9 July 2011 — Stop NATO

• Caribbean Community Heads Of State Condemn NATO’s War On Libya
• Romanian President: Would Have Joined Hitler’s Invasion Of Russia
• Counterinsurgency: U.S. Marines Conduct Training In Eight Black Sea, Balkans Countries
• Israel’s Netanyahu, Military Follow U.S. And NATO Into Bulgaria
• New NATO-EU Adjunct: Weimar Triangle Combat Group
• NATO Tankers Attacked In Pakistan

Caribbean Community Heads Of State Condemn NATO’s War On Libya

http://www.thedominican.net/2011/07/skerrit-denounces-nato-actions.html

The Dominican
July 8, 2011

Skerrit denounces NATO actions expresses support for Libyan leader Gaddafi

Basseterre: Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit of Dominica has strongly denounced NATO military action in Libya and voiced unequivocal support for Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi in the ongoing military campaign.

Speaking at the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) heads of government meeting in St Kitts, Skerrit denounced NATO action against free Libya and expressed the full solidarity of the government and people of Dominica with the Libyan people and their Leader Muammar Gaddafi.

‘We are ready to offer all assistance which you need to support the Libyan people… and I myself am proud of the relationship I have with the Leader Muammar Gaddafi, he said. He also expressed his support to the African initiative.

Skerrit however did not elaborate on the type of assistance that he was ready togive to the Libyan leader and people.

Skerrit’s remarks came as the heads of state of CARICOM openly condemned what they referred to as white racist aggression against Libya and called for an immediate halt to this aggression.

The heads of state pointed to what they referred to as NATO’s indiscriminate targeting of civilians in residential areas and called for an immediate halt to the aggression, claiming that it was a violation of the UN Security Council resolution which was aimed at protecting civilians.

Current Chairman of CARICOM, the Prime Minister of St Kitts, said the group understood the roots of the plot being hatched against Libya because of its pro-Africa policies and its oil potential.

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Romanian President: Would Have Joined Hitler’s Invasion Of Russia

http://www.nineoclock.ro/voronin-urges-eu-to-publicly-denounce-basescu%e2%80%99s-wwii-statements/

Nine O’Clock News (Romania)
July 7, 2011

Voronin urges EU to publicly denounce Basescu’s WWII statements

The head of the Republic of Moldova’s Communist Party, former President Vladimir Voronin, yesterday criticised President Traian Basescu’s recent comments about the Second World War and demanded that the EU publicly denounce the Romanian head of state for his words, Pro TV Chisinau reported.

In a TV show on June 22, President Basescu said he would have done the same as Marshal Ion Antonescu did during the war, when joining Germany in invading the Soviet Union. ‘We had an ally and we had a territory to recover (e.n. Moldova). If I had faced the same conditions I would have done it,’ Basescu argued.

‘The president of a EU member state labelled as correct the actions of a war criminal and Nazi executioner, Antonescu, by whose actions more than 300,000 people were exterminated,’ Voronin said yesterday.

Basescu’s comments were fiercely criticised by the opposition and large parts of the public, but also by Russia, which said the head of state was practically trying to justify his country’s decision to join the war against the Soviet Union on Hitler’s side. Moreover, it was reported that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev also had some very tough comments on Basescu during the NATO-Russia council earlier this week. Asked to comment on the reports, NATO chief Anders Fogh Rasmussen refused.

‘President Medvedev talks about this matter in a confidential diplomatic framework and in the terms appropriate for this framework. The Romanian envoy to NATO replied in the same framework and the same terms,’ he said. NATO envoy Sorin Ducaru too refused to make any comments.

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http://www.itar-tass.com/en/c154/181545_print.html

Itar-Tass
July 8, 2011

Moldova’s former Pres urges EU to condemn Romanian Pres statement.

CHISINAU: Moldova’s former President Vladimir Voronin on Thursday expressed surprise over the absence of reaction on the part of the European Union to the remarks made by Romanian President Trajan Basescu regarding Hitler’s aggression against the USSR in 1941.

Basescu said earlier this week he would have sent Romanian soldiers to take part in the occupation of the USSR along with Hitler’s forces in 1941.

Romanian dictator Ion Antonescu did send Romanian troops to war against the Soviet Union in June 1941.

‘We’re indignant over Basescu’s statement,’ Vladimir Voronin said Thursday as he met in Chisinau with European Council President Herman van Rompuy. ‘In actual fact, Basescu, who is president of an EU member-state, justified the war criminal and butcher Antonescu, whose immediate involvement – in the punitive operations – took away the lives of more than 300,000.’

‘Now Basescu says that if he had been in Antonescu’s position seventy years ago, he, too, would have ordered the troops to cross the river Prut,’ Voronin said.

‘We expect condemnation of these statements,’ Voronin said.

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Counterinsurgency: U.S. Marines Conduct Training In Eight Black Sea, Balkans Countries

http://www.marines.mil/unit/marforeur/Pages/NCOBulgaria.aspx

U.S. Marine Corps
July 7, 2011

Marines advise, help build NCO corps throughout Black Sea Region
By Cpl. Tatum Vayavananda, Black Sea Rotational Force

VELIKO TARNOVO, Bulgaria…Marines with Black Sea Rotational Force 11’s NCO Development detachment is showing parts of the world what it means to be an NCO by recently finishing their fourth stop in their eight-country tour to advise the importance of NCO leadership to partner nations.

‘In the counterinsurgency environment we are operating in [today] it’s important to develop NCOs and allow them to make the decision to drive the battle at a lower level,’ said Lt. Col. Nelson S. Cardella, commanding officer, BSRF-11.

‘It’s the only way we’re going to win and training other nations is very important,’ said Cardella, ‘That’s why we’re here.’

Each participating country has re-evaluated how they use their NCO corps, how they are trained and the responsibility that is given at that level.

‘NCO leadership still varies a lot, from some countries that follow the old Soviet-style and hold most of the power in the commissioned ranks, to other countries that have already progressed to where sergeants make a lot of decisions,’ said First Sgt. Gerry M. Amundson, first sergeant, BSRF-11.

‘We are not only here teaching but learning how every country does what they do so we can operate better as a multi-national force,’ added the Port Townsen, Wash., native.

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The two-week courses focus on advising in core-values of the Marine NCO, small-unit leadership, decision-making ability, leadership traits, leading troops and military professionalism and proficiency. In most cases, the Marines conduct their training to NCO instructors from foreign militaries to supplement already existing leadership training programs.

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The most recent training was conducted in Bulgaria, where Marines advised Bulgarian NCO instructors from the Bulgarian Land Forces NCO College.

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The Marines have been traveling around the Black Sea, Balkan and Caucasus regions of Eastern Europe since April providing the NCO development course to the participating Eastern European countries who have requested it. They have conducted NCO-development training with Romania, Serbia, Azerbaijan and Bulgaria with future stops in Georgia, Ukraine, Bosnia and Macedonia.

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Black Sea Rotational Force is a rotational deployment of Marines to the Black Sea, Balkan and Caucasus regions of Eastern Europe to participate in security cooperation to build military capacity, provide regional stability, and develop lasting partnerships with nations in the region. BSRF-11 will be operating as a Special Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force until September of this year.

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Israel’s Netanyahu, Military Follow U.S. And NATO Into Bulgaria

http://www.novinite.com/view_news.php?id=130022

Sofia News Agency
July 7, 2011

Bulgaria, Israel to Ink Deals on Defense Cooperation, Joint Military Drills
Defense

Bulgaria and Israel are going to hammer our agreements for close cooperation in defense, their Prime Ministers Boyko Borisov and Benjamin Netanyahu announced after the historic joint sitting of their Cabinets in Sofia.

After the joint sitting on Thursday, the governments of Bulgaria and Israel signed several bilateral agreements in fields such as economy, agriculture, and culture; bilateral deals in defense, however, are still being hammered out.

‘We have not signed any defense agreements today but we are about to sign two agreements in defense and defense systems, and potentially on joint military drills. Negotiations are going on at the moment so when they become ready we will inform you,’ Borisov told journalists during his joint news conference with Netanyahu in Sofia.

The Bulgarian Prime Minister Boyko Borisov, who was praised in Sofia by then Director of Mossad Meir Dagan in October 2010, assessed highly the cooperation between Bulgaria and Israel in the field of defense, security, and intelligence.

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http://www.sofiaecho.com/2011/07/06/1118714_impressive-co-operation

Sofia Echo
July 6, 2011

‘Impressive co-operation’
By Clive Leviev-Sawyer

Bulgaria is an important country for Israel for a wide range of reasons – and the visit by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and an eihgt-strong Cabinet team is evidence of the intensity of bilateral relations, ambassador Noah Gal Gendler told The Sofia Echo on the eve of the visit.

‘Since the Government headed by Prime Minister Boiko Borissov was established, in the past three years, President Georgi Purvanov has visited Israel, President Shimon Peres has visited Bulgaria, and now the Prime Minister of Israel is coming to Bulgaria with eight of his ministers, almost half of our Government,’ Gal Gendler says.

The last time an Israeli head of government visited Bulgaria was in 1991, when then-prime minister Yitzhak Shamir was here. The July 2011 visit is of an entirely different scale, of a government-to-government scale that Israel normally shares only with countries such as the United States, France, Italy and Germany; in relations with Jerusalem, it is a first for Bulgaria.

More evidence of excellent relations is in the significant number of ministerial visits, with Israel’s ministers of national infrastructure, social welfare, internal security and foreign affairs having been to Sofia and Bulgaria’s ministers of foreign affairs, social welfare, interior and agriculture having been to Israel.

The visit by Prime Minister Netanyahu – who has been to Bulgaria before as a deputy foreign minister and who continues to hold Bulgaria in high regard – will see important agreements signed: on military co-operation, research and development in the private sector and an amendment to the agreement on protection on private investments.

The military co-operation agreement will allow shared use of Bulgarian military facilities and air space for Israeli air force training exercises, to the benefit of both air forces.

Taken together, the three agreements will cover all necessary requirements for high-tech co-operation in civil and military areas.

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Further agreements are in the works, with negotiations ongoing, including on co-operation in communication technologies, a maritime agreement, an Open Sky aviation agreement, cinema co-production and a programme for co-operation in education, culture and science.

‘It is important to say that now all issues related to our bilateral relations are on the table. We can talk about everything: co-operation in economic affairs, technology, culture, political, military and defence co-operation.’ He adds: ‘We see Bulgaria as a friendly country, even one that is a similar size to our own; we understand each other and so we can do a lot together’.

There is a further strategically important element in bilateral relations.

‘Bulgaria, for us, is not only a part of the European Union but also a gateway to the Balkans. Given that Israel does not have diplomatic representation in all of the countries of the Balkans, Bulgaria is able to assist us a great deal in relations with the countries of the region.’

Economic matters

Israeli investments in Bulgaria, directly through Israeli companies or through Israeli-owned companies registered in other states in Europe, adds up to an estimated 1.5 billion euro.

‘Mainly in real estate and construction – we have, in Bulgaria, more than 10 malls, logistics centres, business centres and thousands of apartments that either belong to or were built by Israelis. We are very satisfied with these numbers but at the same time, it’s not enough.’

Plans are to extend the scope of activities, mainly in investment in the field of medical services and high-tech co-operation ‘but when I talk about high-tech I am not talking about producing modems or computers, I am talking about R and D – laboratories, making connections among companies in the US, in Israel and in Bulgaria’.

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With Israel’s finance minister participating in the visit, the country’s eagerness to share its experiences with Bulgaria will be borne out in talks with Bulgaria’s Finance Minister Simeon Dyankov.

Israel is negotiating with Greece and Cyprus about the development of a new natural gas system in the Middle East, Mediterranean and South Eastern Europe and ‘Bulgaria will definitely be part of this,’ Gal Gendler says.

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Ambition and optimism are the order of the day, from a bold plan based on an idea by President Peres, to bring together Israeli know-how, international money and Bulgarian resources to make this country the grain powerhouse of Europe, to the ambition to follow up the Netanyahu visit with an equivalent visit by Bulgaria in 2012.

‘There is impressive co-operation between our two states and our two peoples,’ Gal Gendler says.

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New NATO-EU Adjunct: Weimar Triangle Combat Group

http://www.thenews.pl/1/10/Artykul/51073,Weimar-Triangle-initiates-special-military-unit

Polish Radio
July 5, 2011

Weimar Triangle initiates special military unit

John Beauchamp: Polish, French and German soldiers will join forces to create a special military unit, following the signing of an agreement in Brussels.

The so-called Weimar Combat Group (Weimarska Grupa Bojowa) will comprise of 1,700 soldiers, and is due to be be fully operational in 2013.

According to Major General Janusz Bojarski, Polish representative for the NATO military committee and the EU, the unit will be a strategic reserve of the EU, capable of taking up rapid response tasks.

‘They will be appointed to perform any operations that might arise,’ he revealed to Polish Radio. ‘The combat group could be activated in practically every crisis which the European Union finds itself in,’ he continued.

‘Such a situation could arise today or tomorrow, we cannot know when, but we must have some military instrument which will allow us to react to crisis situations,’ Bojarski commented.

The unit takes its name from the Weimar Triangle, a political grouping of France, Germany and Poland that was formed in 1991 following the collapse of the Iron Curtain.

Following the signing of the agreement, specifics will now be finalised by experts from the three countries in question.

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NATO Tankers Attacked In Pakistan

http://www.thenews.com.pk/NewsDetail.aspx?ID=18380

News International
July 18, 2011

Firing on three NATO oil tankers

MASTUNG: Miscreants opened fire on three NATO oil tankers along the Quetta-Sibi section Friday. Thousands of litres of petrol was spilled away.

According to details, three oil tankers were heading towards Afghanistan today. When these reached Kirri Dhor in Tehsil Dasht along the Quetta-Sibi section of national highway, miscreants opened fire on them. Bullets made holes in the tankers and the entire oil was spilled.

There was no report of any casualty or human loss. Miscreants ran away from the scene.