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Turkiet öppnar för att acceptera Finland i Nato, det säger president Erdogan enligt AFP. Beskedet kom under ett tal i staden Bilecik på söndagskvällen svensk tid. Enligt presidenten är det inte aktuellt för Sverige att gå med i Nato innan regeringen beslutar om utlämning av ”de terrorister” som Turkiet vill ha utlämnade.

– De gör sig själva till åtlöje. Vi kan ge ett annat budskap om Finland om det behövs. Sverige kommer att bli chockat, sa Erdogan i sitt tal enligt nyhetsbyrån CNN Turk. Läs artikel

[…] Regarding dispersal the Finnish Air Force did not abandon the concept after the end of the Cold War. In the current geopolitical and military situation Finland has a robust and resilient approach to passive air defence. The Finnish basing system is built around a hub-and-spokes system with aircraft, in times of crisis, dispersing to secondary bases that include both civilian airports and road bases. To be able to support these deployments, road convoys with dedicated trucks bring the ground equipment needed, including fuel, munitions, spares, and, in the case of road bases, mobile control towers. To ensure enough personnel to maintain this spread-out organization and to protect these numerous smaller bases, the Finnish Air Force relies heavily on conscripts to beef up both the ground crews as well as to set up wartime base protection units which can deploy with the road convoys to protect the satellite bases. […]

The purpose with the Swedish Air Force basing concept is to generate a higher number of effective sorties than the enemy. The key attributes in the Swedish base operations concept are movement and dispersion. The system is more or less the same as in Finland even though it has been greatly reduced after the Cold War where it had more than 100 different possible runways spread around the country. The ultimate goal in the Swedish approach is to remain as mobile as possible, temporarily open up airfields and then move on to the next base. Therefore, always operate inside the enemy’s decision-making loop, challenge their tactical intelligence and degrade the opponent’s situational awareness. Sweden has a few mountain hangars to protect the aircraft before they disperse to the bases in wartime. The current Swedish Air Force lacks a GBAD system to complement dispersal. Läs artikel

Finland has the patience to wait for its accession to Nato in part due to the security guarantees it received from several countries at the beginning of what has become an almost nine-month process, says Minister for Foreign Affairs Pekka Haavisto (Greens).

“We still hope that we’ll be members by the summit in Vilnius [Lithuania in July], even though we can’t influence decision-making in Hungary or Turkey,” he stated to reporters in Helsinki on Monday.

Congress will block a major weapons deal and could levy new sanctions on Turkey if the country follows through on threats to block Sweden from joining NATO, according to Sen. Chris Van Hollen (D-Md.).

“There’s no scenario where the F-16 sale goes through without ratification by Turkey [of Sweden and Finland’s NATO bids],” Van Hollen said at an Al-Monitor event in Washington, D.C. on Tuesday.

Citing Turkey’s unwillingness to levy sanctions against Russia and its threats to invade northeast Syria, the lawmaker said Ankara is “for the most part not a faithful ally.”

The news comes as the Biden administration is preparing to notify Congress of its intent to conclude a $20 billion deal to supply Turkey with F-16 fighter jets. The controversial sale has become more complicated since last week, when Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan pledged to block Sweden from entering NATO after a protestor in Stockholm burned a Quran.

Once they receive notification, lawmakers will have a month to pass a resolution of disapproval in order to block the sale. Van Hollen predicted that President Joe Biden would not attempt to veto such a bill if Congress took a stand against the deal. Läs artikel

På Natos toppmøte i Madrid sist sommer deltok for første gang regjeringssjefene fra Australia, Sør-Korea, New Zealand og Japan som partnerland. Og for første gang ble Kinas utfordring for demokratiene utførlig beskrevet i Natos nye strategiske konsept.

Russland og Kina har inngått et strategisk partnerskap, og erklært at det ikke er grenser for hva de kan samarbeide om. På samme tid utvikler demokratiene i Nord-Amerika, Europa og Asia et nærmere samarbeid. […]

Sør-Korea har gitt Ukraina forsvarsutstyr, men ikke våpen. Landets politikk er å ikke sende våpen til land i krig. Men Stoltenberg viste til at flere land med lignende reservasjoner, inkludert Norge, har endret kurs i tilfellet Ukraina. Nå oppfordrer han sørkoreanere til også å sende ammunisjon. […]

I Natos forrige strategiske konsept fra 2010 var ikke Kina nevnt. I det nye, som ble vedtatt på toppmøtet i Madrid i sommer, har Kina fått betydelig plass. Etter Atlanterhavserklæring er det strategiske konsept Natos viktigste dokument. Det beskriver hvilke trusler og utfordringer Nato står overfor i årene som kommer, og hvordan alliansen best skal møte disse. Läs artikel

Google-översatt

[…] USA slutför det senaste hjälppaketet för Ukraina. Det totala biståndspaketet på cirka 2 miljarder dollar inkluderar militärt stöd. Det totala innehållet i paketet ska publiceras senare i veckan. Reuters skriver om ämnet .

Paketet ska också innehålla långdistansmissiler och andra vapen för första gången. Det är också planerat att utöka utrustning och system som stödjer Patriot-systemet.

En stor del av paketets värde, cirka 1,725 ​​miljarder dollar, ska komma från Ukraina Security Assistance Initiative (USAI) fond som inrättats av Biden-administrationen, som gör det möjligt för administrationen att skaffa de nödvändiga vapnen direkt från vapenindustrin snarare än från USA arsenal.

Fonden har som mål att förvärva nya marklanserade guidade bomber, GLSDB. Deras tillverkare är Boeing-företaget tillsammans med Saab. Deras räckvidd är upp till 150 kilometer, och deras träffnoggrannhet och manövrerbarhet är hög.

GLSDB:er är GPS-styrbara och kan kringgå nätverksstörningar. Det är möjligt att använda dem i alla väderförhållanden. Tack vare sina fällbara vingar kan de täcka ett avstånd på mer än 100 kilometer när de tappas från luften, och de träffar mål som är mindre än 1 meter stora. Läs artikel

Privata radio- och tv-kanaler vars sändningar kan skada Sveriges säkerhet ska kunna mista sina sändningstillstånd, enligt en skrivelse från kulturdepartementet. I dagsläget har över 660 etermedier sådana tillstånd.

Men utredningens förslag, som alltså inte omfattar public service men inkluderar exempelvis TV4, sågas av en rad remissinstanser. Dit hör såväl mediebranschen som höga jurister. Flera pekar på de otydliga begrepp som förslaget innehåller – i dag saknas till exempel en definition av ”Sveriges säkerhet” – och som kan leda till godtycke och självcensur.

Säkerhetspolisen efterfrågar i sitt remissvar ”en djupare analys av vad det är som avses skyddas och mot vad”.

Publicistklubben framhåller att ett sändningstillstånd enligt förslaget ska kunna dras in om en viss risk kan föreligga, alltså på grund av material som ännu inte publicerats – stick i stäv med hur hela den svenska yttrande- och tryckfrihetslagstiftningen är uppbyggd.

”Den påminner i sina grunddrag om den indragningsmakt som utövades under första halvan av 1800-talet”, skriver Robert Aschberg, Publicistklubbens ordförande. Läs artikel

George Kennan, the remarkable U.S. diplomat and probing observer of international relations, is famous for forecasting the collapse of the Soviet Union. Less well known is his warning in 1948 that no Russian government would ever accept Ukrainian independence. Foreseeing a deadlocked struggle between Moscow and Kyiv, Kennan made detailed suggestions at the time about how Washington should deal with a conflict that pitted an independent Ukraine against Russia. He returned to this subject half a century later. Kennan, then in his 90s, cautioned that the eastward expansion of NATO would doom democracy in Russia and ignite another Cold War. Läs artikel

Läs också inlägg tidigare på den här sajten om en ny bok om Kennan.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has said that the war between Russia and Ukraine will not escalate to involve the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO).

Scholz also revealed on Sunday that Germany will not send fighter jets to Ukraine as Kyiv called on the West for more weapons to counter the Russian invasion, according to Euro News. After several weeks of reluctance, Berlin decided on Wednesday to send 14 German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and to allow other countries to do the same. […]

But, reacting in an interview on Sunday with the Tagesspiegel newspaper about Zelensky’s demand for fighter planes, Scholz said, “The question of fighter planes does not even arise. I can only advise against getting into a constant bidding war when it comes to weapon systems.” […]

According to him, it is “necessary” to continue talking with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Their last meeting dates back to the beginning of December. “I’m going to talk to Putin on the phone again,” he said, without specifying a deadline. Läs artikel

[…] Är det verkligen inte dags att medborgarna får vara med och bestämma över Sveriges inblandning i framtida krig? Det handlar ju om våra liv, inte minst våra barns. Man vinner inga krig och absolut inga världskrig. Man vinner heller inga krig mot Ryssland, när de uppfattar läget som ett existentiellt hot. Det känns som om politiker och militärer helt förlorat förståndet. Låt oss ha en folkomröstning om Nato-medlemskap och vapenexport till Ukraina. Denna fråga är alltför viktig för att delegeras till politiker. Läs insändare

A visit to South Korea and Japan by the head of NATO this week highlights the alliance’s strategic priority to push back against China and North Korea, while addressing the global impact of Russia’s war in Ukraine.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg began a four-day trip to South Korea and Japan over the weekend, addressing military threats from China and North Korea, while seeking to deepen the alliance’s political ties with its top Asian allies.

Stoltenberg kicked off his trip in South Korea on Sunday and was received by top South Korean officials in Seoul. During his meeting with South Korean Foreign Minister Park Jin, Stoltenberg addressed North Korea’s “reckless” nuclear and missile programs. Stoltenberg also said he believes North Korea is helping Russia in its war on Ukraine, and added this highlights how Europe and Asia are “interconnected.” Both North Korea and Russia have denied that Pyongyang is providing any assistance.

The NATO chief also urged the South Korea to “step up on the issue of military support” for Ukraine and urged Seoul to green-light direct arms exports and reverse a rule on sending weapons to conflict zones.

South Korea has been supporting Ukraine with non-lethal aid. It has also signed arms deals to provide tanks and fighter aircraft to NATO member Poland. However, the South Korean president has reiterated that it is against his country’s policy to provide arms to countries in conflict. […]

“We need to address these global threats and challenges, including the challenges coming from China, and one way of doing that is, of course, to work more closely with partners in the region,” he told South Korea’s Yonhap news agency in a separate interview. […]

Jim Townsend, US deputy assistant defense secretary for Europe and NATO under former President Barack Obama: “These visits also signify unity because it shows that NATO and Asia are willing to work together. This trip signals a stronger partnership seeking to deal with China, North Korea and Russia’s influence in Asia,” he added. Läs artikel