On 28 June 2022, a memorandum was signed between Turkey, Sweden, and Finland which is supposed to lift Turkey’s veto over the potential NATO membership of these two Nordic countries. There are a number of reasons to be concerned about this move, which comes as the latest of a series of steps taken by Swedish authorities that jeopardise human freedoms, rights, and democracy in this country. […]

Measured by comparative standards, Sweden has exhibited a reasonable degree of commitment to democratic standards and the protection of human rights and freedoms over the past decades. However, it has also demonstrated a disturbing capacity to breach the same (as demonstrated in the rendition of Ahmed Agiza and Mohammed al-Zari). Alongside its 2021 proposals to give “police powers to use camera surveillance, interception and house searches without suspicion of crime” or to expand “the mandate of private security guards to use force in upholding law and order”, the newly signed memorandum with Turkey seems to be yet another step in the wrong direction. […]

There are, however, other puzzling things about the sudden commitment of the Swedish government to the NATO membership. The official explanation that Swedish security is in danger after the Russian invasion of Ukraine have never been substantiated. Apart from vague and unconvincing phrases that, nonetheless, work as ideologically charged slogans, the public has never been informed as to any credible findings, intelligence reports or reasonably well-established prognoses that Russia has been planning an invasion of Sweden. On the contrary, giving up its neutrality sounds like a much more dangerous move — one that actually jeopardises Swedish security. Läs artikel

The United States and its allies are considering providing Ukraine with new fighter jets in ongoing efforts to bolster its military as the war with Russia stretches into its sixth month, Gen. Charles Brown, chief of staff of the Air Force, said on Wednesday.

Speaking at the Aspen Security Forum in an interview with Courtney Kube, a Pentagon correspondent for NBC News, Brown said the jets could come from a range of different allies. […]

Poland had proposed transferring its fleet of MiG-29s to the U.S. military’s Ramstein Air Base in Germany for eventual transfer to Ukraine, which came as Kyiv begged Western officials for the Russian-made combat aircraft, which its pilots are trained to fly. The Pentagon had called the plan “untenable.” Läs artikel

[…] – Nordområdene er ekstremt viktige. Vi har vårt militære tyngdepunkt i nord fordi de som kontrollerer nordområdene, eller Nordkalotten, også har kontroll på havområdene utenfor norskekysten og i Barentshavet, forklarer NUPI-forsker og doktorgradsstipendiat Ole Martin Stormoen.

– Har du kontroll der, har du også mulighet til å få inn forsyninger og forsterkninger fra Nato over Atlanteren. Samtidig vil du kunne hindre den russiske nordflåten i å operere fritt i disse områdene, sier Stormoen.

På den andre siden er området også veldig viktig for Russland. Tar landet kontroll over nordområdene, har det også kontroll over havområdene og kan hindre forsterkninger som Norge ville ventet på fra Nato i en eventuell konflikt.

– Samtidig vil de kunne få ut sine strategiske atomubåter, som utgjør det vi kaller Russlands andreslagsevne, sier han. […]

– Den offisielle planen for forsvaret av Nord-Norge har vært basert på at vi ikke kan regne med å bruke finsk og svensk territorium og få støtte fra Sverige eller Finland i en eventuell konflikt. Hvis de blir med i Nato, vil situasjonen forandre seg, og det betyr at de også må integrere sine forsvarsplaner med Natos planer. Det vil også inkludere planene for forsvaret av Nord-Norge, så jeg vil tro det blir en større samordning i nord.

Det betyr at forsvaret av Nordkalotten blir enklere fra et militært perspektiv, ifølge Stormoen.

– Til sammen vil vel Sverige og Finland bringe inn rundt 20 brigader og 200 kampfly, i tillegg til mye annet tungt materiell og artilleri. Det går langt ut over det vi har i Norge. Sammenliknet med Sverige og Finland er vår hær relativt liten. Kombinert vil luftvåpenet i de tre landene være ganske formidabelt, selv i et globalt perspektiv. Läs artikel

Last autumn, the “Severodvinsk” test launched the submarine version of Russia’s new hypersonic Tsirkon cruise missile in the Barents Sea. It is unclear whether the sub is armed with the Tsirkon as it now sails into the Baltic Sea, the first-time voyage in the area for Russia’s 4th generation multi-purpose nuclear-powered submarines of the Yasen class

The Danish Armed Forces confirms in a tweet that “Severodvinsk” now is in transit from Skagerak to the Baltic Sea. The navy’s tug “Pamir” and landing ship “Ivan Gren” sail together with the submarine.

Spokesperson with the Norwegian Joint Headquarters, Major Elisabeth Eikeland, would not comment on whether the submarine sailed submerged or surfaced along the coast of Norway.

In previous years, nuclear-powered submarines sailing inter-fleet transfer en route from the Northern Fleet to the Naval Parade in St. Petersburg have sailed surfaced all along the coast of Norway, likely because the vessels have not been prepared for combat readiness. Läs artikel

[…] Many Western strategists are starting to agree with Henry Kissinger’s advice that peace negotiations should begin. And yes, that might well mean pressuring Kyiv to come to the table and grapple with unpleasant realities. A future Ukraine, albeit in a smaller form, still could thrive and build a prosperous, secure future under European tutelage.

Russia, Turkey and Iran on Tuesday vowed to continue their cooperation to ”eliminate terrorists” in Syria, in a trilateral statement after their presidents met in Tehran.

The three countries ”reaffirmed the determination to continue their ongoing cooperation in order to ultimately eliminate terrorist individuals, groups, undertakings and entities,” the statement read.

They ”expressed their opposition to the illegal seizure and transfer of oil revenues that should belong to Syria”.

They also ”rejected all attempts to create new realities on the ground under the pretext of combating terrorism, including illegitimate self-rule initiatives, and expressed their determination to stand against separatist agendas” in Syria. […]

Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei had however told the Turkish leader in a pre-summit meeting that a new Turkish offensive against the Kurds in Syria would be ”detrimental” for the region. He called for the issue to be resolved through dialogue between Ankara, Damascus, Moscow and Tehran.

Läs artikel

The Austrian Chancellor, Karl Nehammer, affirmed that his country will not join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), according to television in this capital.

According to Nehammer, Austria will not follow the example of Sweden and Finland, which have revised their neutrality and are now trying to join the Atlantic alliance. The nation is committed to a joint international and security policy with the European Union, and plans to invest more in its own defense, the Austrian Chancellor stressed.

After Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a military operation on February 24 in response to the call of the self-proclaimed Donbass republics, Finland and Sweden rethought their traditional policy of neutrality. Läs artikel

[…] The Times article was about Obama’s refusal, in the face of bipartisan pressure, to send arms to Ukraine. Obama, the Times reported, “has told aides and visitors that arming the Ukrainians would encourage the notion that they could actually defeat the far more powerful Russians, and so it would potentially draw a more forceful response from Moscow.”

An anonymous source paraphrased Obama as asking questions like, “Okay, what happens if we send in equipment – do we have to send in trainers?” And, “What if it ends up in the hands of thugs? What if Putin escalates?” In the absence of satisfactory answers, Obama confined aid to things like helmets and night vision goggles.

After he left office, Washington reversed course and sent lethal military aid to Ukraine—billions of dollars worth. And, to answer Obama’s questions: Yes, that turned out to involve sending trainers to Ukraine—as well as conducting NATO-Ukraine military exercises on Russia’s doorstep; and yes, Putin escalated. This doesn’t mean that the former caused the latter, but the sequence of events leaves that possibility quite open. Läs artikel

Finland’s official accession to NATO is no direct threat to Russia, however, there is concern about the deployment of the alliance’s infrastructure and heavy weapons there, Russian Ambassador to Finland Pavel Kuznetsov told the Rossiya-24 television on Monday.

”Finland’s formal accession to NATO poses no serious threat to Russia’s security. However, there is concern that NATO may station its permanent military bases or heavy offensive weapons and missile defense systems in Finland. Russia will then have to take appropriate measures in response in order to ensure its security,” he warned.

The Russian diplomat said he expected Finland’s political and military leadership ”to understand only too well that developments like these would not be in Finland’s best interests.” However, he questioned if the Finns would be allowed to make independent decisions on their own security as a nation upon entry to NATO. Läs artikel

Delivering remarks following the Presidential Cabinet Meeting, President Erdoğan drew attention to Türkiye’s conditional approval to Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership, and said: “Let me reiterate that we will freeze the process if they do not take the necessary steps to fulfill our conditions.”

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan delivered remarks at a press conference following the Presidential Cabinet Meeting at the Presidential Complex.

Touching upon his recent visit to Spain for the NATO Leaders Summit, President Erdoğan said Türkiye’s approaches towards regional and global crises were voiced at the highest level at the Summit which he underlined was held at an important period due to the Ukraine-Russia war, and added: “We displayed a quite open and clear stance that NATO’s expansion policies should be maintained in line with our country’s sensitivities. Once the conditions we had brought to the table for the start of Sweden and Finland’s NATO membership process were agreed, we shared our conditional approval with member countries.”

“Let me reiterate that we will freeze the process if they do not take the necessary steps to fulfill our conditions,” President Erdoğan underscored, and noted: “Sweden, in particular, has not been displaying a positive image on this issue. Our stance as Türkiye is crystal clear on this issue, the rest is up to them.”Läs artikel