United States and Canada

Lavrov says surprised Poland seeking U.S. protection from Russia

By RIA Novosti

From RIA Novosti: Moscow is surprised at media reports that Poland is seeking to host U.S. troops to protect it from Russia, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Thursday… “If he [Polish Foreign Minister Radoslaw Sikorski] did say that, I am astonished, as we have discussed in detail European security problems that need to be […]

Central Europe needs NATO forces – Polish Minister

By Reuters

From Reuters: Central Europe needs “strategic reassurance” from Washington and NATO forces should be placed in the region to underscore its value to the alliance, Poland’s foreign minister said on Wednesday. The minister, Radoslaw Sikorski, said a visit last month to Poland and the Czech Republic by U.S. Vice President Joe Biden, to ease concerns […]

Kouchner Urges Stronger Afghan Role for Europe

By the New York Times

From the New York Times: Europe should take the opportunity of a new Afghan administration to coordinate its policies on Afghanistan and not wait for Washington to make all the decisions, the French foreign minister, Bernard Kouchner, said on Wednesday. “We need to speak as Europe to the Americans” on Afghanistan, he said, and end […]

Chancellor Merkel: “NATO Is and Will Continue to Be the Crucial Corner-Stone of our Collective Defense”

By Spiegel

From Spiegel: And that is why for me today is, first of all, the time to say thank you. I thank the American and Allied pilots who heard and heeded the desperate call of Berlin’s mayor Ernst Reuter as he said “People of the world, … look upon this city.” For months, these pilots delivered […]

Uniting All of the Allies Some of the Time

By the New York Times

From the New York Times: Having fulfilled its promise to restore respect and support from America’s allies, the Obama administration should now be reaping the benefits of Western unity as it faces international crises like Afghanistan and Iran. But the unfortunate truth is that where Western unity is sufficient, it is not real. And where […]

NATO and the Future of Nuclear Weapons in Germany

German Minister of Foreign Affairs Guido Westerwelle: [W]e will continue to support the disarmament efforts taken all over the world, especially those envisaged by the Americans. But it is equally clear that those efforts aiming at disarming the world should not only be supported by the Germans but what we want to do is to […]

Estonia wants new NATO defense plans

By the AP

From the AP: Estonia’s defense minister is discussing with the United States why NATO needs plans in case his region is attacked. Jaak Aaviksoo told The Associated Press that his country sees new threats since Russia’s invasion of Georgia last year and a cyber attack that targeted his country in 2007. Aaviksoo plans to meet […]

NATO-Russia Reset Needed

By the Atlantic Council

From the Atlantic Council: The fact is that the window of opportunity for the Alliance and Russia to sort out their differences may be slowly but surely closing. Although further NATO enlargement has been put on a back burner, the pledge made by the Alliance leaders at the Bucharest summit last year states that Ukraine […]

Europe Still Likes Obama, but Doubts Creep In

By the New York Times

From the New York Times: [N]ine months into Mr. Obama’s presidency, trans-Atlantic relations are again clouded by doubts. Europe and the United States remain at least partly out of sync on Afghanistan, the Middle East, Iran and climate change. Many Europeans argue that Mr. Obama has not broken clearly enough with Bush administration policies that […]