculed and pilloried in the international press and both are intensely disliked at European Union headquarters in Brussels. Both have been labeled nationalists, demagogues and even dictators-in-the-making. And both of them question NATOs capacity to act as an effective defensive force.

Since taking office in 2015, Duda has consistently pushed for a stronger NATO presence in Poland. He used his first major English-language interview as president to push for Poland to replace Germany as the real eastern flank of the alliance, and his government has put real money on the table toward that end. Poland is one of only five NATO members to meet its 2 percent of GDP military spending commitment.

By comparison, Germany spends 1.19 percent of its GDP on defense, sixteenth among the twenty-nine NATO members. Poland also meets the less well-known NATO target that at least 20 percent of defense spending should be on equipment, with 25.8 percent of its budget going to procurement. Germany, by contrast, spends only 13.7 percent of its defense budget on equipment, with the result that some German units are armed with broomsticks instead of guns.

What a change a century makes. Until its virtual dismantling in the 1990s, the German Bundeswehr was NATOs main fighting force. While France cowered safely behind a line of American bases in the United Kingdom, West Germany and Italy, the Bundeswehr contributed the majority of NATOs frontline troops, tanks and airplanes. In the darkest days of the Cold War, West Germany was the bulwark of European defense. No longer. With Germany now lacking the capacity to mount any serious military operationand no other European country ready to step into the breachNATO's vaunted Article 5 commitment to collective defense has become, in effect, a unilateral U.S. security guarantee. Trump has now publicly accepted the mantle of that responsibility. But that doesnt change the fact that all for one and one for all only makes sense if all have the capacity to help the one.

It is becoming clearer by the day that most Europeans now understand Article 5 as a one-way American commitment to their security. It is true that NATO stood by the United States on September 11, with some NATO countries (the UK in particular) making serious commitments and suffering serious casualties in Afghanistan. But the military budgets of Americas NATO allies declined precipitously between 200815. Only a few are now able to defend themselves, never mind come to the aid of others.

In Europe, Poland is now NATOs central front, and the Polish government is aching for a more permanent NATO (read: American) presence in the country. The simple fact is that Poland is now the bulwark of Europe. It needs American help to hold the line. And given its deep involvement in Ukrainian affairs, Poland is likely to be ever more useful to the United States as an outpost at the heart of Eastern Europe.

Neither Trump nor Duda is likely to be impressed by European Commission president Jean-Claude Junckers call for a European defense capability to match those of the United States, China and Russia. Speaking in English at a European security conference in Prague, Juncker proposed what has been called a defense spending spree of 90 million euros over three years. Thats equivalent to just $100 million, or about the cost of a single F-35 fighter. Over three years.

Ironically, European leaders bristled last month in Brussels when Trump publicly and privately berated them for not spending enough on defense. Now, despite their overwhelmingly negative response to Trumps demands, they are calling for more European spending on defense. But calling for and doing are two different things. European leaders specialize in calling for. America is better known for doing.

Read the original post:
Is the Old NATO Dead? - The National Interest Online