Contents tagged with NATO

  • Ukraine finds a 'smart way' to join NATO

    Ukraine can join NATO though close rapprochement with the West and the deployment of NATO military bases in its territory, Director of the Center for Army, Conversion and Disarmament Studies Valentyn Badrak told Apostrophe news outlet.    He stated that as long as Ukraine has territorial problems with Russia, Ukraine will never gain NATO membership.  Nevertheless, according to him, Ukrainian authorities have found a “smart way” to do this, though they are unsure that the West would accept it.   …

  • President of Lithuania calls on NATO to deploy Patriot air defense systems in Baltics

    In an interview with the newspaper Corriere della Sera, the President of Lithuania, Dalia Grybauskaitė called on NATO to equip submarines with American-made Patriot missile defense systems to strengthen the defense of the Baltic region.

    "NATO air defense is insufficient in our regions and should be strengthened. Patriots can be installed in submarines or in our territory,” she stated.

    Grybauskaitė emphasizes that Russia, the number one danger to Europe, is waging an unconventional war. "As …

  • Head of Ukrainian mission to NATO: Alliance not ready to invite Ukraine into Enhanced Opportunities Program

    NATO is not yet ready to invite Ukraine to the Enhanced Opportunities Partners Program, as stated by Vadym Prystaiko, the head of the mission of Ukraine to NATO, in an interview with Ukrinform.

    “Is NATO ready to invite Ukraine into this program? No. The three-year review of the program’s effectiveness was completed six months ago. All five participants – Australia, Finland, Georgia, Jordan and Sweden – are invited to participate in its future work. We are in negotiations about this. I do not …

  • NATO reconnaissance satellite center to be established in Czech Republic

    On July 1, NATO begins construction of the new reconnaissance satellite center SATCEN in the Czech Republic, stated the press secretary of Czech Military Intelligence, Alžběta Riethofová, iRozhlas reports. The center will be ready for operation by 2020. Before that, it will operate in test mode.

    After the completion of all work, the center will provide satellite imaging information not only for the military intelligence and NATO, but also for rescue services.

    The center will receive and …

  • NATO to require its air forces to operate in all areas and conditions

    NATO Joint Air Power (JAP) must be able to defend itself from the forces of its competitors and to foresee the growing role of cyber- and space-based systems, according to a new strategy plan released by NATO on June 26. A corresponding statement has been posted on the NATO website. According to the statement,  JAP infrastructure “must be able to fight in all terrains and environments."

    The Press Service specified that this document is the first of its kind since NATO’s founding in 1949, …

  • Russia warns of deteriorating security due to NATO drills in Baltic

    Russia has a negative perception of the Ramstein Alloy military drills being carried out by the air forces of NATO and its partners over the Baltic Sea, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko told RIA Novosti.

    “Such drills diminish the regional security. This primarily concerns the Baltic region, which has been the calmest in a military sense for decades,” Grushko commented.

    The Ramstein Alloy drills, which are held three times a year, began on the morning of June 26. The Ämari Air …

  • Stoltenberg invites Poroshenko to NATO North Atlantic Council meeting

    NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg invited Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko to attend a meeting of the North Atlantic Council of NATO that includes heads of state and government, as well as a high-level meeting of participants and partners of the Assistance Mission peacekeeping effort in Afghanistan.

    This was reported by the president’s press service.

    Stoltenberg and Poroshenko spoke by telephone on Tuesday and discussed preparations for Ukraine in connection with the NATO summit in …

  • Kyiv: The situation in Crimea and Donbas will not prevent Ukraine from joining NATO

    The armed conflict in eastern Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea by Russia will not prevent Ukraine from joining NATO, as stated by the Secretary of the Parliamentary Committee on National Security Ivan Vinnik (part of Petro Poroshenko Bloc “Solidarity”).

    “This is a myth, created by Russian propaganda, that countries that are in involved in territorial claims cannot become subjects of NATO. I would like to remind you that Ukraine is not involved in a territorial conflict, we have the armed …

  • NATO expects Ukrainian national security law to delimit functions of law enforcement agencies

    NATO Representative to Ukraine Alexander Vinnikov anticipates that the Verkhovna Rada will pass a law on national security which will clearly delimit the functions of the law enforcement agencies.

    The head of NATO Representation to Ukraine made a statement to this effect at a conference in Kyiv.

    “From our perspective, a law on national security is critical, the basis and foundation for delimiting the functions of Ukraine’s law enforcement agencies. This law will provide synergy between all …

  • Estonia: over the past week NATO Air Forces escorted Russian warplanes 12 times over the Baltic Sea

    Estonia's Ministry of Defense reported that over the last week, NATO fighters had scrambled eight times to identify and escort Russian military aircraft.

    According to the BNS agency, this time, a total of 12 aircraft of the Russian Federation were intercepted in international airspace over the Baltic Sea.

    The latest incident was recorded on June 9, when the NATO air police accompanied Russian planes on three different occasions: an Il-20 reconnaissance aircraft, an An-26 freighter and a Su-24 …