Länkar

[…] Konflikten vid Ukrainas gränser håller på att fördjupas. Med tanke på säkerheten i Europa har stämningarna skärpts. Förändringen har varit snabb. Ännu i somras, som ett resultat av president Bidens resa till Europa, verkade oron framför allt riktas mot Kina. Efter mötet mellan presidenterna Biden och Putin i Genève  bedömdes Förenta staterna och Ryssland bygga upp en dialog. Den artiga värden, Europa, var närmast en åhörare.

Nu är stämningen en annan. De ukaser som Ryssland framförde för Förenta staterna och Nato i december gäller Europa. De står i strid med den europeiska säkerhetsordningen. Intressesfärer hör inte till 2020-talet. Suverän jämlikhet mellan alla stater är en grundläggande princip som alla bör respektera.

I sista hand är besinning, ansvarstagande och dialog de enda vägarna framåt. Det är inte möjligt att bygga en hållbar framtid genom att hota med vapenmakt eller annat våld. Rysslands krav har besvarats genom att erbjuda dialog. Dialog har även Finland strävat mot och bidragit till. Läs talet

Fighter jets have been stationed at Bodø since 1955 and the air base was Norway’s most important throughout the Cold War and until today.

Located some 80 km inside the Arctic Circle, Bodø is strategically placed on the coast to the Norwegian Sea and in short flying distance to guard the northern air space against Russian military aviation flying out from the Kola Peninsula.

The closure of the air base also marks the end to 40 years of F-16 as the main fighter jet in the Norwegian Air Force.

The new fleet of F-35s is based at Ørland Air Base in southern Norway, but a few will also serve as NATO’s new QRA at Evenes Air Station near Harstad in the north. So far, 24 of 52 new F-35 have arrived in Norway. By 2025, all the new planes will be in service. Läs artikel

The Kremlin on the 30th of December issued greetings with best wishes for the new year to a big number of governments and state leaders. But not all countries are getting a salute from the Russian president.

On the list of 36 countries is not Norway, the neighboring country that shares a 198 km long far northern land border with Russia. The two countries are share vast waters in the Barents Sea.

The new Norwegian government has made clear that it aims for an intensification of political dialogue with Russia. The policy document issued as the government took office in November underlines that “bilateral cooperation with Russia is to be further developed,” with emphasis on ocean resources, climate and coastal-related issues in the Barents Sea and Arctic.

It also says that “new cooperation initiatives will be taken in relations with the neighboring countries,” and that “common meeting points” for foreign policy and security dialogue will be established.

Meanwhile, both Sweden and Finland are among the countries greeted by the Russian president. In his message to Finnish President Sauli Niinistö, Putin highlights that the bilateral relationship has a constructive and good-neighborly character.

In his greeting to Sweden’s new Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, Putin expresses hope for a constructive development of bilateral political dialogue and that issues of trade, economic relations and humanitarian relations meet key interests of both countries. Läs artikel

A four-day forum in Bamako charged with recommending a timetable for a return to civilian rule has concluded that polls scheduled for February should be delayed by between six months and five years due to security issues.

Mali’s transitional government initially agreed to hold elections in February 2022, 18 months after an army faction led by Colonel Assimi Goita overthrew President Boubacar Ibrahim Keita.

But progress has been slow, with the junta blaming disorganisation and Islamist violence in the north and centre. As a result of the delay, Ecowas, West Africa’s main political and economic bloc, imposed sanctions on the coup leaders, and promised more if Mali failed to produce a plan for elections by 31 December.

After three weeks of discussions at a regional and national level, the 1,600 delegates at the National Conference on Reform in Bamako recommended elections be delayed by at least six months and up to five years. Läs artikel

Cold Response 2022 (CR 22) er en norskledet øvelse hvor vi har invitert allierte og partnernasjoner til å delta. Øvelsen gjennomføres i mars og tidlig april 2022, men allerede fra høsten 2021 kommer allierte styrker til Norge for å trene og forberede seg til øvelsen.

I tillegg til avdelinger fra hele Forsvaret, kommer en rekke norske sivile etater og organisasjoner til å delta.

Flere tusen utenlandske soldater kommer dessuten til Norge for å delta i øvelsen. Per desember 2021 har 28 nasjoner med til sammen 35 000 soldater meldt seg på Cold Response. Av disse utgjør 14 000 landstyrker, 13 000 er sjøstyrker om bord på fartøy, mens 8000 er luftstyrker og hovedkvarter etablert på ulike baser.

Tallene vil sannsynligvis endre seg frem mot øvelsen. Läs presmeddelande

President Biden took a remarkably different approach than former President Trump when the two faced off on the 2020 presidential campaign trail, both in style and in substance. You would hardly know the difference between the two, though, solely based on the $777 billion defense policy bill President Biden signed into law two days after the Christmas holiday.

Organizations representing both progressive interests and more fiscally conservative perspectives had urged President Biden earlier this year to pull back on the huge defense budget increases that occurred during former President Trump’s four years in office. From the defense budget just before President Trump took office (fiscal year 2017) to the last one Trump signed into law (FY 2021), Department of Defense spending grew a staggering $98 billion, (or 16 percent). The DoD’s budget grew by $65 billion in Trump’s first year (+10.7 percent), $17 billion in his second year (+2.6 percent), and $35 billion (+5.1 percent) in his third year, before shrinking $19.5 billion (-2.7 percent) in his final year. What’s worse, that big $65 billion budget increase (and the $25 billion increase in President Obama’s final budget for fiscal year 2017) were approved by Republican majorities in both chambers of Congress, despite the GOP’s professed concern for fiscal responsibility. Läs artikel

[…] The second, less dangerous plan: creating a neutral Ukraine that won’t join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization or become Russia’s ally. Those pushing this approach point to the May 1955 Austrian State Treaty. That accord led to the withdrawal of allied occupation forces (American, British, French and Russian) on the understanding that Austria would declare itself a neutral state, which its parliament did that October, once all foreign troops had departed. During the Cold War, Austria stayed out of NATO and the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact — and became a prosperous democracy as well.

Advocates of Ukrainian neutrality invoke other successful examples, such as Finland during the Cold War. “What’s not to like?” they ask, adding that Ukraine’s entry into NATO is a distant prospect in any event. Läs artikel

USA:s president Joe Biden och Rysslands president Vladimir Putin talade med varandra sent på torsdag kväll om det spända läget vid gränsen mellan Ryssland och Ukraina. Presidenterna var nöjda med telefonsamtalet trots att man inte nådde något genombrott.

Det 50 minuter långa telefonsamtalet sågs som ett försök att förbereda regelrätta säkerhetsförhandlingar som USA och Ryssland inleder den 10 januari.

Därför väntade man sig inga genombrott då Biden och Putin talade med varandra på Putins initiativ. Biden och Putin upprepade tidigare kända ståndpunkter, om det spända läget vid gränsen mellan Ryssland och Ukraina, där Ryssland har koncentrerat omkring 100 000 soldater, enligt försvarsalliansen Nato. Läs artikel

With regard to NATO, the Netherlands combines various capacities. As one of the Organisation’s founding members it has traditionally been considered a loyal ally. At some junctures it has also been a difficult member, for instance during the Euromissile crisis in the 1980s. Arms control, disarmament and non-proliferation remain priorities for the Netherlands, which participates in NATO’s nuclear sharing tasks with dual-capable fighter jets. […]

For the Netherlands, NATO remains central to its security policy and it will subscribe to the general gist of most, if not all, of the proposals enumerated in NATO 2030. Among these issues the rise of China, which features as a NATO topic since late 2019, will no doubt be a tough nut to crack for the Alliance, with the US insisting on the military nature of Beijing’s ascendancy whereas others are still not convinced –or may fear this categorisation will be at the expense of other, more pressing concerns, like Russia and terrorism–. The Netherlands (aware of the EU’s elaborate definition of China as partner-competitor-rival) will likely opt for the middle ground, and propose that China be looked upon as an unconventional challenger that should also be dealt with in cooperation with other institutions, such as the EU. The security implications of China’s technological edge are also mentioned as a topic for NATO to address. In this regard, the Netherlands has recently joined 16 other allies to lead a new NATO innovation fund –the Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North-Atlantic (DIANA)–, although its initial budget of US$1 billion over a period of 15 years, as well as the absence of countries like the US and France, make for a rather modest start. Läs artikel

The German Cabinet confirmed Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s advisor Jens Ploetner’s plans to hold negotiations with Russian Deputy Administration head Dmitry Kozak, Cabinet spokesman Wolfgang Buechner said Wednesday.

”There is a number of talks ahead. The first is planned between the US and Russia in Geneva,” he said, adding that the Russia-NATO Council may convene on January 12. ”Besides, bilateral negotiations between Russia and Germany have already been agreed upon – between the Chancellor’s foreign policy advisor Ploetner and Russia’s chief negotiator on Ukraine Kozak,” he said. Läs artikel

[…] While the policies are aimed at isolating the Taliban, everyday Afghans are suffering. Banks are running out of cash. The price of everything from bread to fuel is shooting up. Imports have been crippled, and civil employees have gone months without being paid. President Joe Biden promised to promote human rights on the world stage, but his administration is now overseeing a sanctions regime that has pushed Afghanistan to the brink of famine. Barring major changes, over 1 million children could starve to death over the winter, according to the World Food Program, the food assistance branch of the United Nations.

Despite increasing calls to relax the sanctions, the Biden administration has shown few signs of changing course. Members of Congress have largely remained silent or voiced their support, with notable exceptions such as a group of 40 Democratic lawmakers who have urged Biden to unfreeze Afghan cash reserves.Läs artikel