Statement by the Press Secretary on the Selection of former Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg as the Next NATO Secretary General

The White House, Office of the Press Secretary, March 28, 2014:
"We welcome the selection of former Norwegian Prime Minister Jens Stoltenberg as NATO’s next Secretary General, beginning October 1, 2014.  Mr. Stoltenberg is a proven leader with a demonstrated commitment to the transatlantic Alliance.  As Prime Minister, he built Norway’s military capabilities and actively contributed to NATO operations and political dialogue.  We are confident he is the best person to ensure the continued strength and unity of the NATO Alliance.

NATO Secretary General and US President stress commitment to collective defence

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen and US President Barack Obama stressed the Alliance’s strong commitment to collective defence during talks in Brussels on Wednesday (26 March 2014). “Our commitment to the defence of our Allies is unbreakable,” said the Secretary General.

Mr. Fogh Rasmussen expressed his strong appreciation for the leadership role the United States plays in the Alliance during his meeting with President Obama. The talks focused on the crisis in Ukraine, relations with Russia and implications of the crisis on the preparations for this September’s NATO Summit in Wales.

La Serbie a commémoré les 15 ans des bombardements de l'OTAN

Des cérémonies commémoratives se sont tenues lundi en Serbie à l'occasion du 15e anniversaire du début des bombardements de ce pays par l'OTAN lancés pour contraindre Belgrade de cesser la répression contre les séparatistes albanais du Kosovo.
A Belgrade, les proches des personnes tuées pendant les bombardements ont notamment déposé des fleurs devant le monument aux 16 employés de la société de télé- et radiodiffusion RTS qui ont péri le 23 avril 1999 lors d'une frappe aérienne, ainsi que devant le monument aux enfants victimes des bombardements.

Russia slams NATO’s ‘cold war’ standards / NATO chief says alliance suspends meetings, military mission with Russia

Russia accused NATO on Wednesday of applying double standards and “Cold War” stereotypes to Moscow after the Western alliance said it was reviewing cooperation with Russia over tensions in Ukraine.

“This meeting proved that NATO still has a double standard policy. And Cold War stereotypes are still applied towards Russia,” Russian’s envoy Alexander Grushko told reporters after a meeting of NATO and Russian officials to discuss Ukraine.
Earlier, NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said that ambassadors for NATO’s 28 member states decided after a meeting with their Russian counterpart to suspend plans for a joint mission as well as all civilian and military meetings.

Ukraine Calls Up Reservists, as PM Warns of Looming 'Disaster'

Ukraine's interim government ordered a full military mobilization Sunday, in an effort to to counter what its new prime minister says is a Russian act of war.

Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk, in an address to parliament, warned lawmakers "we are on the brink of disaster." He spoke as Russian troops continued to take up positions on Ukraine's Crimean peninsula, and Western governments issued repeated condemnations of the Russian deployments.

US Starts Transfer of its Airbase in Kyrgyzstan. -Hagel thanked Romania for its decision to host the U.S. Aegis Ashore missile defense system.

MOSCOW, October 19 (RIA Novosti) – The United States has started the withdrawal from an airbase in Kyrgyzstan that serves as the main transit hub for NATO forces in Afghanistan, the Pentagon said in a statement on Friday.
In 2011, Kyrgyz President Almazbek Atambayev announced plans to shut the base down by 2014, when the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) is to be pulled out of Afghanistan.
He signed a bill ordering the closure of the base into law in June. It stipulates that US forces must abandon the base at Manas International Airport, near the capital Bishkek, by July 2014.

Afghans allege civilian deaths in NATO raid. -Officials say children among five killed in Nangarhar, but US-led coalition says initial reports show no civilians dead.

At least five civilians, including three children, have been killed in a NATO air attack in eastern Afghanistan, according to government officials.
The civilians, aged between 12 and 20, were killed overnight on Friday while they were out hunting birds in the area of Saracha, a few miles from Jalalabad city, the capital of eastern Nangarhar province, Hazrat Hussain Mashreqiwal, provincial police spokesman, told the AFP news agency.
However, the US-led coalition said that it targeted fighters and that its initial reports indicate no civilian casualties.

Lieutenant-Colonel Will Griffin, a spokesman for the coalition, told the Associated Press news agency that the attack near an airport used by NATO forces was a "precision coordinated strike".

Russia has to react as NATO moves closer to its borders - Medvedev

Iskander high-precision missile system (RIA Novosti / Alexei Danichev)

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Russia cannot see NATO expansion towards its borders as positive, as under certain circumstances the possibility of military confrontation remains, the Russian PM has said at the Euro-Arctic Council’s forum.
When a reporter asked Dmitry Medvedev how the balance of forces in Europe will change if Sweden and Finland decide to enter NATO, the Russian Prime Minister answered that his country would have to react to such developments.
“This is their own business; they are making decisions in accordance with the national sovereignty doctrine. But we have to consider the fact that for us the NATO bloc is not simply some estranged organisation, but a structure with military potential,” the head of the Russian government said adding that under certain unfavorable scenarios this potential could be used against Russia.

German industry, government planning for resource wars

By Peter Schwarz
20 February 2013

A year ago, leading German industrial companies launched the Resource Alliance (Rohstoffallianz) for the purpose of securing the supply of selected raw materials for its shareholders and corporate members. To achieve this goal, it is calling for the use of military assets.
In an interview with Reuters on Monday, the manager of the Resource Alliance, Dierk Paskert, called for “a strategically oriented foreign economic and security policy” to ensure the supply of raw materials for German business.
Although this policy should be guided by the “objective of free and transparent commodity markets,” Paskert said, “it would be naive to take this for granted in the near future.” Developments had moved in “exactly the opposite direction, unfortunately.” Therefore, Paskert concluded, “we [Germany], together with our partners in the EU and NATO, must take on more responsibility in foreign economic and security matters.”

U.N. Court Frees Former Leader of Kosovo

PARIS — A United Nations war crimes tribunal on Thursday acquitted the former prime minister of Kosovo, Ramush Haradinaj, for the second time of torturing and killing Serb civilians while he was a commander of the NATO-backed Kosovo Liberation Army during its fight for independence in 1999. 

Two of his comrades, Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj, were also acquitted, although Mr. Brahimaj has already served a six-year sentence for torture handed down in an earlier trial. The judges ordered the three men released immediately.