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| NATO Activates Six Command Units on Eastern Flank with Russia |
| 2015-09-02 |
| [AnNahar] NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... on Tuesday activated command units in six central and eastern European members to boost defense amid regional tensions over Russia's actions in Ukraine, Lithuania's defense ministry said. "NATO today officially activated NATO force integration units in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania," ministry spokeswoman Asta Galdikaite told AFP. The Baltic nation's foreign minister Linas Linkevicius said the move was "a clear sign that NATO takes it's commitments very seriously". "It is a clear message both to allies and, of course, opponents who have recently increased the tensions," the minister told AFP, without directly naming Russia. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg will attend ceremonies in Vilnius Thursday formally inaugurating the string of units, an alliance statement said. The six multinational units with around 40 officers each were set up to facilitate the deployment of the newly forged NATO rapid reaction force and coordinate military drills. It is the latest NATO move to boost defenses in the eastern flank since Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula from Ukraine last year. NATO has increased the number of military exercises, deployed planes and ships while the U.S. pledged to keep heavy weapons in the region that lay behind the Iron Curtain a quarter of a century ago. Latvia confirmed Tuesday that two U.S. Army Predator surveillance drones and 70 airmen had deployed to its Lielvarde Air Base for a training mission. "They are here... they will be staying for two weeks for training purposes -- it is not a permanent deployment," Latvian Defence Ministry spokeswoman Anete Gneze told AFP. Intelligence training will involve two intelligence officers from Poland and each of the Baltic nations of Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia. The moves come less than two weeks after NATO opened a new Strategic Communications Center of Excellence in the Latvian capital, Riga. Though officials have been at pains not to describe it as a counter-propaganda center, part of its brief is to analyze aggressive messages emanating from media operated by Russia. The three Baltic states and Poland have also repeatedly called for a permanent NATO presence to deter Russia but the Western alliance has so far stuck to back-to-back troop rotations. Critics contend that permanent military bases could breach a 1997 agreement with Russia and trigger an arms race as Moscow accuses NATO of closing in on Russia's borders. Linkevicius insisted Russian military exercises have recently been much larger than NATO drills. "We've repeatedly said our steps are not directed against anybody. We are only meeting the commitments to secure NATO countries and citizens," he said. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |
| #7 OOOOOPPPPPSSSS, forgot WORLD MILITARY FORUM > GLOBAL TIMES: DEPUTY CHAIRMAN OF RUSSIAN STATE DUMA CALLS FOR UN HQ TO BE MOVED FROM US' NEW YORK CITY TO CHINA OR BRAZIL. SO-CALLED "NEUTRAL" EURO-STATES LIKE SWITZERLAND, BELGIUM, + AUSTRIA, ETC. CANNOT BE TRUSTED TO BE FREE OF US + WEST EUROPEAN INFLUENCE + DOMINATION. IIUC, IOW RUSSIA = WHY SHOULD THE US-N-EUROPE, AND ONLY THE US-N-EUROPE, GET EVERYBODY'S HEADQUARTERS??? Making Ultra-Chic, Ultra-Moderne' OWG BRIC Girl Paula "Delilah/Bathsheba/Trip to Brazil" Abdul happy. Still giving her Daddy a heart attack by kicking a Coconut. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2015-09-02 23:03 |
| #6 HHHMMMM, HHHHMMMM, so is this why CHINA repor send several PLAN warships to operate in the Bering Sea off Alaska, during the Bammer's GWCC visit to the state??? As per FREEREPUBLIC ARTICS-BLOGS. FYI IIRC SAME = the ISIS /ISIL just repor launched its first official or claimed attack agz Russian military facilities. |
| Posted by: JosephMendiola 2015-09-02 20:50 |
| #5 The immediately next article is "McCain ready for 2016 Senate re-election effort", coincidence? |
| Posted by: g(r)omgoru 2015-09-02 16:44 |
| #4 "...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions..." Sounds like the Austria-Hungarian Empire. |
| Posted by: Javise Greath3056 2015-09-02 16:39 |
| #3 1938? |
| Posted by: JohnQC 2015-09-02 09:44 |
| #2 Activating the Axis Minors... |
| Posted by: Thraling Hupoluns2819 2015-09-02 08:39 |
| #1 Lots of more HQ flags with no more troops to back them. Reminds me of someone pushing flags on a map in a basement in Berlin. |
| Posted by: Procopius2k 2015-09-02 08:07 |