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Category Archives: NATO

Nato reviews ties with Russia as new truce reached in Ukraine

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Saturday, 20 September 2014 15:10

VILNIUS: Nato's top military commanders are meeting in Lithuania on Saturday to discuss relations with Russia as the warring sides in Ukraine agreed to pull back troops under a new peace plan reached overnight in Belarus.

General Knud Bartels, who chairs Nato's Military Committee, said defence chiefs from the 28 nation alliance are set to review "future relationship with Russia and Nato's military posture".

"Central to our discussions will be the development and implementation of the alliance readiness action plan," the Danish general said, referring to the new initiative which includes rotating troops and equipment through facilities in Eastern Europe.

The meeting will also cover Nato's mission in Afghanistan and the situation in the Middle East, including the "pressing threat" from the Islamic State militants in Iraq and Syria, he added.

The military talks in Lithuania's capital Vilnius focused on defending Nato's eastern flank come just two weeks after Nato announced a new rapid reaction force at a key summit in Wales.

Lithuania said the new measures will also include regional "command and control" centres in the Baltic states and Poland.

These countries were formerly behind the Iron Curtain and are concerned about Russia's territorial ambitions in the wake of the Crimea annexation and the conflict in eastern Ukraine.

Addressing the generals, including Nato top commander General Philip Breedlove, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybrauskaite on Saturday insisted the alliance needed to present "a clear deterrence" and that time was of the essence.

"We understand that unpreparedness cannot be our strategic weakness.... Security environment has essentially changed already half a year ago," she said.

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Nato reviews ties with Russia as new truce reached in Ukraine

"Europe, forget U.S. interests! NATO expansion poor policy," blasts MEP Permuy – Video

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"Europe, forget U.S. interests! NATO expansion poor policy," blasts MEP Permuy
Video ID: 20140916-017 SOT, Javier Couso Permuy, Member of European Parliament (in Spanish): "I #39;ve been rather struck by the belligerent tone of some comment...

By: RuptlyTV

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"Europe, forget U.S. interests! NATO expansion poor policy," blasts MEP Permuy - Video

Three NATO soldiers killed in Kabul suicide car bomb The Independent Video – Video

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Three NATO soldiers killed in Kabul suicide car bomb The Independent Video
car bomb , nato , suicide , kabul , politics , nuclear , destruction , atomic , weapons , two , AFPTV A Taliban suicide bomber rams an explosives-laden car into a NATO convoy close to the...

By: ndependent news.

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Three NATO soldiers killed in Kabul suicide car bomb The Independent Video - Video

Politics of (Dis)Integration? (ft. ex German Amb to NATO Joachim Bitterlich) – Video

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Politics of (Dis)Integration? (ft. ex German Amb to NATO Joachim Bitterlich)
The reunification of Germany and the collapse of the Soviet Union ushered in a new paradigm in Europe, one which ultimately sowed the seeds of the current crisis in Ukraine. Why did Europe...

By: WorldsApaRT

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Politics of (Dis)Integration? (ft. ex German Amb to NATO Joachim Bitterlich) - Video

Ambassador Hunter talks on NATO and the Ukraine and explains President Obama’s "Pivot to Asia" quote – Video

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Ambassador Hunter talks on NATO and the Ukraine and explains President Obama #39;s "Pivot to Asia" quote
In this interview former U.S. Ambassador to NATO (1993-98) Robert E. Hunter, who is a Senior Fellow at the Center for Transatlantic Relations, Johns Hopkins University (SAIS) in Washington,...

By: usbotschaft

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Ambassador Hunter talks on NATO and the Ukraine and explains President Obama's "Pivot to Asia" quote - Video

‘NATO expansion to Georgia was a real mistake’ – ex German Amb to NATO – Video

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#39;NATO expansion to Georgia was a real mistake #39; - ex German Amb to NATO
Watch the full episode here: http://youtu.be/gz3A1wet78M The reunification of Germany and the collapse of the Soviet Union ushered in a new paradigm in Europe, one which ultimately sowed the...

By: RT

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'NATO expansion to Georgia was a real mistake' - ex German Amb to NATO - Video

NATO 'respects' results of Scotland's independence referendum

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BRUSSELS, Sept. 19 (UPI) -- NATO commented Friday after the results of the Scottish referendum for independence were announced.

Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen issued a statement, wishing the United Kingdom well as it moves forward and expressed confidence the founding NATO member would continue in its "leading role."

"I welcome Prime Minister Cameron's statement that the United Kingdom will go forward as a united country.

"The United Kingdom is a founding member of NATO, and I am confident that the United Kingdom will continue to play a leading role to keep our Alliance strong."

The referendum for independence was held Thursday, with 55 percent of reporting districts in favor of unity.

2014 United Press International, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Any reproduction, republication, redistribution and/or modification of any UPI content is expressly prohibited without UPI's prior written consent.

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NATO 'respects' results of Scotland's independence referendum

NATO to fast-track rapid-reaction force to deter Russia

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SZCZECIN, Poland

NATO's new rapid-reaction "spearhead" force, meant as a deterrent to Russian aggression, should be up and running with initial capabilities in less than a year, a top alliance official said Thursday.

The creation of a 4,000 to 5,000 troop response force, which will be able to respond to a crisis in eastern Europe within two to three days, was a key decision taken by NATO leaders earlier this month in Wales.

The force represents a calculation by NATO that Russian President Vladimir Putin won't risk going head-to-head with the Western alliance.

Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow, the highest-ranking U.S. civilian at NATO, told The Associated Press on the sidelines of a symposium in Poland that military planners were now "working seven days a week" to finalize details of the force.

Those details should be in place to be approved by at defense ministers meeting in February, and implementation will move quickly ahead after that, he said.

"There's an expectation we will have at least an initial capacity with this much more rapid response time in less than a year from the Wales summit," he said. "It won't be all finished, but we recognize that the threats are here, we can't put this on the slow track."

Meanwhile, NATO's Multinational Corps Northeast headquarters, where the symposium was being held, is being upgraded to a "high readiness" force headquarters under the guidance of Germany, Poland and Denmark as part of the moves being made to reassure allies.

Russia seized the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine earlier this year, and signs indicate that it has been funneling troops, tanks and artillery to the pro-Moscow separatists who have been fighting government forces in eastern Ukraine over the past five months.

Ukraine is not a NATO member and not directly under its defense umbrella, but three other former Soviet republics have joined the alliance since the end of the Cold War, as well as the former Soviet satellite states of Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria.

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NATO to fast-track rapid-reaction force to deter Russia

NATO to set up regional centers in east Europe Lithuania

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The so-called 'command and control' centers will be launched in 'four or five countries, namely Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Romania'

VILNIUS, Lithuania NATO will set up regional centers in a handful of Eastern European countries, Lithuania said on Friday, September 19, as top military commanders met in the Baltic state's capital.

Defense chiefs from the alliance's 28 nations are taking part in a three-day meeting in Vilnius along with NATO top commander General Philip Breedlove amid anxiety in the region over Russia's actions in Ukraine.

The so-called "command and control" centers will be launched in "four or five countries, namely Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland and Romania," Lithuania's chief of defense Jonas Vytautas Zukas told reporters in Vilnius.

A meeting during the NATO 2014 summit at the Celtic Manor Hotel in Newport, South Wales, on September 4, 2014. In the photo is UK Prime Minister David Cameron (R). Saul Loeb/AFP

They will each employ up to 120 military personnel and will be responsible for a "multinational battalion" once other allies join the US troops already deployed in Eastern Europe, he said.

Troop contributions from NATO allies could be announced over the weekend, Zukas' spokesman told Agence France-Presse.

"This increases our security," Zukas said, adding that the Lithuanian center would be set up by the end of the year.

Poland and the Baltics have been rattled by Russia's actions in Ukraine, including its March annexation of the Crimean peninsula and suspected backing of rebels in the east.

The four EU and NATO members have repeatedly called for boots on the ground to ward off any potential threat from their Soviet-era master.

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NATO to set up regional centers in east Europe Lithuania

"A Force for Freedom" – NATO Secretary General Speech at Carnegie Europe, 15 SEP 2014 – Part 1/2 – Video

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"A Force for Freedom" - NATO Secretary General Speech at Carnegie Europe, 15 SEP 2014 - Part 1/2
A Force for Freedom - Speech by NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at Carnegie Europe, 15 September 2014. Opening Remarks. Transcript: http://goo.g...

By: NATO

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"A Force for Freedom" - NATO Secretary General Speech at Carnegie Europe, 15 SEP 2014 - Part 1/2 - Video


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