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NATO to form rapid-response force amid tensions in Ukraine, Middle East

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BRUSSELS NATO officials said Tuesday that they will form an interim military force equipped to deploy quickly if the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East spill across borders.

The spearhead force, formally known as the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, will use 3,000 to 4,000 troops from Germany, Norway and the Netherlands. It is expected to be ready early next year and marks NATOs biggest military expansion since the Cold War.

The decision to have a rapid-reaction force in place soon is a tacit recognition of how events on the periphery of nations that are part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have outpaced the alliances ability to respond.

NATO decided at its summit in September that it needed a permanent rapid-response force of as many as 6,000 troops, reflecting growing concerns among foreign ministers from all 28 alliance members, including U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry.

But with Russian troops helping pro-Kremlin rebels in Ukraine, Russian military planes repeatedly probing NATO airspace, and Islamic State extremists in Syria and Iraq posing a threat to alliance member Turkey, NATO decided that it could not wait a year for a permanent force to be ready.

The Associated Press reports that thousands of businesses have been seized from their owners in Crimea under new pro-Moscow leaders since the region was annexed in March. (AP)

Monday, several officials expressed alarm about the potential for a broader confrontation with Russia after Moscow announced that it will increase military exercises next year.

What we are doing is in response to Russia, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. More military presence on the border, more staff exercises, more military activities in the air increase the danger, from accidents and misunderstandings, that the situation can spiral out of control.

Kerry said every country in the alliance needs to help defend NATOs borders.

Declaring that every ally has to pull their weight, he said: We cant have 21st-century security on the cheap.

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NATO to form rapid-response force amid tensions in Ukraine, Middle East

NATO slams Russia over Ukraine

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BRUSSELS NATO officials said Tuesday that they will form an interim military force equipped to deploy quickly if the conflicts in Ukraine and the Middle East spill across borders.

The spearhead force, formally known as the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, will use 3,000 to 4,000 troops from Germany, Norway and the Netherlands. It is expected to be ready early next year and marks NATOs biggest military expansion since the Cold War.

The decision to have a rapid-reaction force in place soon is a tacit recognition of how events on the periphery of nations that are part of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have outpaced the alliances ability to respond.

NATO decided at its summit in September that it needed a permanent rapid-response force of as many as 6,000 troops, reflecting growing concerns among foreign ministers from all 28 alliance members, including U.S. Secretary of State John F. Kerry.

But with Russian troops helping pro-Kremlin rebels in Ukraine, Russian military planes repeatedly probing NATO airspace, and Islamic State extremists in Syria and Iraq posing a threat to alliance member Turkey, NATO decided that it could not wait a year for a permanent force to be ready.

The Associated Press reports that thousands of businesses have been seized from their owners in Crimea under new pro-Moscow leaders since the region was annexed in March. (AP)

Monday, several officials expressed alarm about the potential for a broader confrontation with Russia after Moscow announced that it will increase military exercises next year.

What we are doing is in response to Russia, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said. More military presence on the border, more staff exercises, more military activities in the air increase the danger, from accidents and misunderstandings, that the situation can spiral out of control.

Kerry said every country in the alliance needs to help defend NATOs borders.

Declaring that every ally has to pull their weight, he said: We cant have 21st-century security on the cheap.

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NATO slams Russia over Ukraine

NATO alliance approves rapid reaction force

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BRUSSELS (AP) NATO nations on Tuesday agreed to bolster its defenses against Russian aggression, continuing the military alliance's return to its founding mission by focusing on nearby threats as it steps back from more than a decade of combat in Afghanistan.

The 28 member countries approved a new interim quick-reaction military force to protect themselves from Russia or other threats, with an initial unit to be up and running next year, NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg said. The interim force will be supplanted in 2016 by a permanent one, Stoltenberg said.

"We are protecting our allies and supporting our partners," Stoltenberg told reporters at an annual meeting of NATO's foreign ministers.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, left, shakes hands with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Tuesday, Dec. 2, 2014. NATO?s chief says alliance foreign ministers are poised to make a number of key decisions, including the shift to a non-combat role for NATO-led forces in Afghanistan beginning Jan. 1. Alliance foreign ministers, including Secretary of State John Kerry, are scheduled to assemble at NATO headquarters later in the day. (AP Photo/Virginia Mayo, Pool) (Virginia Mayo/AP)

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry urged diplomats from other nations to contribute their fair share to the alliance, noting "we can't have 21st century security on the cheap."

It was likely to be the last meeting of foreign ministers who oversaw the International Security Assistance Force, made up largely of NATO troops, which has sought to stabilize Afghanistan since shortly after the 2001 invasion.

"In one way or another, we have been tested repeatedly by those who want to divide us, or to cause us to retreat from the basic commitments that we have made to one another both within and beyond the NATO arena," Kerry said. "These tests are difficult, and they will continue to be difficult in the new year. But history has shown just how tough the alliance of free nations can be."

The ministers also authorized the launch of an advisory mission in Afghanistan on Jan. 1, when NATO-led combat operations there are scheduled to end.

"We are determined to master our destiny, to overcome our past," Afghan President Ashraf Ghani said.

The foreign ministers also approved maintaining measures through 2015 initiated to reassure NATO nations nearest Russia, Stoltenberg said. Such measures include stepped-up air patrols over the Baltic Sea and the continuous rotation of NATO military units in and out of countries like Poland and Baltic republics.

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NATO alliance approves rapid reaction force

U.S. Envoy Blasts Kremlin Ahead of NATO Meeting

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TIME World europe U.S. Envoy Blasts Kremlin Ahead of NATO Meeting US Ambassador to NATO Douglas Lute gives a press conference on Dec. 1, 2014, at the organization's headquarters in Brussels. John ThysAFP/Getty Images The war of words between the Western military alliance and Moscow heated up ahead of a NATO gathering in Brussels on Tuesday

U.S. Ambassador to NATO Douglas Lute accused the Russian military on Monday of engaging in irresponsible aerial maneuvers that put civilian aircraft in unnecessary danger.

The envoys remarks follow the alliances public announcement in late October that accused the Russian military of conducting an unprecedented number of unannounced aerial forays into Europes skies. NATO says it has scrambled its own aircraft over 400 times in response to Russian incursions this year a more than 50% increase than the total number during 2013.

These Russian actions are irresponsible, pose a threat to civilian aviation and demonstrate that Russia is flagrantly violating international norms, said Lute during a press conference in Brussels ahead of a NATO foreign ministers meeting on Tuesday, according to Reuters.

NATO says Russian forces have repeatedly refused to submit flight plans to civilian air traffic control stations when flying exercises and, in multiple instances, have flown with their transponders turned off.

The Kremlins alleged indifference toward civilian aviation procedures is seen as particularly concerning to NATO members following Washingtons insistence that a Russian-supplied weapons system was responsible for downing Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 in southeastern Ukraine this summer. Russia vehemently denies responsibility.

As relations between Moscow and the alliance continue to sour, NATOs Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg boasted on Monday of the organizations increased presence in Eastern Europe.

This year has been one of aggression, crisis and conflict. But NATO stands strong, said Stoltenberg during a press conference. Russias aggressive actions have undermined Euro-Atlantic security.

Meanwhile, the Kremlin unleashed its own criticisms of NATO and panned the alliance for destabilizing northern Europe and the Baltics.

They are trying to shake up the most stable region in the world, which is Europes north, Alexei Meshkov, Russias deputy foreign minister, told his nations Interfax news agency. Those endless military exercises, rebasing of aircraft capable of delivering nuclear weapons to the Baltic nations. This is the reality, a very negative one.

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U.S. Envoy Blasts Kremlin Ahead of NATO Meeting

President Ghani fosters hope with strong start (NATO and Afghanistan) – Video

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President Ghani fosters hope with strong start (NATO and Afghanistan)
President Ashraf Ghani is proving popular with the people of Afghanistan. A recent survey by the Asia Foundation has reported that 8 out of 10 Afghans approve of his performance so far. President...

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President Ghani fosters hope with strong start (NATO and Afghanistan) - Video

NATO chief meets with Afghan leaders to mark 'new chapter of cooperation'

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BRUSSELS, Dec. 1 (UPI) -- Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his deputy, Abdullah Abdullah, met Monday with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

The visit follows the Afghan Parliament's ratification of a Status of Forces Agreement with NATO on Nov. 27 which authorizes non-combat NATO training, advice and assistance to the Afghan National Security Forces beginning Jan. 1, 2015.

"Their presence here at NATO headquarters is a great expression of the strong partnership between NATO and Afghanistan," Stoltenberg said, who vowed to "develop our enduring partnership."

"We now have in place what we need to move forward with our new mission, Resolute Support. To train, advise and assist the Afghan National Security Forces from the first of January 2015."

Ghani and Abdullah will remain in Brussels for a meeting Tuesday with foreign ministers to discuss operation Resolute Support.

Afghanistan's Parliament also approved a Bilateral Security Agreement with the U.S. on Thursday.

The White House said in a statement that the BSA and NATO SOFA "is a great credit to the newly formed government of national unity" and that it welcomes "a renewed partnership that will help advance our shared interests and the enduring security of Afghanistan."

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NATO chief meets with Afghan leaders to mark 'new chapter of cooperation'

NATO chief: Interim rapid-response expected next year

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Published December 01, 2014

BRUSSELS NATO expects to have an interim rapid-reaction force in place by next year to deal with new security challenges in Europe and elsewhere, the alliance's secretary-general said Monday.

Jens Stoltenberg said the force would be a provisional step until a full-scale unit can be organized in 2016.

Stoltenberg said Germany, Norway and the Netherlands have agreed to contribute troops to the initial force. The bigger rapid-reaction force was agreed to at a NATO summit in September as a response to Russian actions in Ukraine.

The NATO chief met with reporters to preview the agenda of Tuesday's meeting of alliance foreign ministers in Brussels. U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to attend the session, which will cover a broad range of issues, from reviewing actions taken by NATO since the September summit in Wales to NATO's planned non-combat mission in Afghanistan starting Jan. 1.

On Wednesday, Kerry will chair a separate meeting at NATO headquarters of countries involved in the campaign against the Islamic State extremist group.

Douglas Lute, U.S. ambassador to NATO, said the prototype of what's officially called the High Readiness Joint Task Force will be used as a "test bed" to gauge its command and control, logistics, sustainability and connections with host nations and NATO's supreme commander in Europe.

The goal is to hone response time throughout 2015 so the unit will be able to deploy within days, Lute said.

The actual size and composition of the force is expected to be set by NATO defense ministers in February. Lute said many questions about it still remain to be answered, not least how it will be paid for.

Stoltenberg said the interim unit's creation proves NATO is moving faster to beef up security than foreseen at the Wales summit.

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NATO chief: Interim rapid-response expected next year


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