Messages In This Digest (11 Messages)

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1.: German Chancellor Drops Pose, Endorses NATO Nuclear Weapons

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Fri Oct 22, 2010 9:12 am (PDT)

http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1593363.php/Merkel-shifts-stance-to-say-NATO-must-keep-nuclear-defence

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
October 22, 2010

Merkel shifts stance to say NATO must keep nuclear defence

Berlin: Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday backed NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen's calls for NATO members to retain nuclear capacities as long as other countries had nuclear weapons.

The chancellor's comments represented a shift in Germany's stance on disarmament, after pushing for a reduction of nuclear weapons in Europe. The previous argument was that a new missile shield would allow NATO members to cut their arsenals.

'As long as there are nuclear weapons in the world, we need to have these capabilities, as NATO says,' Merkel told journalists after talks with Rasmussen in Berlin. Aims to reduce nuclear weapons needed to be based on the principle of reciprocity, the chancellor added.

At a NATO meeting earlier this month, France and Germany were at odds over nuclear disarmament, as France insisted on keeping its own nuclear weapons and rejected any foreign intervention in its policy.

At the time, German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle said that arms control and disarmament must be 'the trademarks of our political alliance.' Germany does not own any nuclear weapons.

Rasmussen, who has backed the French position, expressed confidence on Friday that NATO members would succeed in agreeing to a new security concept at next month's summit in Lisbon.

'I believe that it will include missile defence for Europe and I am quite confident that we will strike the right balance in the strategic concept,' Rasmussen said.

The leaders welcomed the fact that Russia would be present at the Lisbon summit, even if the country has not agreed to join NATO's missile defence structure.

'The openness of the country towards discussions over the missile defence system (is) a good signal,' Merkel said.
....
The leaders also discussed NATO's operation in Afghanistan.
....
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2.: Baltic, U.S. NATO Envoys Assist Georgia's Absorption Into Bloc

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Fri Oct 22, 2010 9:13 am (PDT)

http://www.messenger.com.ge/issues/2219_october_22_2010/2219_nato.html

The Messenger
October 22, 2010

Baltic delegation meet Georgian soldiers during NATO week
By Salome Modebadze

A delegation of ambassadors from Lithuania (Linas Linkevicius), Latvia (Janis Eichmanis), and Estonia (Yuri Luik) and the Deputy Ambassador of the US to NATO John Heffern along with their Georgian colleagues introduced the project of the Partnership for Peace Foundation during NATO week in Georgia on October 21.

The 15-month project, worth EURO 2,800,000, is aimed at assisting Georgia in the medical rehabilitation process for people affected by war. It will be oriented specifically to helping the Georgian military-engineering battalion to deal with the remaining explosives from the war on Georgian territory.

Meeting the Georgian soldiers fighting against the simulated natural disasters at the training base of the Ministry of Interior Affairs, the special guests had an opportunity to see their exercises for participating in international missions after they would gain the necessary skills, knowledge and experience from the trainings.

The foreign guests admitted the necessity of the acclimatization of Georgian soldiers to fighting on the ground, stressing the importance of this long-term process. Linas Linkevicius, Ambassador of Lithuania to NATO, shared his views to the Georgian analysts and NGOs and discussed the challenges Georgia is facing nowadays. "I can't personally see any alternative to the Georgian-Russian cooperation but dialogue. In my opinion this would be the best solution to the problems Georgia is facing nowadays," the Ambassador said stressing how much progress Georgia is making for entering NATO despite the various problems the country is facing nowadays.

The representatives of the Baltic countries in NATO expressed their readiness to promote Georgia's integration to NATO at the upcoming Lisbon Summit. Stressing that the NATO member countries would keep their promise given to Georgia at the Bucharest Summit, David Towndraw from the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency claimed that Georgia would by all means receive NATO membership. "The Lisbon Summit is an important event for us especially because we, the NATO member countries, will introduce a new strategy outlining the 21st century demands for NATO," Towndraw told the Georgian media.

"The visits of the NATO leadership to Georgia have been a sign as to how Georgian-NATO cooperation has been strengthened over the last period," The Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Alexander Nalbandov told the media.

Georgian analyst Andro Barnov highlighted the importance of the NATO delegation's visit to Georgia before the Lisbon Summit. "NATO's position towards Georgia is a very sensitive issue. The visit of the high ranking representatives has been proof of the fact that the Georgian issue will be relevantly discussed at the Lisbon Summit," the analyst told the media.

According to Rezo Adamia, an analyst and former Ambassador of Georgia to the UN, the meeting is aimed at expressing the readiness of the alliance for integrating Georgia to NATO by sharing the plans of the Ambassadors for the Lisbon Summit.
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3.: NATO Delegation En Route To Serbia To Further Integration

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Fri Oct 22, 2010 9:13 am (PDT)

http://bsanna-news.ukrinform.ua/newsitem.php?id=14477&lang=en

Tanjug News Agency
October 22, 2010

Delegation of NATO Parliamentary Assembly to visit Serbia

BELGRADE: The delegation of the Committee on the Civil Dimension of Security of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly will pay a two-day visit to Belgrade in order to get acquainted with the priorities of Serbia's internal policy, particularly in the area of defense and security.

According to the Serbian parliament's announcement, during their visit, the delegation will discuss the relations with the NATO and the EU, the situation in Kosovo-Metohija and the development of the situation in the Western Balkan region.

The delegation will be headed by Committee Vice-Chairman Vincenzo Bianco.

After the visit, the Committee will prepare the final version of the report on 'The Western Balkans - 15 years after Dayton: Achievements and Outlooks.'

The report will be considered and adopted at the Annual Session of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, in the Polish capital Warsaw from November 12-16.

Serbian parliament speaker Slavica Djukic-Dejanovic will welcome the NATO delegation, after which a meeting will be held with the representatives of four Serbian parliament committees: Foreign Affairs Committee, European Integrations Committee, Committee on Defense and Security and Committee on Kosovo-Metohija.
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4.: British Nuclear Submarine Runs Aground Off Scotland

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Fri Oct 22, 2010 9:45 am (PDT)

http://www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4952908&c=EUR&s=SEA

Agence France-Presse
October 22, 2010

British Nuclear Submarine Runs Aground

LONDON: A British nuclear submarine ran aground off a Scottish island on Oct. 22, the defense ministry said, adding that there were no immediate signs of any casualties or environmental damage.

HMS Astute - which only entered service in August and is billed as the Royal Navy's most powerful hunter-killer submarine - got into trouble near the Isle of Skye.

A Ministry of Defence spokesman said that the rudder of the 3.5-billion-pound (3.94-billion euro, $5.5 billion) submarine had become "grounded".

"Whilst conducting a personnel transfer HMS Astute grounded her rudder in the vicinity of the Isle of Skye. She was initially unable to free herself and we are waiting for the next high tide," the spokesman told AFP.
....
The BBC showed a photograph of the submarine lying half submerged in shallow water, with two tugboats nearby.

"It appears to be listing... there was a helicopter hovering over the top and there are just two naval vessels standing off to the north of her," eyewitness Ross McKerlich told the broadcaster.
....
Astute was named and launched by Prince Charles's wife Camilla, the Duchess of Cornwall, in 2007 and was commissioned into the navy less than two months ago after intensive sea trials.

Weighing 7,800 tons and 97 meters (323 feet) long, it is equipped with special noise reduction technology enabling it to "operate covertly and remain undetected in almost all circumstances," the ministry said.

It is armed with Spearfish torpedoes and Tomahawk cruise missiles and its nuclear reactor is supposed to mean that it will not need refueling once in its 25-year lifespan.

Two British and French nuclear submarines, HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant, collided in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean in February 2009, leaving both vessels damaged but still seaworthy.

The subs are so stealthy that their crews did not realize they had hit each other until their governments got in touch over the incident.
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5.: NATO Chief Takes WikiLeaks Iraq War Release "Very Seriously"

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Fri Oct 22, 2010 12:55 pm (PDT)

http://en.trend.az/regions/world/usa/1770752.html

Deutsche Presse-Agentur
October 22, 2010

NATO's Rasmussen warns against WikiLeaks Iraq release

NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen warned Friday against the expected release of a massive dossier of leaked information on the Iraq war, DPA reported.

WikiLeaks, a whistleblowing website that in July released more than 75,000 classified documents on the Afghan war, is expected to reveal a much larger cache of material on the conflict on Iraq on Saturday.

Rasmussen, secretary general of NATO, said in a press conference in Berlin following a meeting with German Chancellor Angela Merkel that the release of such information would be "very unfortunate," and could endanger the lives of service personnel and civilians.

"Such leaks may have very negative security consequences," Rasmussen said.

"We take (this issue) very seriously."

On Tuesday WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange denied Pentagon assertions that it was planning a release of Iraq war files.
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6.: EU-NATO Must "Institutionalize" Relations With South Caucasus Nation

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Fri Oct 22, 2010 12:55 pm (PDT)

http://en.trend.az/news/politics/1770693.html

Trend News Agency
October 22, 2010

Expert: NATO, EU must certainly define their policies towards
U. Sadikhova

Baku: The European Union and NATO must specify their policies towards the South Caucasus, the director of the Conflict Prevention and Early Warning Center and professor at the National School for Political and Bucharest Administrative Studies, Iulian Chifu, said.

"The EU and NATO should define a certain position on the South Caucasus countries. These organizations need to determine in what areas they intend to cooperate with South Caucasus countries - the economic or political or in the development of democracy, conflict resolution and these countries' integration into these organizations," Chifu said on Friday at the roundtable discussion on "Global challenges in the regional context" at the Center for Strategic Studies under the Azerbaijani President.

The relations of NATO and the EU with the South Caucasus countries should be institutionalized, Chifu said.
===========================
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7.: Georgia Proceeding Toward Full NATO Membership: Delegation

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Fri Oct 22, 2010 12:55 pm (PDT)

http://en.trend.az/news/politics/1770421.html

Trend News Agency
October 22, 2010

Georgia fully uses tools creating basis for country's accession into NATO
N. Kirtskhalia

Tbilisi: Georgia fully uses the tools that create a basis for the country's accession into NATO. According to the Office of the Georgian State Minister for European Integration, that was said by the North Atlantic Alliance's representatives in Tbilisi.

During a meeting with Georgian non-governmental organizations, experts and students of the Tbilisi State University, the ambassadors of Estonia, Lithuania and the Czech Republic to NATO, as well as the U.S. deputy ambassador [to NATO], considered all urgent issues in relations between Georgia and NATO in the context of upcoming Lisbon summit of NATO.

"It was stressed at the meeting that Georgia fully uses the tools that create a solid basis for the Alliance to fulfill the Bucharest Summit decision on Georgia's accession into NATO," the Office said.

NATO's ambassadors presented a new draft for the Partnership for Peace Trust Fund programme, which envisages assistance to Georgia in the elimination of post-war remnants of highly explosive substances and medical rehabilitation, in the Alliance's allied office in Tbilisi.

The NATO delegation is in Georgia from Oct. 18. The Alliance's representatives are holding lectures in educational institutions of Georgia. Meetings are scheduled at a high level, particularly with the Parliament Speaker and government members.
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8.: U.S. Leads Joint Paratroop Exercises In Bulgaria

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Fri Oct 22, 2010 7:19 pm (PDT)

http://www.usafe.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123227514

U.S. Air Forces in Europe
October 22, 2010

U.S., Bulgarian paratroopers take to the skies of Plovdiv during Thracian Fall 2010

U.S. and Bulgarian Air Force paratroopers jump from a Ramstein based C-130J, Super Hercules over the skies of Plovdiv, Bulgaria, Oct. 20.

The U.S. Airmen are deployed from the 37th Airlift Squadron, Ramstein Air Base, Germany, to support Thracian Fall 2010 a two week on-site training deployment designed to build the partnership between the U.S. and Bulgarian Air Force.
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9.: Saskatchewan Marks First Post-Korea Canadian War Dead

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Fri Oct 22, 2010 7:31 pm (PDT)

http://www.canada.com/Plaque+honouring+slain+soldiers+reporter+unveiled+Saskatchewan/3714500/story.html

Regina Leader-Post
October 22, 2010

Plaque honouring slain soldiers, reporter to be unveiled in Saskatchewan

A plaque honouring 15 people with ties to Saskatchewan who died during the Canadian military mission in Afghanistan — including former Calgary Herald reporter Michelle Lang will be unveiled Saturday at the Saskatchewan War Memorial.

The ceremony will be held on the provincial legislature grounds in Regina.

Since the mission began in 2002, 152 Canadian soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan. Fourteen of those were from Saskatchewan. Reporter Michelle Lang, 34, who was in Afghanistan working for Canwest News Service, also died during the conflict. She had previously worked for the Regina Leader-Post.

Lang's name, along with those of Lt. Andrew Nuttall, from Regina, and Lt. Justin Boyes, from Saskatoon, were the most recent to be added to a temporary plaque, which is being replaced at Saturday's ceremony.
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10.: British Defense Think Tank Calls For Militarization Of The Arctic

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Fri Oct 22, 2010 7:31 pm (PDT)

http://www.stripes.com/blogs/stripes-central/stripes-central-1.8040/send-in-the-submarines-1.122622

Stars and Stripes
October 22, 2010

Send in the Submarines?
By John Vandiver

STUTTGART, Germany: Could the militarization of the Arctic be the best way to ensure peace in this resource-rich region where Russia, Canada and the United States all have territorial claims?

Yes, says a new report on Arctic security from the Royal United Services Institute in London. The report makes the case that an international military presence is a prerequisite for security in this frozen-but-melting part of the world and should not be demilitarized.

In "Environmental Security in the Arctic Ocean: Promoting Co-operation and Preventing Conflict," Professor Paul Berkman, says political leaders haven't paid enough attention to growing concerns about security and instability in the Arctic. "As more commercial entities, eco-tourists and others operate or travel through the Arctic Ocean, the likelihood of mishaps, hazards to navigation, or encroachment on sovereignty may require a military response."

As ice caps melt in the north, opening up new sea lanes and potential access to minerals and oil below the ocean's floor, concerns are mounting about a new kind of Cold War among rival nations.
===========================
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11.: European Commission Adviser: EU Should Join NATO

Posted by: "Rick Rozoff" rwrozoff@yahoo.com rwrozoff

Fri Oct 22, 2010 8:20 pm (PDT)

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english2010/world/2010-10/23/c_13571539.htm

Xinhua News Agency
October 23, 2010

Barroso's adviser proposes EU entering NATO

LISBON: Joao Marques de Almeida, adviser to President of the European Commission Jose Manuel Durao Barroso, said Friday that the best solution for the enhancement of EU-U.S. relations would be that the European Union (EU) joins NATO.

Marques de Almeida was one of the speakers in a seminar organized by the National Defence Institute of Portugal in Lisbon. Before being adviser to the EU commission president, he was president of the Portuguese Institution, a government think tank to elaborate on defence and strategic policies.

According to Marques de Almeida, the main difficulty in the NATO-EU relation is the issue on the Cyprus unification. Turkey has the second largest army in the alliance, but the division of the island of Cyprus blocks a better relation with the EU. Cyprus is a member of the EU.

During the upcoming NATO summit Lisbon on Nov. 19-20, chief of the organization Anders Rasmussen will propose the enhancement of the relationship with Turkey, a move that could include the Turkish presence in the European Defence Agency with a full membership.
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http://dn.sapo.pt/Inicio/interior.aspx?content_id=1692723

Diário de Notícias
22 de outubro de 2010

NATO/Cimeira: Adesão da UE à NATO pode resolver relação entre Europa e EUA -- João Marques de Almeida

Lisboa: O conselheiro do presidente da Comissão Europeia considerou hoje, em Lisboa, que, no atual «momento de mudança», a melhor forma de resolver a relação Europa-Estados Unidos poderá ser a adesão da UE à NATO.

João Marques de Almeida falava num seminário promovido pelo Instituto de Defesa Nacional (IDN).
===========================
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