EU-DIGEST

As political and military leaders across the globe pondered the import of President Obama’s announcement of his Afghan strategy, the NATO secretary general said Wednesday he believed other members of the alliance would contribute 5,000 soldiers — and possibly more — to make a “substantial” increase to the 43-nation coalition fighting the Taliban. Speaking at the alliance’s headquarters in Brussels, the official, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, said he anticipated “at least 5,000 more forces from other countries in our alliance and possibly a few thousand more” to bolster NATO’s current contingent of around 42,000 soldiers in Afghanistan. The figure fell somewhat short of American hopes, voiced by officials before the president’s speech, that the NATO allies would contribute up to 8,000 additional soldiers.

In Europe, the appeal drew an ambivalent response. France and Germany immediately ruled out an immediate commitment of more ground forces. But Poland was reported to be considering increasing its contingent by 600 soldiers from its current level of 2,000, Reuters reported, and a Spanish newspaper said Spain might increase its deployment by 200 soldiers to 1,200. Britain pledged to press other allies to boost their contingents and Italy hinted at an unspecified increase beyond its current 2,800 soldiers in the patchwork of foreign troops in Afghanistan, known as the International Security Assistance Force.

Note EU-Digest: we can only hope a deal can eventually be made with the Taliban, which provides everyone the opportunity to get out of Afghanistan and if the Taliban does not keep their side of the bargain, make their life very uncomfortable by using all the military superiority the West has. Fighting the Taliban on their terms in a ground war will never work and also bankrupt the Western alliance economic resources.

Labels: Afganistan, EU, Nato, NATO. US

Prospects for Turkey’s accession to the exclusive European club may look dimmer than ever but the republic, which is Nato’s only Muslim member, is increasingly turning eastward for its ambitions. From the Balkans to the Caucasus to the Middle East, Turkey is focusing its energies on establishing an arc of influence in many countries which were once part of the Ottoman empire. But instead of rose-perfumed pashas in embroidered caftans invading Arab lands with cadres of janissaries, Turkish politicians are arriving with delegations of business leaders dangling lucrative trade deals to the economically stagnant region.

“Turkey is carrying western values to its eastern neighbours,” said Mustafa Kutley, an Ankara-based contributor to the Turkish Weekly journal. “It is trying a very European approach: while increasing the wealth of its country it is transforming the continent from one of violence to one of wealth. That is what Europe once did. The EU is less important on the Turkish agenda.”

Labels: EU, Middle East, Nato, Turkey

Next week in Washington, U.S. President Barack Obama will host a summit of European Union leaders to discuss a number of issues, including what to do next in Afghanistan. Despite the presence of about 70,000 troops under NATO command, the central Asian country has become increasingly violent and unstable. NATO's International Security Assistance Force has been looking for more troops in order to reverse course. While NATO's 28 member countries grapple with how to improve their chances of beating the Taliban, the alliance is facing growing criticism over how the mission has been conducted and whether it can go on for much longer.

Poll results released in September by the German Marshall Fund, a non-profit group that has offices on both sides of the Atlantic, found that only 37 per cent of Afghans think NATO should remain in their country. Fifty per cent of Afghans polled said NATO forces should leave immediately. In Europe, two-thirds of respondents said NATO is incapable of stabilizing the country. Even in the U.S., which initiated the war, the poll found that 56 per cent of Americans were optimistic about the mission. Regardless of public opinion, if NATO fails to stamp out the Taliban it would raise questions about whether Western countries need the alliance at all

Labels: Afghanistan, Nato

NATO: Greece-Turkey row endangering troops

NATO’s chief pressed Greece Thursday not to hinder cooperation between NATO and the European Union in Afghanistan because of its differences with Turkey, saying the security of international troops was at stake. NATO and the EU, both present in Afghanistan, have so far failed to conclude a security agreement for better cooperation in the field. “The lack of this agreement might put our personnel on the ground at risk,” NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said after a meeting with Greek Prime Minister Costas Karamanlis. “We have discussed that in detail, because it’s a real concern to me. We can’t allow a lack of security because of these political issues.”

Labels: EU, Greece, Nato, Turkey

NATO isn't prepared for new land wars in Europe - by Martin Sieff

There's one thing that Bush administration Republicans and Obama administration Democrats agree on when it comes to national security issues: The day of major land wars between major industrialized states is over. In fact the nearest thing there has been to such a war in the past generation was between two relatively small states -- Iran and Iraq, which fought a bitter ground war that cost close to a million dead -- possibly many more -- from 1980 to 1988. The idea that such a tragedy could occur again in modern Europe, six and a half decades after World War II ended, is inconceivable to liberals and conservatives alike in Washington. The possibility of having to fight such a war is even more appalling and inconceivable to the military planners who are paid to prepare for it in European nations and in NATO alliance headquarters in Brussels, Belgium.

Labels: EU, Nato, US

Georgia-The Unstable NATO Ally Seeing Red: As it blames Russia for 'mutiny' - by Fred Weir

It looked like a recipe for political crisis even before a Georgian tank battalion apparently mutinied on Tuesday: • Nearly a month of rolling street demonstrations have virtually shut down the central area of the capital, with thousands of protesters daily demanding the resignation of Georgia's president, Mikhail Saakashvili. • Russian troops have been massing in the past week barely an hour's drive away in South Ossetia. • NATO-sponsored war games that Moscow furiously opposes are set to begin on Wednesday.Georgi Khutsishvili, chair of the International Center on Conflict and Negotiation in Tbilisi, says there are no "pro-Russian" forces, either among the opposition in Tbilisi's streets or within the Georgian army. "Our authorities are always seeing Moscow's hand in things," he says. "But I cannot imagine that any Georgian army battalion could revolt on Russian orders. I completely exclude this. Whatever happened, it must be explained by internal factors." Experts say the Kremlin appears increasingly concerned over the damage to Russia's fragile dialogue with NATO, begun with high hopes barely a month ago. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last week called on the Western alliance to cancel the "shortsighted" war games, and ordered Russian officials not to attend a NATO council meeting slated for Thursday.

Note EU-Digest: It is high time the EU distance itself from this very precarious situation in Georgia, mainly created by the unstable leadership of Mikhail Saakashvili

Labels: EU, EU Russia, Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvali, Nato, Russia

Rasmussen Does Not Apologize for Mohammed Cartoon Controversy

New NATO chief Rasmussen Does Not Apologize for Mohammed Cartoon Controversy - by Jake Tapper

Despite reports in Turkish media that made their way to Europe suggesting that new NATO Secretary General and Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen would apologize for his freedom of speech stance during the 2006 controversy surrounding the publication of cartoons of the prophet Mohammed, Rasmussen made no such apology in Istanbul Monday at a meeting of the Alliance of Civilizations. During a panel discussion at Çırağan Palace in Istanbul, Rasmussen said that, "I would never myself depict any religious figure, including the Prophet Mohammed, in a way that could hurt other people's feelings. I respect Islam as one of the world's major religions," Turkey's English daily newspaper, the Daily News & Economic Review, reported.

Media reports have also speculated that Rasmussen had promised to shut down Kurdish ROJ TV, which broadcasts in Denmark, because of its alleged ties to the Kurdish terrorist group PKK. But at a press conference in Istanbul, Rasmussen merely said that he would commission a study to see if such ties exist and if so, then he would take action.

Labels: Freedom of Speech, Freedom of the Press, Nato, Rasmussen, Turkey

How do we save NATO? We quit - Andrew J. Bacevich

When he visits Strasbourg, France, this week to participate in festivities marking NATO's 60th anniversary, President Obama should deliver a valedictory address, announcing his intention to withdraw the United States from the alliance. The U.S. has done its job. It's time for Europe to assume full responsibility for its own security, freeing the U.S. to attend to more urgent priorities.As with GM, so too with NATO: Fixing past mistakes will require painful changes. Continuing along the existing trajectory is not an option. If the alliance pursues any further eastward expansion (incorporating Ukraine into its ranks, as some in Washington have advocated), it will implode. If it persists in attempting to pacify Afghanistan (vainly trying to prod the Germans and other reluctant allies into deploying more troops with fewer strings attached), it will only further expose its internal weakness. NATO won't survive by compounding its own recent errors.

Note EU-Digest: an excellent idea, better still it should close NATO down.

Labels: EU, Nato, US

US Afghan envoy, Iranian minister meet in The Hague

Representatives from more than 80 countries have met in The Hague for a high-level conference on Afghanistan. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said the NATO mission backs Afghan government efforts to work with moderate elements of the Taliban who reject violence. Afghan President Hamid Karzai stressed regional cooperation in tackling his country's problems. On the sidelines, US Afghanistan envoy Richard Holbrooke met with Mehdi Akhoonzadeh, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister, who pledged Iranian support for reconstruction and anti-narcotics projects in Afghanistan. He also warned that the proposed US troop surge there would be a mistake. In the Obama administration's first direct contact with Tehran, the United States also handed over a letter seeking help to resolve three separate cases involving Americans, one a former FBI agent who went missing in Iran two years ago.

Labels: Afghanistan, EU, Nato, Netherlands

Labels: Anders Fogh Rasmussen, Czech Republic, EU, Mirek Topolanek, Nato

West Favors Dane for Top NATO Post, but Turkish Hurdles Remain

The United States gave its blessing to the appointment of Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen as the next NATO secretary general in Brussels over the weekend, paving the way for him to take over the trans-Atlantic alliance's top civilian job in August. Washington also enjoys strong support for the choice of Rasmussen from its three biggest European allies in the alliance -- Germany, France and the UK. Although Rasmussen, 56, declined to publicly comment on the possibility of succeeding Dutch diplomat Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, he never officially ruled himself out as a candidate for a post that has traditionally gone to a European.

The main snag to Rasmussen's nomination, which needs to be approved by all members of the 26-nation alliance, is possible opposition to his candidacy from Turkey, a secular nation that is predominantly Muslim. "The cartoon crisis has a larger dimension than just Turkey," a Turkish official, who requested anonymity, told Reuters. "At a time when NATO is going to assume added responsibility in Afghanistan and Pakistan, having a secretary general with such an objectionable approach to billions of Muslims, is not the right approach to the Muslim world." Turkey has also attacked Denmark for failing to revoke the broadcasting license of a television station that Ankara has accused of being a mouthpiece for Kurdish rebels opposed to the government. Adding fuel to the fire, Rasmussen had publicly stated in 2003 that he opposed full EU membership for Turkey.

Note EU-Digest:
Turkey will certainly not be so foolish as to shoot themselves in the foot with a veto about a religious matter if they claim to be a secular state and say they believe in Freedom of Speech. Hopefully European NATO members, including the Turks will talk about more serious issues, like what purpose the NATO has now the cold war has ended and why it should become the world's policeman?

Labels: Denmark, Elections, EU, Fogh Rasmussen, Nato, Turkey

Spain's defense minister shot down over Nato gaffe - by Elizabeth Nash

On a morale-boosting trip to troops in Kosovo last week, Ms Chacón, Spain's first female defence chief and a star of Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero's majority female cabinet, declared: "The mission has been completed and it's time to return home." But her announcement burst like a bombshell among Nato officials, the US administration and senior diplomats who complained she had acted unilaterally and failed to inform them through the proper channels. The diplomatic gaffe is a reverse of fortune for Ms Chacón, 38, who made headlines when she took office last April and reviewed her troops while heavily pregnant. During a visit to Spanish soldiers in Afghanistan, images of this slight figure with her bump, her smock fluttering in the desert breeze, signaled a new mood of equality in Spain. She promptly purged the top brass, reformed and humanized Spain's discredited armed forces which became, within months, one of the country's most valued institutions. Spain has about 600 troops in Kosovo as part of a UN mission that includes some 15,500 soldiers from Nato members and allies.

Note EU-Digest: There is nothing wrong for a government official in making a gaffe every now and then when they are at least showing they are doing a good job for their country, which Ms Chacón certainly has done so far. As to NATO getting their feathers ruffled , who really cares?

Labels: Carme Chacón, EU, Nato, Spain, US

France on collision course over NATO -by Jeamy Keaten

France's rejection of a global role for NATO puts Paris on a collision course with the bolder NATO ambitions of other powerful alliance members — most notably the United States and Britain. The debate comes as President Nicolas Sarkozy prepares to formalize France's return to NATO's integrated military command after an absence of 43 years. That will take place before France and Germany host the alliance's 60th anniversary summit April 3-4. French Defense Minister Herve Morin told The Associated Press in an interview Tuesday that France rejects the idea of a "global NATO" and urged talks with Russia before the Atlantic alliance expands.

"France perceives NATO HQ to be a top heavy institution, with the number of staff operating civilian tasks disproportionately to those available to perform military duties," Alastair Cameron of Britain's Royal United Services Institute wrote in a paper last month.U.S. and British dominance of NATO prompted the late President Charles de Gaulle to vastly trim France's ties to the alliance in 1966.

Labels: EU, France, Nato

European powers favour Dane for NATO post - by STEPHEN MAHER

The behind-the-scenes wrangling over the top political job at NATO leaked out into the open Tuesday, with both good news and bad news for Defence Minister Peter MacKay’s campaign for the job.The comments appeared to be an attempt to overturn conventional wisdom, which says that only a European can have the secretary general’s job, since an American is always supreme military commander, and a big part of the job is the kind of subtle diplomatic wrangling at which Europeans excel. In NATO’s 60 years, only Europeans have ever held the job.

Labels: Canada, Denmark, EU, Nato

NATO seen backing Russia ties to form broad front - by David Brunnstrom

NATO is expected on today to back a resumption of formal ties with Russia as Washington and its allies seek a broad front in their troubled battle against Afghan militants and other threats. The Bush administration led NATO's suspension of formal dialogue with Russia after Moscow's incursion into Georgia last August, but President Barack Obama's White House team has made clear it wants to open a new page in relations with the Kremlin.

Note EU-Digest: At least one step in the right direction.

Labels: EU, Hillary Clinton, Nato, Russia, US

Clinton maps out priorities with European ministers - by Valentina Pop

US secretary of state Hillary Clinton met her European counterparts in Brussels last night for a "transatlantic dinner" ahead of the Nato ministerial meeting on Thursday set to focus on Afghanistan, Eastern Europe and Russia. "She will convey on behalf of the Obama administration our commitment to revitalising Nato, listening to our allies and consulting, hearing their views and building strategies together," Kurt Volker, the US permanent representative to Nato told EUobserver. On Friday, Ms Clinton is due to meet her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov in Geneva for their first bilateral meeting since the Obama administration took office.

Before traveling to Geneva, Ms Clinton will meet European Commission President Jose Manuel Barroso, as well as the Czech foreign minister, Karel Schwarzenberg, on behalf of the EU presidency. She is also scheduled to participate in a public debate with European Parliament President Hans-Gert Poettering on Friday.

Labels: EU, Hillary Clinton, Nato, Russia, US

NATO considers British proposal permanent force for Eastern Europe

NATO is examining whether to set up a permanent military force in Eastern Europe to encourage regional allies to send combat troops to Afghanistan, the alliance’s top civilian official said on Friday. The idea, proposed by Britain to ease concerns in Eastern Europe about Russian belligerence since its war with Georgia, would see 3,000 troops drawn from the NATO Response Force (NRF), a contingent for use in the world’s hot spots. Britain’s idea was floated just as the United States announced that it would send some 17,000 more troops to Afghanistan, where NATO was struggling to cope with a Taliban-led insurgency.

Note EU-Digest: Most European countries have shown very little enthusiasm for NATO troop expansion in Afghanistan mainly because there are no solid long term plans or an exit strategy and insecurity as a result of a corrupt central government there.

Labels: Afghanistan, Britain, EU, Nato

U.K. Presses Europe for More Afghan Troops After Obama’s Surge- Kitty Donaldson and Mark Deen

Defense Secretary John Hutton rebuffed suggestions that the U.K. needs to bolster its presence in Afghanistan, calling on European allies to do more after President Barack Obama sent another 17,000 U.S. troops there. After years of fighting in Afghanistan and Iraq, the British military is already overstretched and unable to add troops immediately, officers say. “The ball is absolutely in Europe’s court now, and we need to pick it up if we are going to be seen to be responsible, effective allies of the U.S. who are doing all the heavy lifting in Afghanistan,” Hutton said. The U.K. already has almost 8,300 troops in the theatre, the second-biggest contingent after the U.S. The U.S. currently has about 37,000 troops in Afghanistan.

Note EU-Digest:The EU (Europe) is right in being hesitant on Afghanistan. NATO has no serious long term plan as to "how to proceed on Afghanistan". There is a corrupt government there and the financial priorities of our own continent presently outweigh any further expenditures on nebulous military activities.

Labels: Afghanistan, Britain, Europe, Nato, US

Europe: No Blank Check for Obama on Global Security - by Leo Cendrowicz

President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel, also at the Munich conference when Joe Biden spoke were silent on whether they would offer more troops. German Defense Minister Franz-Josef Jung told the conference that the priority in Afghanistan should be civic support. "We will not win by military means alone," he said. "There can be no development without security, but there can be no security without development either." Michael Emerson, associate senior research fellow at the Brussels-based Centre for European Policy Studies, says Europe's hesitation stems from the general skepticism that the Afghan policy is on the right track. "We are at a moment of truth on what the real strategy is on Afghanistan," Emerson says. "If the question is, Can Obama get a blank check?, the answer is no."

Labels: Barack Obama, EU, Nato, US

Jaap de Hoop Scheffer out - A contest to lead NATO - Who can unite the allies? -

NATO’s hot war, in Afghanistan, is going badly and the alliance is at odds over further expansion. Relations with its neighbor in Brussels, the European Union, are paralyzed even though many countries are members of both. Poland’s foreign (and ex-defense) minister, Radek Sikorski, is an early front-runner. Another eastern possibility is Solomon Passy, the Trabant-driving former foreign minister of Bulgaria. Many allies want a secretary-general with political clout, “somebody whose phone calls will be answered when he calls European leaders”, as a NATO insider puts it. Anders Fogh Rasmussen’s has this clout. As Danish prime minister since 2001, he sent his country’s troops to serve alongside American ones in Iraq and Afghanistan. But Mr Fogh Rasmussen is thought to be more interested in becoming the EU’s first permanent president, if that position ever materializes.Two Canadian possibilities are Peter MacKay and John Manley, defense and former foreign ministers respectively. One contender is Britain’s soft-spoken former defense secretary, Des Browne. But Britain is detested by jihadists even more than Denmark.A French candidate might seal that country’s re-entry into NATO’s military structure, which will be confirmed at the April summit. Some NATO insiders think the best way to stop Berlin from becoming the new Paris might be to appoint a senior German with solid pro-American credentials to NATO’s top job—in effect, not Germany’s man at NATO, but NATO’s man for Germany?

Note EU-Digest Among all the soul searching that is being done about NATO maybe some serious thought should also be given to replace the NATO structure by a European Defense Alliance which includes Russia as a full member? Providing more of a focus on European strategic interests but nevertheless in close cooperation with the US military establishment.

Labels: EU, Europe, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, Nato, Russia, The Netherlands, US

Dutch NATO chief critizises corrupt Hamid Karzai Kabul Government - Shouting matches in the palace - by Bette Dam

Dutch NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has cast off his politeness. Although the alliance is in Afghanistan at the invitation of its President Hamid Karzai, widespread corruption within the administration led Mr de Hoop Scheffer to publicly criticise the Kabul government in an opinion piece in the Washington Post. Behind the scenes discussions with the president about his weak administration are said to have been going on for much longer.A Dutch diplomat in Camp Holland told me that the Netherlands, a NATO member, is simply waiting for the appointment of a new president. "Only then will something change in the area." The Dutch have repeatedly criticised Uruzgan's local Education Minister, Mualim Rachmatullah. He has been in power in Uruzgan since Mr Karzai's reign and is likely to remain there.

The Dutch I spoke to say he is a crook: you cannot conclude any agreements with him, the money is disappearing, and the man is mainly focused on his own building companies, people in Camp Holland have told me. The Dutch want to build schools in Uruzgan but are frustrated by the unreliable education minister, who continues to enjoy Mr Karzai's support.

Labels: Afghanistan, EU, Nato

EU to deploy first-ever naval force off Somalia - by Hans de Vreije

Next month, the European Union is launching its first-ever naval mission, Operation Atlanta. Its dual aim is to protect United Nations food aid shipments to Somalia and to combat piracy in the region. At the moment, NATO has a small naval force temporarily stationed in waters near Somalia which is the base for most pirates. The second aim is to combat the region's piracy in general. The problem of ships being hijacked for ransom has become much worse over the past year. Operation Atlanta is an ambitious project. The area of sea to be policed is enormous, while the resources are limited: just seven ships and a budget of eight million euros for a whole year. Contrary to the NATO Navy Task force the EU Navy Task Force is allowed to fire at will at attacking pirates.

Labels: EU, Nato, Navy, Pirates

Georgia, Ukraine Told They Do Not Meet Standards For NATO Membership - by Liz Fuller

The NATO foreign ministers' decision on December 2 not to offer Membership Action Plans to Georgia and Ukraine should not have surprised anyone. Nor should their reaffirmation of the provision enshrined in the final document of the April 2008 NATO summit in Bucharest that those two countries will at some unspecified future date join the alliance. But the fact remains -- and was stressed by both NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer and U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice -- that both Georgia and Ukraine still fall short of basic NATO standards in terms of both political reform and military readiness.

Note EU-Digest:
There also is absolutely no need to admit Albania and Croatia into NATO. As a matter of fact the EU should also insist for reasons of unity and conformity that those EU nations which already are in NATO should be grouped under a single EU unbrella possibly as proposed by French President Nicolas Sarkozy re: EU Elite Defence Force.

Labels: Albania, Croatia, EU, Georgia, Nato, Ukraine

EU, NATO Helpless Against Piracy as Hijacks Become More Daring

Efforts by the European Union and NATO to fight pirates off the coast of Somalia have proven futile. With a limited mandate, their ships cannot keep armed bandits from seizing merchant vessels and taking hostages. Pirates off the coast of Somalia captured another ship on Wednesday, Nov. 19. It is the third vessel since the spectacular hijacking of the Saudi supertanker "Sirius Star" last weekend. Although NATO, European and US vessels are stationed in the region, they are helpless in effectively battling the increasing problem of piracy -- though single operations are sometimes successful.

Note EU-Digest: the EU and Nato should follow the recent action of the Indian Navy by destroying pirate crafts or even doing a special combat mission to the area and clean out the pirates stronghold. The Sudan Government is too weak to do it themselves. Right now it seems the naval forces of Russia, the EU and the US are being held ransom by rag-tag pirates - this is ridiculous to say the least

Labels: EU, Nato, Piracy, Sudan

NATO-The German Question - by George Friedman

German Chancellor Angela Merkel went to St. Petersburg last week for meetings with Russian President Dmitri Medvedev. The central question on the table was Germany’s position on NATO expansion, particularly with regard to Ukraine and Georgia. Merkel made it clear at a joint press conference that Germany would oppose NATO membership for both of these countries, and that it would even oppose placing the countries on the path to membership. Since NATO operates on the basis of consensus, any member nation can effectively block any candidate from NATO membership.In one sense, Merkel’s reasons for her stance are simple. First, expanding NATO guarantees to Ukraine and Georgia is meaningless. NATO and the United States don’t have the military means to protect Ukraine or Georgia, and incorporating them into the alliance would not increase European security. From a military standpoint, NATO membership for the two former Soviet republics is an empty gesture, while from a political standpoint, Berlin sees it as designed to irritate the Russians for no clear purpose. Next, were NATO prepared to protect Ukraine and Georgia, all NATO countries including Germany would be forced to increase defense expenditures substantially. This is not something that Germany and the rest of NATO want to do.Finally, and perhaps most importantly, Germany spent 1945-1992 being the potential prime battleground of the Cold War. It spent 1992-2008 not being the potential prime battleground. Germany prefers the latter, and it does not intend to be drawn into a new Cold War under any circumstances. This has profound implications for the future of both NATO and U.S.-German relations.

Germany is also heavily dependent on Russian natural gas. If the supply were cut off, Germany’s situation would be desperate — or at least close enough that the distinction would be academic. Russia might decide it could not afford to cut off natural gas exports, but Merkel is dealing with a fundamental German interest, and risking that for Ukrainian or Georgian membership in NATO is not something she is prepared to do.

Labels: Croatia, EU, Germany, Nato, Ukraine, US

NATO denies rifts with EU on Georgia

NATO denied any differences with the European Union (EU) on the Georgia crisis on Wednesday and toned down its rhetoric against Russia. NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer told Monday's Financial Times newspaper that the Sept. 8 agreement between Russia and the European Union (EU) was unacceptable as it allows heavy Russian military presence in Georgia's two breakaway regions-- Abkhazia and South Ossetia. De Hoop Scheffer said that the new arrangement was in direct contravention of an earlier six-point plan brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy which called for a return to the status quo before the conflict broke out.

On Aug. 7 Georgia launched attack on South Ossetia, which has enjoyed de facto independence since 1992, in an attempt to retake control of the region. Russia sent troops into the region on the next day and defeated Georgian forces in a five-day war.

Labels: EU, Georgia, Nato

France pays tribute to 10 fallen soldiers in Paris ceremony

France held a commemoration ceremony on Thursday to honour 10 French soldiers killed in a gun battle with insurgents earlier this week in eastern Afghanistan, as questions are being raised over the official account of how the soldiers died. French President Nicolas Sarkozy joined dignitaries and the soldiers' families inside Paris's Invalides palace, where France's war dead are honoured, as lines of uniformed men and women filled the boulevard outside the iconic building. Under the great dome of the Napoleonic institution rested 10 identical coffins bearing the bodies of the soldiers, whose deaths mark the largest single loss of life for any of the international forces engaged in combat in Afghanistan in more than three years.A majority of the French are opposed to the mission in Afghanistan, and the opposition Socialists are demanding a parliamentary committee meet to examine this week's battle. Reports also emerged Thursday of Afghan officials claiming that four of the French soldiers were captured and then executed by the Taliban, the CBC's Common said. Survivors were quoted as saying NATO air support arrived late and then bombarded French positions, while Afghan soldiers called in as backup reportedly also fired on the French.

Labels: Afghanistan, France, Nato

East Europe Best Not Depend on 'Obsolete' NATO - by Jeam Matouck

For the founders, the European Union was destined to become a confederation with the partial status of a sovereign state and which implied political integration. For the East, just as for the British, it should remain just a vast single market. With fear in the belly of the Russian bear, they have never relied on European integration to ensure their security. In their view, only the United States could provide that. Hence their absurd following of the Americans into the Iraqi adventure. Hence their irrepressible desire to join NATO.A grave error on their part, because the United States, entangled as it is in the Iraqi affair and with its allies in Afghanistan, won't budge for a piece of the former empire's confetti [Georgia] and perhaps not even in case of a more serious invasion. Especially since the new American leaders, starting in November, are likely to mobilize all their forces on domestic affairs.

And by the way, what is NATO? It was intended to consolidate the capitalist countries of Western Europe and the United States to defend against a supposed Soviet attack, which everyone knew to be unlikely as soon as a certain level of nuclear symmetry had been achieved. From the moment the USSR had disappeared and Russia, somewhat weakened, no longer threatened anyone, what use did it serve? We must work tirelessly to convince our Eastern European partners that in the long run, the political integration of East Europe is the best guarantor of security, and incidentally, that we haven’t welcomed them simply to finance their development or receive their homeless! And we must simultaneously maintain good relations with Russia, which is recovering and which obviously has no desire other to develop and enrich itself with dignity.

Labels: Eastern Europe, EU, Nato

NATO, Energy and War - Georgia pays price for its Nato ambitions- by Robert Parsons

Two key events well beyond Georgia's borders have triggered Russia's fury. The first was Kosovo's declaration of independence in February and the new country's subsequent recognition by many Western states. This brought a public warning from Moscow that Kosovo's move to independence could set a precedent for Georgia's two breakaway regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The second was Nato's pledge at the Bucharest summit in April that membership of the Atlantic Alliance for both Georgia and Ukraine was not a matter of "if" but "when", although in deference to Russian objections, no timetable for entry was granted. This provoked Vladimir Putin, then still Russia's president, to promise more support for Georgia's breakaway regions.

Note EU-Digest : "Georgia's bid to join NATO is driven by its desire to drag other countries into its bloody undertakings, Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said at a meeting Vladikavkaz to discuss measures to help those affected by the South Ossetian conflict. "I think both in Georgia and Russia, and in the rest of the world it has become absolutely clear that the desire of Georgian authorities to join NATO is motivated not by their ambition to form part of a global security system and contribute to the strengthening of international peace. Tbilisi's NATO bid is determined by other considerations, namely an attempt to embroil other nations in its bloody undertakings," Putin stressed.

The EU should react with calm to this explosive situation and not get embroiled in the emotional fallout by former Eastern European states in reaction to this conflict. The basic issue is that the subtle but very real expansion of power by NATO (US) towards the Russian border is seen by the Russians as threatening to their national security.

Labels: EU, EU Russia, Georgia, Nato, US

Afghanistan: No 1 Heroin Producer in the world: "A bottomless Pit which is hard to sell in Europe" - by Celestine Bohlen

As allied casualties mounted - more than 840 at last count - popular support for the war has waned in Europe, limiting the ability of government leaders to respond to urgent pleas for help from the United States and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization, which leads the international force. Continued involvement hinges on a comprehensive plan for the country's reconstruction, which was the focus of an international conference in Paris last week. European leaders "want a new strategy that's more saleable at home," says Daniel Korski, author of "Afghanistan: Europe's Forgotten War" and a senior fellow at the London-based European Council on Foreign Relations. "It is part of an outreach to the domestic audience that there's more to this than the military component." When the war was started in late 2001 in response to the attacks of Sept. 11 against New York and Washington, the fight against Al Qaeda and its Taliban allies had broad support in both the United States and Europe, in stark contrast to the more divisive, costlier and deadlier Iraq war that began two years later. Since then, Afghanistan has increasingly been caught in a spiral of violence and corruption, fueled by a booming opium trade that has put local officials in thrall to a criminal narcotics racket.

Heroin production in Afghanistan has tripled since 2001 and now accounts for 90 percent of the world supply, according to U.S. figures. Profit from the drug trade helps fund Taliban insurgents, who have stepped up attacks. In 2003, there were three suicide bombings. In 2007, there were 130.

Labels: Afghanistan, Europe, Heroin, Nato, Taliban

American strategy in Europe hindering a common relation between Europe and Russia and introducing permanent tension - by Jesús Torque

Security in Europe has been one of the main subjects discussed at NATO Summit in Bucharest this week. It is true that it has been an historic Summit, that important decisions have been taken and all the members were happy with the results. NATO has decided to accept Croatia and Albania as members, has left Ukraine, Georgia and Macedonia in the waiting list, has given its approval to the Anti-missile system that Americans want to integrate in Poland and Czech Republic, has increased the number of soldiers in Afghanistan and has welcomed Sarkozy’s very important announcement: that France will rejoin NATO military command, which quitted in 1966.

Many decisions taken and almost all of them happy. France and Germany, for instance, are satisfied because they have been able to stop by now the extension to Ukraine and Georgia. Paris and Berlin think that Russians are too angry already with all this to make them get angrier. But it is United States the one having most reasons to be happy since it gets almost all its aims. The American strategy consists on hindering a common relation between Europe and Russia, introducing a permanent tension between Brussels and Moscow, and it is achieving it due to the successive NATO extensions.

Labels: EU, Nato, Russia, US

Putin beats Bush on points in the battle of the legacies - by Bronwen Maddox

Putin beats Bush on points in the battle of the legacies - by Bronwen Maddox

President Putin was the first winner from the Nato summit in Bucharest, and he wasn't even there. The Nato-Russia Council begins only today, but Putin, who has played the Western alliance with obsessive skill in his last months as President, ensured that relations with Russia dominated the earlier gathering. For him and George W. Bush, Bucharest was a battle of the legacies, and on points Putin won. The summit failed to give a date for Ukraine and Georgia to join, which Bush had forthrightly declared it should, but which Germany and France blocked, partly to avoid antagonising Russia. Gordon Brown yesterday said that “no one outside a Nato meeting could influence it”, but Russia's threats and courtship seem to have done just that.

Labels: Bush, EU, Nato, Politics, Putin

Allies reject Bush's call for NATO role for Ukraine, Georgia

President Bush threw the NATO summit here off-script yesterday by lobbying hard to extend membership to Ukraine and Georgia, but he failed to rally support for the move among key allies. Bush believes Ukraine and Georgia should be welcomed into a Membership Action Plan, or MAP, which prepares nations for NATO membership. The US stance contradicts German and French positions stated earlier this week, and it risked upsetting efforts to persuade Russia to soften its opposition to a missile defense array in Eastern Europe. Bush failed to win over a consensus of NATO members in a debate at a dinner of NATO leaders, a senior German official said last night, with at least seven countries lined up against him.

Labels: Bush, EU, Nato

Nato summit: George Bush abandoned over Ukraine and Georgia - by Michael Evans and Francis Elliott

President Bush was today being abandoned by his closest allies as his appeal for Ukraine and Georgia to be earmarked for Nato membership met with opposition from Britain, France and Germany.Nato leaders, including Gordon Brown according to senior officials, thought it was premature to put Ukraine and Georgia into the official Nato membership system, even though it can take ten years before a formal invitation is made to join the alliance. The British judgment is that, although there was full support for both Ukraine and Georgia, the question of "when" they joined should remain in the balance. Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor, and President Sarkozy of France are of the same mind.

Labels: Bush, Georgia, Nato

Could the Bucharest NATO Summit Give Birth to an EU Army? - by Gulfstreamblues

When it comes to great expectations, few summits could be said to be generating as much anticipation recently as the NATO summit in Bucharest this week. Besides hammering out a plan to rescue the military fiasco in Afghanistan, it is set to enlarge and restructure the alliance in a way that will fundamentally change it. All indications seem to suggest that Sarkozy will push this issue hard at the NATO summit, and that the meeting could end with not only new members and a redefined mission in Afghanistan but also with a specific NATO and US blessing for an EU army, starting with the EU policing project in Kosovo. Ironically, the most important thing to come out of this meeting may be the birth of an entirely different organization that could one day replace.

Labels: EU, European Army, Kosovo, Nato, Sarkozy

For the complete report from Reuters.com click on this link

Prospect of French NATO return tilts power balance - by Paul Taylor

The prospect of France returning to NATO's military command after more than four decades of estrangement is tilting the balance of transatlantic relations. The United States is courting France as a new partner in leadership, overshadowing Britain and Germany, diplomats and analysts say, even though President Nicolas Sarkozy is likely to skirt the reintegration issue at this week's Bucharest summit of the 26-nation alliance. Sarkozy announced last year that Paris was willing to return to the military structure from which General Charles de Gaulle withdrew it abruptly in 1966, provided the European Union first made progress on a common defense capability.

The new president has taken a risk at home, since much of the political establishment is wedded to the notion of an independent French or European foreign policy and hostile to any hint of subservience to the United States.

Labels: EU, France, Nato, Sarkozy, US

Czechs trust UN, EU more than NATO says poll

Czechs trust UN, EU more than NATO-poll

Czechs still trust the United Nations and the European Union more than NATO, which is controlled by the US, according to the results of a poll.The number of Czechs who trust all three international organisations prevails over the number of those who do not trust them, the poll showed. The United Nations enjoys the highest support among Czech citizens as almost three-fifths of respondents or 59 percent said they trusted it while 24 percent said they did not trust the UN. The UN is followed by the EU that is trusted by 55 percent of Czechs while 37 percent do not trust it, and NATO that enjoys support of 44 percent of Czechs while 40 percent do not trust it. Two-thirds of Czechs are satisfied with the Czech Republic's membership in the UN while 17 percent are dissatisfied with it, and 61 percent are satisfied with EU membership and 30 percent are not satisfied with it.

Labels: EU, Nato, the Czech Republic, United Nations

America Wrong, Europe Right

Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates is again beating up on Europeans for not doing more in Afghanistan, a now familiar theme in his blame-anybody-but-us strategy. With 3,200 more Marines being deployed to the country to stem the Taliban resurgence and with a new military focus on Pakistan -- and with the Iraq war seemingly put in the "pause" box -- Gates has found religion in the other war against terrorism. Speaking to NATO two weeks ago, he questioned why some were "ready to fight and die in order to protect people's security and others ... are not." In Australia this weekend, he lauded our Pacific ally's contribution, warning that military failure in Afghanistan could lead to more terrorism in Europe.

The public image that Gates has created is not only that the European contributions are weak and worthless, but that if there were more shooters from Europe, somehow the war would be going better. This is a false proposition: The Afghanistan war may require a renewal, and it may even demand greater resources. But the notion that we can just ship the Iraq surge strategy to the country and win is thoughtless, and the non-lethal European approach, as slow and excruciating as it might be to the Bush administration, is ultimately the right approach.

Labels: Afghanistan, EU, Nato

Europe: Divorce the US Military - Charles De Gaulle must be turning in his grave - by Neil Clark

Five years ago, Donald Rumsfeld arrogantly stated that the US, would, if necessary, go it alone in Iraq and attacked "Old Europe" for its opposition to the illegal war. But now, the US empire builders realize they urgently need European support. With its own military forces overstretched and its economy heading into recession, the US desperately needs the EU to fall into line, and for European troops to be sent – in their thousands – to die on the front line. That's why Condoleezza Rice spent last week scurrying frantically around Europe's capitals. The opposition of most of the EU to the Iraq war still irks the neocons and they are determined to do all they can to ensure that Europe's governments are much more pliant in the future.As welcome as recent developments in France and Poland are to the neocons, what the serial warmongers require most is to have control of the EU itself. Which is where a certain former British Prime Minister comes in. The appointment of Tony Blair as President of the European Council, with extended powers in the sphere of defense and trade would be the culmination of the neocon dream: to fully neuter Europe as alternative source of global power. While the election of Sarkozy has already neutered France, traditionally the main European source of opposition to Pax Americana; the appointment of Blair as EU President would be the final piece of the jigsaw.

Labels: EU, Europe, Military, Nato, US

French minister of defense Herve Morin accuses US of a «schizophrenic» approach to European security and criticizes European allies for an «infantile» dependence on American power

Nicolas Sarkozy is keen to improve trans-Atlantic relations and is considering a return of France's armed forces to NATO integrated military command 40 years after Gen. Charles de Gaulle pulled them out over concern about American domination of the alliance. But France is expected to link the return to American backing for a greater EU defense role. «We need a strong Europe, we also need a strong (NATO) alliance,» Morin said. The French minister also took a swipe at his German hosts and other European allies for cutting defense budgets and preferring to rely on American protection rather than building up European military muscle. «Europe does not assume enough responsibility, it simply falls into dependence,» Morin complained. «Europeans must do more to share the burden, they will only do this if they grow up.

Labels: EU, France, Nato, US

Time to Shift Focus in Afghanistan - by Christoph Hasselbach

In Europe, many NATO member countries are getting fed up with demands, primarily from Washington, for greater military involvement in Afghanistan -- demands that have persisted ever since the launch of the NATO mission. For years, Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer has been doing the rounds of the European capitals lobbying for more troops, helicopters and transport aircraft, only to be fobbed off with vague promises. Germany has finally agreed to extend its broad activities in Afghanistan by deploying reconnaissance tornados, but it refuses to send soldiers to the hostile south of the country. Given the public's waning support for the mission and Berlin's political status quo, this is simply out of the question.

Labels: Afghanistan, EU, Nato

Greece will veto Macedonia's NATO bid

Unless there is a compromise over its name, Macedonia's southern neighbor Greece will veto Skopje's effort to join NATO. The statement came Friday, from the Greek prime minister, Kostas Karamanlis.

"It is out of the question for Skopje to become a member of any organization, be it NATO or the EU, unless that country opts for adopting a name acceptable to all," he said during a televised debate in Athens.

Labels: EU, Greece, Macedonia, Nato

British Criticize US Air Attacks in Afghan Region - by Carlotta Gall

A senior British commander in southern Afghanistan said in recent weeks that he had asked that American Special Forces leave his area of operations because the high level of civilian casualties they had caused was making it difficult to win over local people.

Other British officers here in Helmand Province, speaking on condition of anonymity, criticized American Special Forces for causing most of the civilian deaths and injuries in their area. They also expressed concerns that the Americans’ extensive use of air power was turning the people against the foreign presence as British forces were trying to solidify recent gains against the Taliban.

Labels: Afghanistan, Britain, EU, Nato

Russia Pulls out of Arms Treaty over US Plans in Bulgaria, Romania

US plans to deploy conventional arms in Bulgaria and Romania made Russia withdraw from a key post-Cold War arms control treaty, a Kremlin statement said. The US plans have had "a negative impact" on Russia's compliance with the Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, the statement said, as cited by RIA Novosti agency.

Russian President Vladimir Putin suspended Saturday the country's involvement in the arms control treaty, which limits the deployment of military craft, including tanks, jets, artillery and combat vehicles in Europe.

Labels: Nato, Russia

Russia Calls For Conference On CFE Treaty

Russia has requested an emergency conference to discuss the Conventional Forces In Europe (CFE) Treaty. The Foreign Ministry said that Russia has approached the Netherlands, the depositary of the treaty, with a request to call an emergency conference on June 12-15 in Vienna.

President Vladimir Putin last month said Russia will suspend compliance with the treaty because NATO members Slovenia and the Baltic states have not signed it, while other NATO signatories have not ratified it and are not abiding by its provisions.

Labels: Nato, Russia

Rift growing over NATO's Afghan tactics - by Peter Graff

A U.S. commander's repudiation of a cease-fire in Afghanistan that was backed by his British predecessor reveals rifts among the main Western allies over how to defeat Taliban insurgents and win hearts and minds.

The aggressive U.S. approach "doesn't seem to be in tune with the philosophy of the British Army," he said. "On several occasions, senior British commanders have expressed a desire to try to modify the allegiances of potential insurgents, rather than try to kill them."

Labels: Afghanistan, Britain, Nato

480 US nuclear warheads in Europe

A documentary aired on Italian TV channel, RAI 24, has claimed that the U.S. military is keeping 480 nuclear warheads across Europe, 90 in Italy. Fifty of the warheads are being kept at Aviano Air Base, north-east of Italy and forty others at a military facility near Brescia. The documentary warns of possible nuclear strikes against countries in the Middle East.

Pointing to remarks made by NATO's Deputy Assistant Secretary General for Weapons of Mass Destruction policy, Guy Roberts, the documentary emphasizes that all sovereign countries have the right to call on the U.S. government to remove all its nuclear weapons from their soil.

Labels: EU, Italy, Nato, Nuclear, USA, War, Weapons of mass destruction