ReportWire

Tag: North Atlantic Treaty Organization

  • This anti-drone technology is used on the Ukrainian battlefield and in NATO airspace after flyovers

    [ad_1]

    AALBORG, Denmark (AP) — In a warehouse more than 1,500 kilometers (900 miles) from Ukraine’s capital, workers in northern Denmark painstakingly piece together anti-drone devices. Some of the devices will be exported to Kyiv in the hopes of jamming Russian technology on the battlefield, while others will be shipped across Europe in efforts to combat mysterious drone intrusions into NATO’s airspace that have the entire continent on edge.

    Two Danish companies whose business was predominantly defense-related now say they have a surge in new clients seeking to use their technology to protect sites like airports, military installations and critical infrastructure, all of which have been targeted by drone flyovers in recent weeks.

    Weibel Scientific’s radar drone detection technology was deployed ahead of a key EU summit earlier this year to Copenhagen Airport, where unidentified drone sightings closed the airspace for hours in September. Counter-drone firm MyDefence, from its warehouse in northern Denmark, builds handheld, wearable radio frequency devices that sever the connection between a drone and its pilot to neutralize the threat.

    So-called “jamming” is restricted and heavily regulated in the European Union, but widespread on the battlefields of Ukraine and has become so extensive there that Russia and Ukraine have started deploying drones tethered by thin fiber-optic cables that don’t rely on radio frequency signals. Russia also is firing attack drones with extra antenna to foil Ukraine’s jamming efforts.

    A spike in drone incursions

    Drone warfare exploded following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. Russia has bombarded Ukraine with drone and missile attacks, striking railways, power facilities and cities across the country. Ukraine, in response, has launched daring strikes deep inside Russia using domestically produced drones.

    But Europe as a whole is now on high alert after the drone flyovers into NATO’s airspace reached an unprecedented scale in September, prompting European leaders to agree to develop a “drone wall” along their borders to better detect, track and intercept drones violating Europe’s airspace. In November, NATO military officials said a new U.S. anti-drone system was deployed to the alliance’s eastern flank.

    Some European officials described the incidents as Moscow testing NATO’s response, which raised questions about how prepared the alliance is against Russia. Key challenges include the ability to detect drones — sometimes mistaken for a bird or plane on radar systems — and take them down cheaply.

    The Kremlin has brushed off allegations that Russia is behind some of the unidentified drone flights in Europe.

    Andreas Graae, assistant professor at the Royal Danish Defense College, said there is a “huge drive” to rapidly deploy counter-drone systems in Europe amid Russia’s aggression.

    “All countries in Europe are struggling to find the right solutions to be prepared for these new drone challenges,” he said. “We don’t have all the things that are needed to actually be good enough to detect drones and have early warning systems.”

    Putting ‘machines before people’

    Founded in 2013, MyDefence makes devices that can be used to protect airports, government buildings and other critical infrastructure, but chief executive Dan Hermansen called the Russia-Ukraine war a “turning point” for his company.

    More than 2,000 units of its wearable “Wingman” detector have been delivered to Ukraine since Russia invaded nearly four years ago.

    “For the past couple of years, we’ve heard in Ukraine that they want to put machines before people” to save lives, Hermansen said.

    MyDefence last year doubled its earnings to roughly $18.7 million compared to 2023.

    Then came the drone flyovers earlier this year. Besides Copenhagen Airport, drones flew over four smaller Danish airports, including two that serve as military bases.

    Hermansen said they were an “eye-opener” for many European countries and prompted a surge of interest in their technology. MyDefence went from the vast majority of its business being defense-related to inquiries from officials representing police forces and critical infrastructure.

    “Seeing suddenly that drone warfare is not just something that happens in Ukraine or on the eastern flank, but basically is something that we need to take care of in a hybrid warfare threat scenario,” he added.

    Radar technology used against drones

    On NATO’s eastern flank, Denmark, Poland and Romania are deploying a new weapons system to defend against drones. The American Merops system, which is small enough to fit in the back of a midsize pickup truck, can identify drones and close in on them using artificial intelligence to navigate when satellite and electronic communications are jammed.

    The aim is to make the border with Russia so well-armed that Moscow’s forces will be deterred from ever contemplating crossing the line from Norway in the north to Turkey in the south, NATO military officials told The Associated Press.

    North of Copenhagen, Weibel Scientific has been making Doppler radar technology since the 1970s. Typically used in tracking radar systems for the aerospace industry, it’s now being applied to drone detection like at Copenhagen Airport.

    The technology can determine the velocity of an object, such as a drone, based on the change in wavelength of a signal being bounced back. Then it’s possible to predict the direction the object is moving, Weibel Scientific chief executive Peter Røpke said.

    “The Ukraine war, and especially how it has evolved over the last couple of years with drone technology, means this type of product is in high demand,” Røpke said.

    Earlier this year, Weibel secured a $76 million deal, which the firm called its “largest order ever.”

    The drone flyovers boosted the demand even higher as discussion around the proposed “drone wall” continued. Røpke said his technology could become a “key component” of any future drone shield.

    ___

    Stefanie Dazio in Berlin contributed to this report.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • NATO member Romania signs agreement with Germany’s Rheinmetall to build a gunpowder plant

    [ad_1]

    BUCHAREST, Romania (AP) — NATO member Romania signed an agreement Monday with German defense company Rheinmetall to build a gunpowder factory in central Romania, as Europe races to rearm itself in the face of an increasingly provocative Russia.

    After signing the deal, Prime Minister Ilie Bolojan hailed the joint venture between the Romanian state and Europe’s largest arms producer as a sign that Romania is “emerging as a player with potential in the defense industry of Southeast Europe.”

    Construction of the 535 million-euro ($616 million) plant in the town of Victoria in Brasov County is expected to start in 2026, take three years to complete and create about 700 local jobs, he said. Romania will seek to finance part of its contributions through the European SAFE mechanism to encourage defense readiness.

    “After many years in which our defense industry was in little demand, Romania is entering a new stage because of the security situation in Eastern Europe,” Bolojan said. “I’m glad Rheinmetall sees us as an important and serious partner and is strengthening its presence in Romania.”

    Rheinmetall CEO Armin Papperger said the ammunition powder to be produced at the factory is “needed worldwide and especially in Europe,” and will make Romania a key player in the continent’s defense ecosystem.

    “The strategy is to make Romania an integral part of the European ecosystem,” Papperger said. “Romania will also be an integral part of the NATO ecosystem.”

    Since Russia launched its full invasion of Ukraine in 2022, Romania has played an increasingly prominent role in NATO. It has donated a Patriot missile system to Ukraine and opened an international training hub for F-16 jet pilots from allied countries, including Ukraine.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • How Biden’s wartime visit to Kyiv came together

    How Biden’s wartime visit to Kyiv came together

    [ad_1]

    US President Joe Biden walks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy during an unannounced visit in Kyiv on Feb. 20, 2023.

    Evan Vucci | AFP | Getty Images

    President Joe Biden’s decision to make a risky wartime visit to Kyiv took root after a similarly clandestine mission just two months ago — when Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy came to Washington and addressed a joint meeting of Congress, according to two sources familiar with the matter.

    Senior members of Biden’s national security team who helped arrange the travel at the end of last year were heartened — and pleasantly surprised — by how powerful and positive the reaction to Zelenskyy’s trip seemed to be among the American people, said the sources, who, like others in this article, were granted anonymity to discuss internal planning. It was Zelenskyy’s first travel outside Ukraine since the start of the war.

    Hoping to sustain momentum for efforts to keep the fragile Western alliance together in support of Ukraine, the officials began discussions about using the anniversary of Russia’s invasion to make a similarly bold gesture.

    Publicly, the planning would play out in the trip officials formally announced 10 days ago — that Biden would make a second trip to Poland, Ukraine’s neighbor, to meet with its president and other NATO allies who have most to lose from any weakening of Western resolve.

    But privately, among a small universe of senior officials, the thinking was that this might be the moment to realize a long-held hope among some officials for an even more potent demonstration of U.S. solidarity: having Biden visit Ukraine.

    “Discussions about possibly going have been underway for months and really accelerated in recent weeks,” a senior administration official said.

    Officials across the government had long made it clear that it was nearly impossible to guarantee Biden’s safety heading into a war zone in which the U.S. is not an active partner.

    Other leaders of NATO and the G-7 group of major industrial nations, senior members of Congress and the secretaries of defense and state had all made the long, secretive journey to Kyiv. First lady Jill Biden made a surprise Mother’s Day visit to western Ukraine, spending two hours in the border town of Uzhhorod to meet first lady Olena Zelenska. 

    But the level of security needed for the president of the U.S. had long been considered incompatible. Even until the end, discussions about security measures were “intense,” as another official put it. They even included a call to Russian officials hours before Biden departed for “deconfliction” purposes, national security adviser Jake Sullivan would later tell reporters. 

    “[It] required a security, operational and logistical effort from professionals across the U.S. government to take what was an inherently risky undertaking and make it a manageable level of risk,” Sullivan told reporters after Biden left Kyiv on Monday afternoon local time. “But, of course, there was still risk and is still risk in an endeavor like this.”

    Biden spent about five hours in the capital, meeting with Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials. The two leaders visited St. Michael’s Golden-Domed Monastery and then walked to the nearby Wall of Remembrance, which honors those who have died in the war.

    Sullivan and his deputy, Jon Finer, said that while planning involved officials from across the government, it was a very closely held among every agency involved.

    At a White House news briefing Friday, National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby flatly denied that Biden would detour to Ukraine on his Poland trip. 

    Typically, it would be Sullivan who briefed reporters ahead of a Biden foreign trip, but he did not this time so he would not be in the position of misleading reporters, two sources familiar with the matter said.

    As planning reached the late stages, aides to Vice President Kamala Harris were told that her itinerary for the Munich Security Conference needed to be trimmed to ensure that she returned to U.S. soil by Saturday night. They were not given a reason, only that it was “nonnegotiable,” according another administration officials.

    On Sunday, the White House released a public schedule that had Biden scheduled to depart for Poland late Monday — well after he had already quietly left Washington.

    Instead, a handful of officials gathered at the White House before dawn, along with others in Europe, to track his journey every step of the way, two officials said.

    Sullivan was among the small number of staff members who traveled with Biden on Monday; others who were due to travel to Poland will still travel, without Biden, as scheduled Monday night. 

    White House officials did not immediately provide additional details of the precautions taken to minimize the security risks. But one obvious hurdle was how to provide security without committing U.S. air assets in the region.

    Ukraine can lose this war — but Russia can't win, Eurasia Group CEO says

    Biden took a 10-hour train ride from the Polish border into Kyiv. A source familiar with the matter said that while Biden could have gone to other locations in Ukraine that would have been easier to reach, he chose Kyiv to highlight that the capital is still standing after Ukraine’s forces proved to Russian President Vladimir Putin that the country would be more different to topple than anticipated.

    For Jill Biden’s visit to Ukraine in May, military aircraft tracked her motorcade as it made its way from a Slovakian airport up to the border but did not follow along as she drove across Ukraine’s border. The first lady’s trip was made public only as she prepared to cross back into Slovakia hours later.

    When Joe Biden, then the vice president, last traveled into a war zone, a trip to Baghdad and Erbil, Iraq, in April 2016, his arrival was disclosed after he had safely arrived in the Green Zone, with subsequent movements covered by the traveling media pool.

    Biden noted that Monday’s trip was his eighth to Ukraine, and his first words after he stepped off the train were, “It’s good to be back in Kyiv,” according to the media pool.

    Biden last visited the country in his final days as vice president.

    This time, he “was very focused on making sure that he made the most of his time on the ground, which he knew was going to be limited,” Sullivan said.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Czech government OKs bill for 2% GDP spending on military

    Czech government OKs bill for 2% GDP spending on military

    [ad_1]

    PRAGUE — The Czech government on Wednesday approved a bill aimed at bringing defense spending at the required NATO goal of 2% of gross domestic product as Russia’s war in Ukraine continues.

    Defense Minister Jana Cernochova said the move would“ensure a stable and transparent financing of big defense strategic projects in the future.”

    Cernochova said the war in Ukraine “made it clear we have to be ready for the current and future conflicts and that’s why a fast modernization of the army is absolutely necessary.”

    Although the Czechs will spend only 1.52% of GDP on defense this year, the 2% target should be reached in 2024 once the bill is approvied in parliament where the governing coalition has a majority in both chambers.

    NATO members agreed in 2014 to commit to the 2% spending target by 2024. Currently, only nine of the Western military alliance’s 30 members meet or surpass that goal.

    The U.S., which provides the bulk of NATO forces, has had a long-standing complaint that several of its European allies don’t pitch it enough.

    The Russian invasion of Ukraine has expedited the modernization of the Czech military with the planned, multi-billion euro procurement of new armaments. The Czechs have been negotiating with the U.S. about a possible purchase of 24 F-35 fighter jets and holding talks with Sweden for the acquisition of 210 CV90 armoured vehicles.

    Czechia has been a staunch supporter of Ukraine, donating Soviet-era weaponry to Ukrainian forces, including tanks. It has also issued almost 475,000 visas to Ukrainian refugees affording them access to health care, financial help, work permits and other benefits.

    ———

    Follow all of AP’s coverage of NATO at https://apnews.com/hub/nato

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Serbs put up new roadblocks as tensions soar in Kosovo

    Serbs put up new roadblocks as tensions soar in Kosovo

    [ad_1]

    MITROVICA, Kosovo — Serbs on Tuesday erected more roadblocks in northern Kosovo and defied international demands to remove those placed earlier, a day after Serbia put its troops near the border on a high level of combat readiness.

    The new barriers, made of heavily loaded trucks, were put up overnight in Mitrovica, a northern Kosovo town divided between Kosovo Serbs and ethnic Albanians, who represent the majority in Kosovo as a whole.

    It was the first time since the recent crisis started that Serbs have blocked streets in one of the main towns. Until now, barricades had been set on roads leading to the Kosovo-Serbia border.

    Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic has said he ordered the army’s highest state of alert to “protect our people (in Kosovo) and preserve Serbia.”

    He claimed that Pristina is preparing to “attack” Kosovo Serbs in the north of the country and remove by force several of the roadblocks that Serbs started putting up 18 days ago to protest the arrest of a former Kosovo Serb police officer.

    On Tuesday, Vucic addressed reporters together with Serbian Patriarch Porfirije, who was barred by Kosovo authorities on Monday from entering Kosovo and visiting a medieval Serb church there before Serbian Orthodox Christmas, which is celebrated on Jan. 7.

    In his usual manner, Vucic blasted the West and Kosovo’s ethnic Albanian authorities of plotting together to “trigger unrest and kill the Serbs” who are manning the barricades.

    “Their aim is to expel Serbia out of Kosovo … with the help of their agents in Belgrade,” he said, apparently referring to the rare opposition and independent media, which are critical of his handling of the Kosovo crisis and his increasingly autocratic policies.

    Nevertheless, he said that he is currently negotiating with European Union and U.S. mediators “on preserving peace and finding a compromise solution” for the current crisis.

    Serbian Prime Minister Ana Brnabic on Tuesday refused to comment on claims that Serbia had sent into Kosovo a number of armed men who are probably manning the barricades.

    “I will not discuss that with you,” she said when asked by a reporter if she knows whether “Serbia’s armed forces” were currently present in Kosovo.

    Kosovo officials have accused Vucic of using Serbia’s state media to stir up trouble and trigger incidents that could act as a pretext for an armed intervention in the former Serbian province.

    Petar Petkovic, a Serbian government official in charge of contacts with Kosovo Serbs, told Serbian state television RTS that the combat readiness of Serb troops was introduced because Kosovo had done the same thing. Kosovo officials have denied that the country has raised its security alert levels.

    Petkovic claimed that heavily armed Kosovo units want to attack Kosovo Serbs, including “women, the elderly, children, men. Our people who at the barricades are just defending the right to live.”

    Kosovo has asked NATO-led peacekeepers stationed there to remove the barriers and hinted that Pristina’s forces will do it if the KFOR force doesn’t react. About 4,000 NATO-led peacekeepers have been stationed in Kosovo since the 1999 war, which ended with Belgrade losing control over the territory.

    Any Serbian armed intervention in Kosovo would likely result in a clash with NATO forces and would mean a major escalation of tensions in the Balkans, which are still reeling from the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

    Tensions between Kosovo, which declared independence after a war in 2008, and Serbia have reached their peak over the past month. Western attempts to reach a negotiated settlement have failed, with Serbia refusing to recognize Kosovo’s statehood.

    KFOR and the EU have both asked Pristina and Belgrade to show restraint and avoid provocations.

    Kosovo remains a potential flashpoint in the Balkans years after the 1998-99 Kosovo war that ended with a NATO intervention that pushed Serbian troops out of the former Serbian province.

    ———

    Dusan Stojanovic reported from Belgrade, Serbia.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Serbs put up new roadblocks as tensions soar in Kosovo

    Serbs put up new roadblocks as tensions soar in Kosovo

    [ad_1]

    BELGRADE, Serbia — Serbs on Tuesday erected more roadblocks in northern Kosovo and defied international demands to remove those placed earlier, a day after Serbia put its troops near the border on a high level of combat readiness.

    The new barriers, made of laden trucks, were put up overnight in Mitrovica, a northern Kosovo town divided between Kosovo Serbs and ethnic Albanians, who represent the majority in Kosovo as a whole.

    It is the first time since the recent crisis started that Serbs have blocked streets in one of the main towns. Until now, barricades had been set on roads leading to the Kosovo-Serbia border.

    Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said he ordered the army’s highest state of alert to “protect our people (in Kosovo) and preserve Serbia.”

    He claimed that Pristina is preparing to “attack” Kosovo Serbs in the north of the country and remove by force several of the roadblocks that Serbs started putting up 18 days ago to protest the arrest of a former Kosovo Serb policemen.

    Kosovo officials have accused Vucic of using his state media to stir trouble and trigger incidents that would act as a pretext for an armed intervention in the former Serbian province.

    Petar Petkovic, a Serbian government official in charge of contacts with Kosovo Serbs, told the Serbian state RTS TV that the combat readiness of Serb troops was introduced because Kosovo had done the same thing.

    He claimed that heavily armed Kosovo units want to attack the Kosovo Serbs “with the intention of attacking our women, the elderly, children, men. Our people who at the barricades are just defending the right to live.”

    Kosovo has asked NATO-led peacekeepers stationed there to remove the barricades and hinted that Pristina’s forces will do it if the KFOR force doesn’t react. Some 4,000 NATO-led peacekeepers have been stationed in Kosovo since the 1999 war that ended with Belgrade losing control over the territory.

    Any Serbian armed intervention in Kosovo would likely result in a clash with NATO forces and would mean a major escalation of tensions in the Balkans, which are still reeling from the bloody breakup of Yugoslavia in the 1990s.

    Tensions between Kosovo, which declared independence after a war in 2008, and Serbia have reached their peak over the past month. Western attempts to reach a negotiated settlement have failed, with Serbia refusing to recognize Kosovo’s statehood.

    KFOR and the European Union have both asked Pristina and Belgrade to show restraint and avoid provocations.

    Kosovo remains a potential flashpoint in the Balkans years after the 1998-99 Kosovo war that ended with a NATO intervention that pushed the Serbian troops out of the former Serbian province.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Tense overnight violence in north Kosovo, Serbs block roads

    Tense overnight violence in north Kosovo, Serbs block roads

    [ad_1]

    PRISTINA, Kosovo — Kosovo police and the local media on Sunday reported explosions, shooting and road blocks overnight in the north of the country, where the population is mostly ethnic Serb, despite the postponement of the Dec. 18 municipal election the Serbs were opposed to. No injuries have been reported.

    The European Union rule of law mission, known as EULEX, also reported that “a stun grenade was thrown at an EULEX reconnaissance patrol last night,” causing no injury or material damage.

    EULEX, which has some 134 Polish, Italian and Lithuanian police officers deployed in the north, called on “those responsible to refrain from more provocative actions” and said it urged the Kosovo institutions “to bring the perpetrators to justice.”

    Unidentified masked men were seen on the Serb barricades that were blocking main roads leading to the border with Serbia, as Kosovo authorities closed two border crossings to all traffic and pedestrians.

    On Sunday morning, the situation was calm, but with an increased presence of Kosovar Albanian police in the areas with a mixed population in the north, and more international police and soldiers elsewhere.

    Recent tensions remain high, with Serbia and Kosovo intensifying their exchange of words.

    Serbia’s president on Saturday said he would formally request permission from the NATO-led KFOR mission in Kosovo to deploy Serbian troops in northern Kosovo, while conceding this was most unlikely to be granted.

    Recent tensions remain high, with Serbia and Kosovo intensifying their exchange of words.

    Serbia’s president on Saturday said he would formally request NATO permission to deploy Serbian troops in northern Kosovo, while conceding this was most unlikely to be granted.

    Serbian officials claim a U.N. resolution that formally ended the country’s bloody crackdown against majority Kosovo Albanian separatists in 1999 allows for some 1,000 Serb troops to return to Kosovo. NATO bombed Serbia to end the war and push its troops out of Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008.

    The NATO-led peacekeepers who have been working in Kosovo since the war would have to give a green light for Serb troops to go there, something that’s highly unlikely because it would de-facto mean handing over security of Kosovo’s Serb-populated northern regions to Serbian forces, a move that could dramatically increase tensions in the Balkans.

    “We do not want a conflict. We want peace and progress but we shall respond to aggression with all our powers,’ Kosovar Prime Minister Albin Kurti posted on social media.

    Kurti told the European Union and the United States that not denouncing such violence, which he said was orchestrated by Belgrade, “would push it destabilize Kosovo.”

    Tension in the north has been high this week ahead of the polls initially planned for Dec. 18. They have now been postponed to April 23 in an attempt to defuse the situation.

    The election was due after ethnic Serb representatives resigned their posts in November to protest a decision by Kosovo’s government to ban Serbia-issued vehicle license plates.

    Serb lawmakers, prosecutors and police officers also abandoned local government posts.

    Tensions have been high in Kosovo ever since it proclaimed independence from Serbia, despite attempts by the European Union and U.S. officials to defuse them. Serbia, supported by its allies Russia and China, has refused to recognize Kosovo’s statehood.

    Both Serbia and Kosovo want to join the EU but Brussels has warned they must resolve their dispute and normalize relations to be eligible for membership in the bloc.

    NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg has said that the NATO-led mission in Kosovo “remains vigilant.”

    ———

    Semini reported from Tirana, Albania; Dusan Stojanovic contributed from Belgrade.

    ——

    Follow Llazar Semini at https://twitter.com/lsemini

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Poland says it will accept German Patriot air defense system

    Poland says it will accept German Patriot air defense system

    [ad_1]

    WARSAW, Poland — Poland’s defense minister said Tuesday that his country will accept a Patriot missile defense system which Germany offered to deploy to Poland last month.

    The German offer was made after an errant missile fell in Poland near the border with Ukraine, killing two Polish men.

    Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak had initially said he accepted the offer with “satisfaction.” But he and other Polish officials later said they felt the Patriot system should be placed in Ukraine, something Germany was unwilling to do.

    What appeared to be Poland cold-shouldering Germany’s offer created strains in the relationship between the two neighboring countries, which have a difficult history but today are important trade partners and allies in NATO.

    Blaszczak said Tuesday on Twitter he was sorry Germany did not want to place the Patriot system in Ukraine.

    “I was disappointed to accept the decision to reject the support of Ukraine,” he wrote. “Placing the Patriots in western Ukraine would increase the security of Poles and Ukrainians.”

    Nonetheless, he said the two side were proceeding “with arrangements regarding the placement of the launcher in Poland and connecting them to our command system.”

    Germany has said the Patriot system offered to Poland was part of NATO’s integrated air defense and only to be deployed on NATO territory.

    ———

    Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Scholz: German offer of air defense system to Poland remains

    Scholz: German offer of air defense system to Poland remains

    [ad_1]

    BERLIN — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said Tuesday that his country’s offer to send Patriot anti-missile systems to Poland remains on the table despite Warsaw’s suggestion that they should go to Ukraine instead.

    Poland’s proposal has received a cool response from Berlin, where some are concerned that deploying Patriots to Ukraine could draw NATO into the Russia-Ukraine conflict. Defense experts say training for the highly sophisticated system could also take years, meaning it would not meet Ukraine’s immediate needs.

    “Our offer to the Polish government to protect their own country is not yet off the table,” Scholz told reporters during a news conference in Berlin.

    After Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, NATO beefed up defenses along its eastern flank. The alliance deployed U.S. Patriot batteries to Poland and German Patriot batteries to Slovakia, as well as a French equivalent system to Romania.

    Scholz said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy had thanked Germany during a call Tuesday for the financial and military support it has provided to Kyiv so far, including air defense systems.

    Germany is looking into providing more Gepard self-propelled anti-aircraft guns to Ukraine, as well as the IRIS-T surface-to-air missile system, he said.

    ———

    Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • EU official: Kosovo, Serbia reach a deal on vehicle plates

    EU official: Kosovo, Serbia reach a deal on vehicle plates

    [ad_1]

    PRISTINA, Kosovo — The European Union’s top diplomat on Wednesday said Kosovo and Serbia have reached a deal on a dispute over vehicle number plates, defusing rising tensions between the two Western Balkan neighbors.

    EU high representative Josep Borrell posted in his social media page that Kosovo’s and Serbia’s negotiators “have agreed to avoid further escalation and to fully concentrate on the proposal on normalization of their relations.” Serbia will stop issuing license plates with Kosovo cities’ denominations and Kosovo would cease further actions on the re-registration of vehicles.

    Talks will continue on the subsequent steps.

    Earlier this week Borrell had failed to convince Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and Kosovo Prime Minister Albin Kurti to reach a deal, further raising concerns about the escalating tensions between the former war foes.

    Kurti blamed Borrell for focusing solely on the license plates instead of the full normalization of ties between the neighbors.

    Vucic said Kurti was responsible for the failure of the meeting.

    The EU-backed Belgrade-Pristina Dialogue, which is aimed at normalizing relations between the neighbors and former foes in the Western Balkans, has been at a virtual standstill for years. The EU warned Serbia and Kosovo last week that they are on the edge of a precipice and must resolve their dispute or face the prospect of a return to their violent past.

    Long-simmering tensions between Serbia and its former province mounted again in recent weeks over the Kosovo government’s decision to ban Serbian-issued license plates, matching Serbia’s earlier ban on Kosovo license plates.

    Under the ban, about 6,300 ethnic Serbs owning cars with number plates deemed to be illegal in Kosovo were to be warned until Monday, which was postponed with 48 hours after U.S. embassy’s intervention. Then Kosovo authorities would fine them for the following two months. Until April 21 they would only be permitted to drive with temporary local plates and not allowed to drive after that date.

    On Nov. 5, Serb lawmakers, prosecutors and police officers in Kosovo’s northern Mitrovica region resigned over the move.

    The issue of Kosovo’s independence sparked a 1998-99 war in which about 13,000 people died. Serbia launched a brutal crackdown to curb a separatist rebellion by the territory’s ethnic Albanians. NATO bombed Serbia in 1999 to end the war.

    Kosovo unilaterally broke away from Serbia in 2008. The Serbian government, with support from China and Russia, has refused to acknowledge Kosovo’s statehood. The United States and most of its European allies recognize Kosovo as an independent country.

    NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has said that the NATO-led mission in Kosovo, known as KFOR, “remains vigilant.”

    ———

    Llazar Semini reported in Tirana, Albania.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • US defense chief: ‘Tyranny and turmoil’ in Russian invasion

    US defense chief: ‘Tyranny and turmoil’ in Russian invasion

    [ad_1]

    HALIFAX, Nova Scotia — U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin warned Saturday Russia’s invasion of Ukraine offers a preview of a world where nuclear-armed countries could threaten other nations and said Beijing, like Moscow, seeks a world where might makes right.

    Austin made the remarks at the annual Halifax International Security Forum, which attracts defense and security officials from Western democracies.

    “Russia’s invasion offers a preview of a possible world of tyranny and turmoil that none of us would want to live in. And it’s an invitation to an increasingly insecure world haunted by the shadow of nuclear proliferation,” Austin said in a speech.

    “Because (Russian President Vladimir) Putin’s fellow autocrats are watching. And they could well conclude that getting nuclear weapons would give them a hunting license of their own. And that could drive a dangerous spiral of nuclear proliferation.”

    Austin dismissed Putin’s claims that “modern Ukraine was entirely created by Russia,” calling it a vision of “a world in which autocrats decide which countries are real and which countries can be snuffed out.”

    He added that the war “shows the whole world the dangers of disorder. That’s the security challenge that we face. It’s urgent, and it’s historic.

    But we’re going to meet it. … The basic principles of democracy are under siege around the world,” he said.

    U.S. President Joe Biden last month declared that the risk of nuclear “Armageddon” is at the highest level since the 1962 Cuban missile crisis; Russian officials have raised using tactical nuclear weapons after suffering massive setbacks in the nearly nine-month invasion of Ukraine.

    While U.S. officials for months have warned of the prospect that Russia could use weapons of mass destruction in Ukraine in the face of battlefield setbacks, Biden administration officials have repeatedly said nothing has changed in U.S. intelligence assessments to suggest that Putin has imminent plans to deploy nuclear weapons.

    CIA Director Bill Burns recently met with his Russian intelligence counterpart to warn of consequences if Russia were to deploy a nuclear weapon in Ukraine.

    Austin said nuclear weapons need to be responsibly controlled, and not used to threaten the world.

    “Ukraine faces a harsh winter. And as Russia’s position on the battlefield erodes, Putin may resort again to profoundly irresponsible nuclear saber-rattling,” he said

    Austin also compared Russia to China, saying Beijing is trying to refashion both the region and the international system to suit its authoritarian preferences. He noted China’s increasing military activities in the Taiwan Strait.

    “Beijing, like Moscow, seeks a world where might makes right, where disputes are resolved by force, and where autocrats can stamp out the flame of freedom,” he said.

    Austin called Putin’s invasion the worst crisis in security since the end of the Second World War and said the outcome “will help determine the course of global security in this young century,” Austin said..

    Austin said the deadly missile explosion in Poland this week is a consequence of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s “war of choice” against Ukraine. “The tragic and troubling explosion in Poland this week reminded the whole world of the recklessness of Putin’s war of choice,” Austin said.

    On Tuesday, two workers were killed when a projectile hit a grain-drying facility close to Poland’s border with Ukraine. While the source of the missile is under investigation, NATO officials have said they suspect it was fired from a Ukrainian missile battery.

    Officials from Poland, NATO and the United States have blamed Russia for the deaths in any case, saying a Ukrainian missile would not have misfired had the country not been forced to defend itself against heavy Russian attacks that day.

    Russian officials have cast the conflict as a struggle against NATO — though Ukraine is not a NATO member even if it has been receiving aid from NATO member states.

    Austin said NATO is a defensive alliance and poses no threat to Russia.

    “Make no mistake: we will not be dragged into Putin’s war of choice. But we will stand by Ukraine as it fights to defend itself. And we will defend every inch of NATO territory,” Austin said.

    A Polish investigation to determine the source of the missile and the circumstances of the explosion was launched with support from the U.S. and Ukrainian investigators joined the probe on Friday.

    Andriy Yermak, head of the Office of the President of Ukraine, said in an interview broadcast live at the forum that “It’s not right to say it’s a Ukrainian rocket, or a Russian rocket, before the investigation is over.”

    In its 14th year, about 300 people gather each year at Halifax International Security Forum held at Halifax’s Westin hotel, where about 13 Ukrainian refugees now work.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Funeral held for first of 2 Poles killed in missile blast

    Funeral held for first of 2 Poles killed in missile blast

    [ad_1]

    WARSAW, Poland — A funeral was held Saturday for one of two Polish men who died in a missile explosion near the border with Ukraine, deaths that Western officials said appeared to have been caused by a Ukrainian air defense missile that went astray.

    White roses were placed on the wooden casket of Boguslaw Wos. A family member carried a black-and-white photo of him, while another man carried a crucifix bearing his name. Polish state news agency PAP described Wos as a 62-year-old warehouse manager.

    Wos and another man died Tuesday in Przewodow, a small farming community 6 kilometers (4 miles) from the border with Ukraine as that country was defending itself against a barrage of Russian missiles directed at Ukraine’s power infrastructure.

    Officials from Poland, NATO and the United States say they think Russia is to blame for the deaths no matter what because a Ukrainian missile would not have gone astray in Poland had the country not been forced to defend itself against Russian attacks.

    A Polish investigation to determine the source of the missile and the circumstances of the explosion was launched with support from the U.S. and Ukrainian investigators.

    To assist, the Pentagon sent a small team of forensics and explosive ordnance device experts to the missile impact site in Przewodow, a senior defense official said Friday on condition of anonymity, because they were not authorized to discuss details.

    Wos’ funeral took place in a village church and he was to be buried in the local cemetery, PAP said. A military honor guard and Polish officials and Ukrainian representatives joined the man’s family and members of the community but the Wos family asked that media not attend.

    Ukraine’s consul general in the nearby city of Lublin placed a wreath in the colors of Ukraine, PAP reported.

    The other victim, a 60-year-old tractor driver, is to be buried on Sunday.

    ———

    Tara Copp in Washington contributed.

    ———

    Follow all AP stories about the impact of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • US and Russia clash over responsibility for missile strike

    US and Russia clash over responsibility for missile strike

    [ad_1]

    UNITED NATIONS — The U.S. and its Western allies clashed with Russia at the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday over responsibility for a deadly missile strike in Poland near the Ukrainian border, an event the U.N. political chief called “a frightening reminder of the absolute need to prevent any further escalation” of the nine-month war in Ukraine.

    U.S. Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield told the council: “This tragedy would never have happened but for Russia’s needless invasion of Ukraine and its recent missile assaults against Ukraine’s civilian infrastructure.” Russia’s U.N. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia countered, accusing Ukraine and Poland of trying “to provoke a direct clash between Russia and NATO.”

    The U.S. and Albania had called for a council update on the situation in Ukraine last week, and the meeting was dominated by Tuesday’s missile strike in Poland that killed two farm workers.

    Nebenzia pointed to statements by Ukraine’s president and Polish officials initially indicating Russia was responsible. NATO’s chief and Poland’s president said Wednesday there is no indication it was a deliberate attack, and was likely a Soviet-era projectile launched by Ukraine as it was fending off Russian missiles and drones that savaged its power grid and hit residential buildings.

    U.N. Undersecretary-General for political affairs Rosemary DiCarlo told the council that it was Russia’s “most intense bombardments” since its Feb. 24 invasion of Ukraine, and the impact “can only worsen during the coming winter months.”

    She reiterated that attacks targeting civilians and civilian infrastructure are prohibited under international law, noted that “heavy battles” are continuing in eastern Donetsk and Luhansk and told council members “there is no end in sight to the war.” She also warned that “as long as it continues, the risks of potentially catastrophic spillover remain all too real.”

    Thomas-Greenfield, the U.S. envoy, called the barrage of more than 90 missiles that rained down on Kyiv and other cities and targets devastating civilian infrastructure “a deliberate tactic” by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

    “He seems to have decided that if he can’t seize Ukraine by force, he will try to freeze the country into submission,” she said.

    Poland’s U.N. Ambassador Krzysztof Szczerski told the council “those innocent people would not have been killed if there had been no Russian war against Ukraine.” And Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Barbara Woodward said: “We should be clear that this is a tragedy that indisputably stems from Russia’s illegal and unjustified invasion. And it’s inhumane assault on civilians across Ukraine.

    But Russia’s Nebenzia said he wanted to remind those blaming Russia that what Moscow calls its “special military operation” wouldn’t have been needed if the Minsk agreements after the upheaval in Ukraine in 2014 that called for a degree of self-rule for the Russian-backed separatist regions of Donetsk and Luhansk in the east had been fulfilled, and hadn’t led to an eight-year war.

    Addressing the West, Nebenzia also said there would be no military action “if you had not interfered and did not supply Ukraine with weapons and ammunition” and encouraged Ukraine “to strive for peace on realistic terms rather than fuel its feverish fantasies about the possibility of victory over Russia, for the sake of which the Zelenskyy regime is senselessly throwing tens of thousands of its soldiers into the meat grinder.”

    As for the missile attacks, Nebenzia said, “If you reacted to the terrorist actions of the Ukrainian special forces against Russia, we would not be forced to conduct precision strikes on infrastructure.”

    “But since you’re acting as you’re acting, while the Kyiv regime is taking credit for non-existent military prowess, we are forced to achieve the goals set for the special military operation by weakening the military potential of Ukraine,” he said.

    Britain’s Woodward strongly disagreed, telling the council, “We are in no doubt that Ukraine will prevail in the face of Russia’s aggression.”

    Pointing to the Russian withdrawal from the southern Ukrainian city of Kherson, she said, “The liberation of Kherson shows the strength, courage and determination of the Ukrainian people to defend their right to sovereign equality and territorial integrity guaranteed under the U.N. Charter.”

    “It is and remains a war of choice, a pure act of unprovoked aggression and the attempt to grab territory. This war must end not expand, and Russia started it, Russia must put an end to it,” Hoxha said.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Biden calls ’emergency’ meeting with G7, NATO leaders after Poland says ‘Russian-made’ missile killed two in country

    Biden calls ’emergency’ meeting with G7, NATO leaders after Poland says ‘Russian-made’ missile killed two in country

    [ad_1]

    Biden calls ’emergency’ meeting with G7, NATO leaders after Poland says ‘Russian-made’ missile killed two in country

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • NATO begins nuclear exercises amid Russia war tensions

    NATO begins nuclear exercises amid Russia war tensions

    [ad_1]

    BRUSSELS — NATO on Monday began its long-planned annual nuclear exercises in northwestern Europe as tensions simmer over the war in Ukraine and President Vladimir Putin’s threat to use any means to defend Russian territory.

    Fourteen of NATO’s 30 member countries were due to take part in the exercises, which the military alliance said would involve around 60 aircraft including fighter jets and surveillance and refueling planes.

    The bulk of the war games will be held at least 1,000 kilometers (625 miles) from Russia’s borders.

    U.S. long-range B-52 bombers will also take part in the maneuvers, dubbed Steadfast Noon, which will run until Oct. 30. NATO is not permitting any media access.

    NATO said that training flights will take place over Belgium, which is hosting Steadfast Noon this year, as well as over the North Sea and the United Kingdom. The exercises involve fighter jets capable of carrying nuclear warheads, but do not involve any live bombs.

    The exercises were planned before Putin ordered Russian troops into Ukraine in February. Russia usually holds its own annual maneuvers around the same time, and NATO is expecting Moscow to exercise its nuclear forces sometime this month.

    [ad_2]

    Source link

  • Putin tempts Turkey, suggests making it Europe’s new gas hub

    Putin tempts Turkey, suggests making it Europe’s new gas hub

    [ad_1]

    ANKARA, Turkey — Russian President Vladimir Putin on Thursday doubled down on his proposal to turn Turkey into a gas hub for Europe after deliveries to Germany through the Baltic Sea’s Nord Stream pipeline were halted.

    Putin floated the idea of exporting more gas through the Turk Stream gas pipeline running beneath the Black Sea to Turkey as he met with Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan on the sidelines of a regional summit in Kazakhstan.

    It’s the second unlikely energy proposal that Putin has pitched in as many days, with European leaders calling Russia’s cuts in natural gas a political bid to divide them over their support for Ukraine. It’s created an energy crisis heading into winter that has fueled inflation, forced some industries to cut production and sent utility bills soaring.

    “This is just another attempt by Russia to use gas as a geo-strategic tool to weaken EU and NATO countries,” said Simone Tagliapietra, an energy policy expert at the Bruegel think tank in Brussels.

    Russia was “tempting Turkey to becoming an energy hub — a long lasting strategic aim of the country — while trying to create new divisions among European countries,” the analyst said, adding that Putin’s strategy was not likely to succeed.

    A day earlier, Germany rejected Putin’s proposal to step up gas flows to Europe via a link of the Nord Stream 2 pipeline under the Baltic Sea – a pipeline that has never been operational. Moscow has cut off the parallel Nord Stream 1 gas pipeline over what it claimed were technical problems.

    The Russian leader first voiced the proposal on Wednesday, saying that Russia could increase the volume of its gas exports to Turkey through the Black Sea pipeline.

    “We could … make the main routes for the supply of our fuel, our natural gas to Europe through Turkey, creating in Turkey the largest gas hub for Europe — if, of course, our partners are interested in it,” Putin told a Moscow energy forum.

    On Thursday, he said the hub could help regulate “exorbitant” prices. “We could easily regulate (prices) at a normal market level, without any political overtones,” Putin said.

    “Putin is in a desperate situation. Nord Stream 1 and 2 are not operational and are unlikely to be operational for a long while,” said Mehmet Ogutcu, chairman of the London Energy Club. “Europe has made clear that it will not enter an engagement (with Russia) as long as the war in Ukraine continues.”

    “Turkey remains Putin’s only option,” he said.

    Ogutcu said Turkey was likely to tread carefully, wary of further increasing its dependence on Russia.

    “There is a delicate balancing act (by Turkey). If the balance tilts too much toward Russia this will damage (Ankara’s) relations with the West,” Ogutcu said.

    Erdogan did not comment publicly on the proposal but Putin’s spokesman, Dimitry Peskov said Turkey has reacted positively to the idea. Officials from Erdogan’s office could not immediately be reached for comment.

    Turkey’s state-run news agency however, quoted Turkish Energy Minister Fatih Donmez as saying on Wednesday that it was “too early to assess” the proposal.

    “Technically it is possible,” Anadolu Agency quoted Donmez as telling reporters at the same Moscow energy forum. “For such international projects, technical, commercial and legal evaluation and feasibility studies need to be conducted.”

    NATO-member Turkey, which is depending on Russian for its energy needs and tourism, has criticized Moscow’s actions in Ukraine but has not joined U.S. and European sanctions against Russia. It has maintained its close ties with both Moscow and Kyiv and positioning itself as a mediator between the two. Ankara recently helped broker key deals that allowed Ukrainian to resume grain exports and led to a prisoner swap between Ukraine and Russia.

    Although Russia is still conveying gas to Europe via Ukraine, the amount has plummeted drastically with the two Baltic pipelines out of commission.

    The Nord Stream 2 pipeline never came on stream because Germany blocked its operation just before Russia launched its invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24.

    —-

    Litvinova reported from Tallinn, Estonia. David McHugh contributed from Frankfurt.

    [ad_2]

    Source link