Category: NATOSource

France Snub Germany at Financial Meeting

The recent pressure on Angela Merkel to enact further stimulus measures for Germany’s economy continues, the WSJ reports:     German Chancellor Angela Merkel is facing mounting pressure to boost her stimulus plans for Europe’s largest economy and reverse a thrifty strategy that has her out of step with other nations.     She will likely be […]

Miliband: Fund Needed to “Reintegrate” Taliban Fighters

By NATO

From NATO:  Well the drive for reintegration, which I think is the term that’s used for the low to mid-level fighters, is very, very important. It’s one that we strongly support. And it’s one which does need a fund to back it up… Governance of that fund will also be very important because it’s our […]

Spanish Spy for Russia to Face Closed Trial

By RIA Novosti

From RIA Novosti: A Madrid court has agreed to hold a behind-closed-doors trial of a former Spanish intelligence officer accused of selling classified information to Russia, a Spanish newspaper said. Roberto Flores Garcia, 44, was arrested in 2007 on suspicion of selling secrets to Russia for at least $200,000 from 2001 to 2004. He resigned […]

Finland Sends More Peacekeeping Troops to Afghanistan

By the People's Daily

From the People’s Daily: Finnish President Tarja Halonen and the Finnish government’s committee on foreign and security policy decided to send more peacekeeping troops to Afghanistan, according to a statement released by Finnish government on Friday. Finland will first deploy a further 50 peacekeeping soldiers to Afghanistan and the total strength will be brought up […]

NATO Chiefs of Defense to Meet January 26-27, 2010

By NATO

From NATO: NATO’s Military Committee will meet in Chiefs of Defence Staff (CHODs) session on 26 and 27 January 2010 in NATO HQ, Brussels. The various meetings will focus on the progress made in ongoing operations and the New Strategic Concept for NATO. Together with the Chiefs of Defence of all 28 NATO member states, […]

NATO’s Group of Experts for “Decision-Shaping, Not Decision-Making”

By the International Institute For Strategic Studies

From the International Institute For Strategic Studies: NATO’s Policy Planning Unit provides staff support to this group and serves as a secretariat. While it is not actively participating in the [Group of Experts] GoE’s deliberations so as to not unduly influence its work, it briefs the group on certain specific issues including NATO–Russia relations. NATO […]

NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency Gains Space Asset

By defpro.com

From defpro.com: As from 28 January 2010, the NATO C3 Agency will get access to the IP Routing in Space (IRIS) capability for measurement and test purposes. The IRIS payload is hosted on-board Intelsat 14, a satellite which was successfully launched on 23 November 2009. NC3A participation is important in determining the military benefits of […]

Basing Patriot Missiles in Poland May Lead to Russian Missiles to Iran

By the Jamestown Foundation

From the Jamestown Foundation: In response to the Patriot deployment in Poland, Russia might react in kind by finally releasing the S-300 anti-aircraft missiles that it promised but did not finally ship to Iran. The S-300s would cover an important capability gap in Iranian air defenses and the missiles may be claimed to be as […]

Lithuania Restructures Its National Intelligence Services

By the Baltic Course

From the Baltic Course: The State Defense Council has approved, in substance, the concept for strengthening the control and coordination of intelligence, which was worked out at the initiative of President Dalia Grybauskaitė and which will serve as the basis for restructuring the national intelligence system… The President’s initiated concept of intelligence provides for formulating […]

Moscow Monitoring U.S. Plans for Missile Defense Sites

By Russia Today

From Russia Today: “As far as missile defense issues are concerned, we have told the US and NATO that it is necessary to start everything from scratch – to jointly analyze the origin and types of missile proliferation risks and threats,” [Russian Foreign Minister Sergey] Lavrov said. “We are not ready to simply trust someone […]