3 New Messages
Digest #4712
Messages
Fri May 31, 2013 8:01 am (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://www.stripes.
Stars and Stripes
May 29, 2013
NATO head to visit DC amid debate over Syria
By John Vandiver
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NATO currently has six Patriot missile batteries, including two from the U.S., positioned near Turkey’s border with Syria...Russia announced this week it will deliver S-300 long-range air defense systems to Syria, in a move that would greatly complicate any effort to impose such [no-fly] a zone.
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NATOSTUTTGART, Germany: NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen begins a two-day visit to Washington on Thursday at a time when alliance members are grappling over how to deal with the situation in Syria and the shape of the mission in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of combat troops next year.
While the alliance remains engaged in Afghanistan, where the combat mission is winding down, it also is faced with new security challenges on the edges of Europe. Most notably in Syria, where the U.S. and its allies in Europe are pondering whether to bolster support for anti-regime rebels in the two-year civil war.
This week, the European Union lifted a weapons embargo, meaning individual member countries could potentially deliver weapons to rebel fighters. Some allies, however, have expressed reluctance about offering such support amid concerns those weapons could end up in the hands of Islamic militants also operating in the country.
During his visit, Fogh Rasmussen is scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama, as well as with Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, according to a NATO news release.
Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met Monday in Paris to prepare for an international conference in Geneva next month that is supposed to pave the way for a democratic transition in Syria.
NATO currently has six Patriot missile batteries, including two from the U.S., positioned near Turkey’s border with Syria...Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who crossed into Syria on Monday to meet with Syrian rebel leaders after meeting with U.S. troops in Turkey, has called on the Obama administration to widen its support for the rebels by imposing a no-fly zone.
Russia announced this week it will deliver S-300 long-range air defense systems to Syria, in a move that would greatly complicate any effort to impose such a zone.
============
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============
Stars and Stripes
May 29, 2013
NATO head to visit DC amid debate over Syria
By John Vandiver
====
NATO currently has six Patriot missile batteries, including two from the U.S., positioned near Turkey’s border with Syria...Russia announced this week it will deliver S-300 long-range air defense systems to Syria, in a move that would greatly complicate any effort to impose such [no-fly] a zone.
====
NATOSTUTTGART, Germany: NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen begins a two-day visit to Washington on Thursday at a time when alliance members are grappling over how to deal with the situation in Syria and the shape of the mission in Afghanistan after the withdrawal of combat troops next year.
While the alliance remains engaged in Afghanistan, where the combat mission is winding down, it also is faced with new security challenges on the edges of Europe. Most notably in Syria, where the U.S. and its allies in Europe are pondering whether to bolster support for anti-regime rebels in the two-year civil war.
This week, the European Union lifted a weapons embargo, meaning individual member countries could potentially deliver weapons to rebel fighters. Some allies, however, have expressed reluctance about offering such support amid concerns those weapons could end up in the hands of Islamic militants also operating in the country.
During his visit, Fogh Rasmussen is scheduled to meet with President Barack Obama, as well as with Secretary of State John Kerry and National Security Advisor Tom Donilon, according to a NATO news release.
Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov met Monday in Paris to prepare for an international conference in Geneva next month that is supposed to pave the way for a democratic transition in Syria.
NATO currently has six Patriot missile batteries, including two from the U.S., positioned near Turkey’s border with Syria...Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., who crossed into Syria on Monday to meet with Syrian rebel leaders after meeting with U.S. troops in Turkey, has called on the Obama administration to widen its support for the rebels by imposing a no-fly zone.
Russia announced this week it will deliver S-300 long-range air defense systems to Syria, in a move that would greatly complicate any effort to impose such a zone.
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
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============
Fri May 31, 2013 8:35 am (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://www.nato.
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
May 31, 2013
Junior diplomats from Pakistan and Bangladesh visit NATO
====
Discussions.
====
A group of junior diplomats from Pakistan and Bangladesh visited NATO Headquarters on 15 May to learn more about the Alliance and its cooperation with countries across the globe.
Briefing the group about NATO’s Strategic Concept, which was adopted at the Lisbon Summit in November 2010, Zsolt Rábai of the Public Diplomacy Division explained that developing cooperation with partners is one of NATO’s three core security tasks.
“New global challenges and threats don’t stop on the border of Europe,” said Rabai, emphasising that partnerships with other international organisations, such as the European Union or the United Nations, are also increasingly important in the unpredictable security environment of the 21st century.Gilles Vander Ghinst of the Political Affairs and Security Policy Division also underlined that “partnerships are a central feature of NATO’s work.”
The group had an opportunity to discuss NATO’s past and current operations with Erik Sandahl of the Operations Division. Given the proximity of Bangladesh and Pakistan to Afghanistan and the central role that NATO is playing...there, the young diplomats were very interested to learn more about NATO’s current and future mission.
Discussions also touched on the 2011 air campaign over Libya, the possibility of NATO getting involved in Syria, and NATO’s maritime counter-piracy operation off the Horn of Africa. International efforts to tackle piracy – a “booming industry with low investment” with links to other forms of organised crime such as trafficking in drugs, arms and human beings – again highlight the need for the Alliance to develop partnerships with countries beyond the Euro-Atlantic area.
The half-day visit was organised by NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division, together with the Dutch Clingendael Institute of International Relations, as part of efforts to reach out to audiences in Asia.
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
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============
North Atlantic Treaty Organization
May 31, 2013
Junior diplomats from Pakistan and Bangladesh visit NATO
====
Discussions.
====
A group of junior diplomats from Pakistan and Bangladesh visited NATO Headquarters on 15 May to learn more about the Alliance and its cooperation with countries across the globe.
Briefing the group about NATO’s Strategic Concept, which was adopted at the Lisbon Summit in November 2010, Zsolt Rábai of the Public Diplomacy Division explained that developing cooperation with partners is one of NATO’s three core security tasks.
“New global challenges and threats don’t stop on the border of Europe,” said Rabai, emphasising that partnerships with other international organisations, such as the European Union or the United Nations, are also increasingly important in the unpredictable security environment of the 21st century.Gilles Vander Ghinst of the Political Affairs and Security Policy Division also underlined that “partnerships are a central feature of NATO’s work.”
The group had an opportunity to discuss NATO’s past and current operations with Erik Sandahl of the Operations Division. Given the proximity of Bangladesh and Pakistan to Afghanistan and the central role that NATO is playing...there, the young diplomats were very interested to learn more about NATO’s current and future mission.
Discussions also touched on the 2011 air campaign over Libya, the possibility of NATO getting involved in Syria, and NATO’s maritime counter-piracy operation off the Horn of Africa. International efforts to tackle piracy – a “booming industry with low investment” with links to other forms of organised crime such as trafficking in drugs, arms and human beings – again highlight the need for the Alliance to develop partnerships with countries beyond the Euro-Atlantic area.
The half-day visit was organised by NATO’s Public Diplomacy Division, together with the Dutch Clingendael Institute of International Relations, as part of efforts to reach out to audiences in Asia.
============
Stop NATO e-mail list home page with archives and search engine:
http://groups.
Stop NATO website and articles:
http://rickrozoff.
To subscribe for individual e-mails or the daily digest, unsubscribe, and otherwise change subscription status:
stopnato-subscribe@
============
Fri May 31, 2013 12:53 pm (PDT) . Posted by:
"Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff
http://www.thelocal
The Local
May 31, 2013
Swedish parties want to get closer to Nato
With Sweden's main political parties in agreement that developments in Russia are going in the wrong direction, a key defence policy advisory committee has proposed Sweden seek closer cooperation with Nato.
"The political developments in Russia are worrying, as are the ambitious modernization plans for its armed forces. This increases insecurity compared to 2007," Moderate MP Cecilia Widegren, chairwoman of the defence policy advisory committee, said in a statement.
The report by the committee, which includes representatives from the government and the political parties represented in the Riksdag, concluded there was no threat of an attack in the near future, a conclusion also reached in the committee'
The advisory committee went on to propose that Sweden extend its cooperation with Nato.
"The defence advisory committee'
The advisory committee brings together representatives of all the political parties, whether they be in power or in opposition, and provides a forum to discuss defence policy across party lines. Its new report was handed to the government late on Thursday and has now been made public.
As well as entrenching Nato cooperation, the report called for greater cooperation across the Nordic countries, with "great possibilities" for greater coordination, and encouraged looking at the possibility of having Sweden reach out to its Baltic neighbours Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.
"Developments today take place at an ever more rapid pace, they are ever more complex and they are less easy to predict," Widegren said on Friday, referencing not only military threats but climate change and natural disasters.
It also noted that Sweden prioritized its work within the EU.
"Our security is increased through European integration and expansion," the report noted, adding that Sweden must consider that any attack would target more countries in the region than solely Sweden.
There were disagreements in the advisory committee, however, on how to describe Russia's militarization and the threats it may pose. While opposition parties the Social Democrats and the Sweden Democrats wanted to underscore the potential threat, as did the government coalition parties the Christian Democrats and the Liberals (Folkpartiet)
The Moderates, the Left Party, the Greens, and the Centre Party all wanted a more moderate use of words to describe any would-be Russian threat. They cited the fact that militarization was taking place from a low starting point and that it remained unclear whether the Russian economy could afford to support an aggressive upgrade.
They also noted that Europe was an important export market for Russian energy companies and that there was no financial incentive for Moscow to antagonize relations with its western neighbours.
The Local
May 31, 2013
Swedish parties want to get closer to Nato
With Sweden's main political parties in agreement that developments in Russia are going in the wrong direction, a key defence policy advisory committee has proposed Sweden seek closer cooperation with Nato.
"The political developments in Russia are worrying, as are the ambitious modernization plans for its armed forces. This increases insecurity compared to 2007," Moderate MP Cecilia Widegren, chairwoman of the defence policy advisory committee, said in a statement.
The report by the committee, which includes representatives from the government and the political parties represented in the Riksdag, concluded there was no threat of an attack in the near future, a conclusion also reached in the committee'
The advisory committee went on to propose that Sweden extend its cooperation with Nato.
"The defence advisory committee'
The advisory committee brings together representatives of all the political parties, whether they be in power or in opposition, and provides a forum to discuss defence policy across party lines. Its new report was handed to the government late on Thursday and has now been made public.
As well as entrenching Nato cooperation, the report called for greater cooperation across the Nordic countries, with "great possibilities" for greater coordination, and encouraged looking at the possibility of having Sweden reach out to its Baltic neighbours Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia.
"Developments today take place at an ever more rapid pace, they are ever more complex and they are less easy to predict," Widegren said on Friday, referencing not only military threats but climate change and natural disasters.
It also noted that Sweden prioritized its work within the EU.
"Our security is increased through European integration and expansion," the report noted, adding that Sweden must consider that any attack would target more countries in the region than solely Sweden.
There were disagreements in the advisory committee, however, on how to describe Russia's militarization and the threats it may pose. While opposition parties the Social Democrats and the Sweden Democrats wanted to underscore the potential threat, as did the government coalition parties the Christian Democrats and the Liberals (Folkpartiet)
The Moderates, the Left Party, the Greens, and the Centre Party all wanted a more moderate use of words to describe any would-be Russian threat. They cited the fact that militarization was taking place from a low starting point and that it remained unclear whether the Russian economy could afford to support an aggressive upgrade.
They also noted that Europe was an important export market for Russian energy companies and that there was no financial incentive for Moscow to antagonize relations with its western neighbours.
