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U.S. sanctions against Iran that have an exterritorial effect violate international law and Germany expects Washington to consider European interests when coming up with such sanctions, spokespeople for the German government said on Wednesday.

The European Union vowed on Monday to counter U.S. President Donald Trump’s renewal of sanctions on Iran. Washington’s so-called ”snapback” sanctions reach beyond U.S. borders. Läs artikel

A NATO fighter guarding its nervous northern states accidentally fired a secret air-to-air missile near the border with Russia yesterday. NATO still can’t find it.

The Spanish Eurofighter Typhoon was policing the border of Estonia to deter Russian incursions and keeping an eye on Russia’s activity over the Baltic Sea.

While taking part in a routine training maneuver over the southeast Estonian town of Pangodi, the Typhoon accidentally triggered an AMRAAM — an advanced medium range air-to-air missile. It was engaged in a mock dogfight involving another Spanish Typhoon and two French Mirage 2000 fighters. It was an area 60 miles from Russia’s border. But the missile is capable of flying between 45 and 75 miles. It carries an explosive warhead. Läs artikel

For the first time in the history of the UN, the United States – a permanent member of the security council with veto power – is engaging in penalising nations across the entire world; not for violating a security council resolution, rather, for abiding by it. The resolution in question, UN security council resolution 2231, was authored (including by the US itself) and passed unanimously by the council.[…]

The US withdrawal from JCPOA and reimposition of its sanctions is a serious breach of its legal obligations under the UN charter, which entails its international responsibility. The international community must act in the face of this international intimidation and affront towards the international legal order. […]

The spectre of extreme unilateralism, terminal intransigence and the unwinding of vital global institutions is a threat not just to my country, but to every nation. It may be tempting to hope for the proverbial passing of the storm, but at this point in time that is clearly no longer a sustainable approach. It is our true belief that each and every member of the community of nations has a duty to stand up to lawlessness and contempt for the rule of law in international relations; in particular, by refusing to give effect to irresponsible acts and by holding any law-breaking party accountable for the consequences of its acts. Läs artikel

[…] I do believe that NATO needs to think of the Black Sea as a security region, not as a body of water surrounded by different countries. We need to think about the Black Sea in a regional way recognizing that the Russians are using the Black Sea as a power projection base into the Middle East and Mediterranean. We must recognize that we have allies and very close friends (Georgia, Ukraine, and Moldova) that are constantly under pressure from Russia. The Alliance needs to encourage collaboration between the member countries and the partner countries to share intelligence, to do more maritime exercises, to improve missile defense in the region and more exercises where we move across the Black Sea into Georgia or Turkey to make sure we have freedom of movement in the Black Sea and on the ground around it. The Black Sea region is just as important as the Baltic Sea. We’ve done a lot in the Baltic region. I believe the Black Sea region is going to be the key area where Russia will challenge the Alliance over the next 10-15 years and we’ve got to ensure credible deterrence there as well as provide support for our partners in the region.[…]

The US troops in Germany are not there to protect Germany…they are part of our contribution to the overall collective security and it is also because Germany gives us an access and a power projection platform to do what we must do in Africa and Middle East. Americans need to understand that much of what we get from Germany and Italy doesn’t necessarily fit neatly inside the 2%. Allies should do more, without a doubt – but at the end of the day, firm and positive US leadership is essential to help insure cohesion. Läs artikel

[…] Unequal burden-sharing is the product of a dilemma wherein the United States must choose between keeping its partners dependent and susceptible to U.S. influence and encouraging them to become stronger but at the cost of becoming more autonomous.

Like Trump, previous presidents at times viewed the cost of defending allies as a burden. Even Dwight Eisenhower, in the earliest years of the transatlantic alliance and at the height of the Cold War, remarked that if U.S. forces remained in Europe for longer than ten years, “then this whole project will have failed.” As part of his “New Look” policy in an effort to cut costs after the Korean War, Eisenhower sought to reduce America’s military presence abroad and rein in defense spending. Eisenhower preferred to rely on nuclear weapons to deter Communist expansion, calculating that they offered more “bang for the buck.” Part of this entailed a tacit or even explicit acceptance of allied nuclear proliferation. Indeed, under Eisenhower many NATO allies — including West Germany — had de facto control over U.S. nuclear weapons stationed on their territory. Läs artikel

[…] A joint statement issued on Monday by the foreign ministers of the EU’s 28 member states, including the UK’s Jeremy Hunt, said there was a “determination to protect” the bloc’s economic interests and the nuclear deal, which Brussels, along with China and Russia, continues to support.

The statement said: “The lifting of nuclear-related sanctions is an essential part of the deal; it aims at having a positive impact not only on trade and economic relations with Iran, but most importantly on the lives of the Iranian people.

“We are determined to protect European economic operators engaged in legitimate business with Iran, in accordance with EU law and with UN security council resolution 2231. This is why the European Union’s updated blocking statute enters into force on 7 August to protect EU companies doing legitimate business with Iran from the impact of US extra-territorial sanctions.” Läs artikel

Hiroshimadagen uppmärksammas – i Sverige sedan starten i Malmö 6 augusti 1987 – för att påminna om kärnvapnens totala oanvändbarhet med beaktande av människovärdet. I Örebro genomförs en manifestation med samma syfte måndagen den 6 augusti i år. […]

”Atombomber och andra typer av kärnvapen skapar inte trygghet”

Påståendet står i bjärt kontrast till NA:s ledarsidas uppfattning. Lars Ströman skrev den 4 januari i år: ”De är utplacerade i Belgien, i Tyskland, i Nederländerna och några länder till. Hur illa vi än tycker om kärnvapen, så gör de ditt liv säkrare.”

Med detta citat inleder Lars Ströman sin ledare. Han menar att om dessa, av NATO utplacerade vapen, dras tillbaka går vi mot en osäkrare framtid. Tillåt mig uttrycka allvarliga tvivel. Mitt tvivel gäller både det kloka i att satsa på kärnvapenspridning och ett svenskt NATO-medlemskap i syfte att uppnå ökad säkerhet.[…]

Debatt och utredning pågår i Sverige om det lämpliga i att ratificera en konvention i FN som förbjuder kärnvapen. För mig står det alldeles klart att det långsiktiga målet, trots att det i dag kan synas orealistiskt, ska vara ett förbud mot alla massförstörelsevapen. Kärnvapen är bara ett exempel på vapen som aldrig kan användas på ett sätt, som samtidigt tar hänsyn till människovärdets okränkbarhet och människors möjlighet att överleva. Därför bör Sverige snarast ratificera den aktuella FN-konventionen.

Sverige har varit uttalad motståndare till kärnvapenanvändning i många decennier – låt oss aldrig överge den ståndpunkten, i den samlade mänsklighetens överlevnadsintresse. Läs artikel

Trots sanktioner hålls den ryska ekonomin flytande av det höga oljepriset.

Nu finns en god möjlighet för svenska bolag att etablera sig i landet, säger Svensk-ryska handelskammarens vd Heinz Sjögren. […]

”Den ryska ekonomin är väldigt beroende av världsmarknadspriserna på råvaror, och till mer än 50 procent gäller det energi, alltså olja och gas.” säger han. […]

Men samtidigt finns det ljusningar för landet , som kan gynna svenska bolag. Medelklassen har fått det bättre ställt, vilket ökat deras konsumtion. (Di.se 6 augusti)

Vi som kritiserer norsk forsvars- og sikkerhetspolitikk og langtidsplanen for Forsvaret, som agiterer mot prioriteringen av kampfly på bekostning av bakkestyrker og marine, mot nedleggelsen av Andøya og mot fjerning av helikoptrene til Hæren osv., blir ofte konfrontert med autoritesbevis.

Beslutningene er jo i tråd med forsvarssjefens fagmilitære råd. Tidligere forsvarssjef Sverre Diesen, nå forsker ved FFI, gikk til og med så langt som til å mene at kritikk av beslutningen om å legge ned Andøya flystasjon var ensbetydende med å kalle forsvarssjefen for en idiot.Läs artikel

Enligt Reservistförbundet har en ökad militär aktivitet i Finlands närområden och motsättningar mellan Ryssland och västvärlden skapat ett behov för större försvarsresurser.

The United Nations said Friday it is implementing ”a gradual return” of the U.N. peacekeeping force to the frontier zone between Syria and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

U.N. deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters that a key goal in the return of the peacekeeping force, known as UNDOF, is reopening the Quneitra crossing between the two sides. […] U.N. peacekeepers returned Thursday for the first time in years to the Syria-Israel frontier, conducting joint patrols with Russian military police in a reflection of Moscow’s deepening role in mediating between the decades-old foes in the volatile region. Läs artikel