• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

NATO-ACCESSION

• U.S. Vice President Cheney indicated yesterday that NATO was poised for expansion into former Soviet territory and expressed the hope Russia would actively cooperate with the Alliance in the future. At CNN’s "Larry King live" program, he stated: "There will also be work done to give Russia a new role at NATO, not a veto by any means, but to give them an active participation" in NATO, which will make it easier to "expand NATO membership to some of those Eastern European countries that used to be part of the old Soviet Union."

In a contribution to Stars and Stripes, James Goodby – senior fellow at the Brooking Institution and former U.S. ambassador to Finland – and Kenneth Weisbrode – a councilor of the Atlantic Council of the U.S. – stressed that the weapons for NATO’s 21st century mission were economic, political and cultural as well as military. This is where NATO, as a political Alliance working closely with the EU can lead the way, not only by intervention, but also and more significantly by demonstrating how democracies can unite against common threats, the daily writes. It concludes: the alternative is multiple military mobilization for complicated, risky and expensive armed responses, which will divide the Alliance and undermine public support.

A commentary in The Washington Post reprinted in The International Herald Tribune warns that it is wrong, and dangerous, to suppose that joining the West is President Putin’s plan.

Despite the fact that the Russian leader has been given enormous credit for dropping his resistance to further NATO’s accession, he has in exchange, been stepping up Moscow’s efforts to establish political and economic dominion over the European and Central Asian countries outside the Alliance, ranging from Ukraine, Belarus and Moldova in Europe to Armenia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan, the daily writes. It continues: to preserve its influence at the expense of the West, Russia is backing corrupt, anti-democratic and anti-Western forces all through this "near-abroad," its troops continue to occupy bases and strong points in the sovereign states of Moldova and Georgia, despite promises to pull out and Putin continues to wage the brutal and bloody military campaign he initiated against Chechnya in 1999, rejecting Western calls for a political settlement. But Putin's personal stamp is as much on Russia's handling of Belarus and Chechnya as it is on relations with NATO; it’s just that the latter gets much more attention in the West, the article stresses.

U.S. PRESIDENT –TRANSATLANTIC RELATIONS

• Live on CNN, addressing the Bundestag, President Bush stressed that what we are working to protect is "civilization itself," and NATO needs new strategies and capabilities to be effective. He further called on NATO and all U.S. allies to look beyond Europe to "to gathering dangers and important responsibilities." AP writes that calling Saddam Hussein "a threat to civilization itself," President Bush assured the chancellor of Germany today that he does not seek war with Iraq but does want help keeping the Iraqi leader from forging alliances with al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups. The dispatch further writes that President Bush told Chancellor Schroeder of his desire to expand the war against international terror beyond Afghanistan, but he assured him that he had no war plans on his desk, however he wished to use every means available to deal with Saddam.

Media focus on President Bush’s European visit. They generally consider his visit a bid to rebuild the U.S.-European trust, however they stress that deep divisions over plans to expand the fight against terrorism over Iraq are likely to be exposed to the President. Media further noted the anti-U.S. protests in Germany.

Italian media carried ample coverage of the "exceptional security measures" in place for the NATO-Russia summit at the military base of Pratica di Mare, Rome, May 28: anti-aircraft missiles in the vicinity of the base, limited air traffic in all Rome’s airports and armed agents aboard the planes.

Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright contributed a comment to The Washington Post, reprinted in The International Herald Tribune, where she stresses that Europe is America’s historic and irreplaceable partner in any global fight, and NATO - a long-term commitment on both sides of the Atlantic - is the best vehicle for taking on the most immediate threat the allies face. Of course, NATO has far to go to prepare for a global role, she continues and, as the NATO-Russia relationship expands, the Alliance must make sure it enhances the ability to act rather than making actions more difficult. President Bush can use this trip to remind the allies that America and Europe are partners because their societies are rooted in values of respect for individual freedoms and accomplishments, the importance of free markets, and concern for the poor and disadvantaged, Mrs. Albright notes adding that he can make clear that his administration understands the nature of long-term commitments to one another. By doing that, he would lay out a framework for a lasting partnership with Europe that would promote America’s security, prosperity, and values, she concludes.

BALKANS

• SFOR seized Tuesday equipment and documents from two Bosnian Serb Army radar stations because of suspicions the stations were used to spy on NATO communications, AP quotes Maj. Scott Lundy, an SFOR spokesman, as announcing today, adding that NATO "has reason to believe" that the Bosnian Serb Army may have been monitoring the peacekeeping force’s communication, something that is banned under the Bosnian 1995 peace agreement. An investigation was underway and Major Lundy declined to say for how long the alleged spying might have been conducted and what kind of information the spies might have accessed, the report writes.

• Skopje’s Army said today that ethnic Albanian gunmen attacked an army post by the Kosovo border, describing it as one of the most serious incidents directed at its forces since last year's conflict. Reuters quotes an army spokesman as saying that Albanian gunmem using machineguns and hand-held rocket launchers fired late yesterday at an army watchtower in the northwest of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia near the border with Kosovo. The soldiers returned fire and after a one-hour gun battle the attackers fled towards nearby mountains, he reportedly added. No one on the government side was hurt, the report notes.

In an interview in the latest issue of Skopje’s Zum weekly, Colonel General Metodi Stamboliski - the Army General Staff Chief of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia - speaks about the Armed Forces reform, the relationship with NATO and the borders’ control issue.

About the Army reform, Colonel General Stamboliski said that "we have to transform the corps into brigades and to abolish the post of General Staff director …Now the commands will go directly from the General Staff to the command of one of the segments from G1 to G7," which have been structured abiding by NATO standards. Regarding the professionalization of the Armed Forces, the Officer announced that the 60 % of the active component was to be completed by the year 2007.   "However, the government and the Head of State have pushed to get this done much sooner:  so the First and Second Brigades - which will be our elite units - should be ready as early as the end of the year 2003," he reportedly added. Asked about possible borders’ problems when NATO would allegedly withdraw troops from Kosovo, Colonel General Stamboliski pointed out that the "cooperation with NATO and KFOR is good," adding that he hoped "NATO would not make the mistake of loosening the control on the border between Kosovo and Macedonia (sic) ."   "Whether we will have NATO or purely European forces is a different issue, but I feel that this will not have a reflection on border control," he further stressed.  Still on the borders’ control issue, after reminding that lately steps forward have been made in having them secured, Colonel General Stamboliski highlighted the initiative for regional border security, which was raised by the Command of NATO's East Wing in Naples and that would take shape in a meeting due to be held in Ohrid in July. For this meeting, during my talk with the SACEUR General Ralston "I suggested, apart from Macedonia as the host, that the representatives of not only the neighboring countries, but also of the wider region be invited to the meeting."   "NATO showed understanding for this proposal, and representatives of Italy, Romania, and Turkey should also be attending the meeting," Colonel General Stamboliski concluded.

 FINAL ITEM