A document accidentally published by a NATO-affiliated body has hit headlines across Europe this week, seeming to affirm a longstanding open secret that is technically still classified: precisely where in Europe the United States stores its nuclear weapons.

According to the document — entitled “A new era for nuclear deterrence? Modernization, arms control and allied,” which was published in April but has since been deleted — the U.S stores its caches totaling more than 150 nuclear weapons in Belgium, Italy, Germany, the Netherlands, and Turkey.

“These bombs are stored at six U.S. and European bases – Kleine Brogel in Belgium, Buchel in Germany, Aviano and Ghedi-Torre in Italy, Volkel in The Netherlands, and Incirlik in Turkey,” the report, authored by Canadian lawmaker Joseph Day, noted. […]

As a Washington Post analysis pointed out, the document does not attribute the information to any source. The report was re-published last week without references to the nuclear arsenal locations.

“The reasons for U.S. nuclear weapons in Europe are complex and have to do with the U.S. guaranteeing comfort to NATO’s security so these nations could concentrate their wealth on other matters. These reasons arguably remain useful today,” says risk and arms control analyst Dennis Santiago. “However, this potentially reignites a parallel protest yearning by Europeans who fear these nuclear weapons on their soil. It is an unfortunate mention in the draft because it does cause policy and diplomacy stress to an already tenuous NATO hand of cards.” Läs artikel

Ministeren sagde efter en frokostdrøftelse i Élyséepalæet, der omhandlede et militært samarbejde mellem ti europæiske lande kaldet EII, at Danmark skal samarbejde tæt med andre lande med samme dagsorden.

– Jeg har ingen planer om at ændre ved den samarbejdspolitik og ved den retning, der er for dansk forsvar, hvor vi tager del i også at være udøvende på steder, hvor der er ufred.

– Det er ikke sådan, at fordi jeg har overtaget forsvarsministerposten, så kommer vi ikke til at sende danske soldater i krig, siger Bramsen.

Danmark spiller generelt en fremtrædende rolle i også farlige konflikter ude i verden, fortæller seniorforsker Henrik Ø. Breitenbauch, som er leder af Center for Militære Studier på Københavns Universitet. Han nævner den internationale intervention under FN-mandat i Libyen i 2011 som eksempel. Danmark deltog hurtigt uden begrænsninger. Sverige og Norge kom efter, og svenskerne deltog ikke i bombetogterne.

Søndag overværede hun sammen med blandt andre den tyske forbundskansler, Angela Merkel, og Hollands premierminister, Mark Rutte, en stor militærparade i Frankrig med præsident Emmanuel Macron som vært. Ministeren sagde efter en frokostdrøftelse i Élyséepalæet, der omhandlede et militært samarbejde mellem ti europæiske lande kaldet EII, at Danmark skal samarbejde tæt med andre lande med samme dagsorden.

– Jeg har ingen planer om at ændre ved den samarbejdspolitik og ved den retning, der er for dansk forsvar, hvor vi tager del i også at være udøvende på steder, hvor der er ufred. Läs artikel

President Sauli Niinistö har deltagit i firandet av Frankrikes nationaldag i Paris. Finland deltog i festligheterna i egenskap av ett av sammanlagt tio europeiska länder som deltar i det så kallade europeiska interventionsinitiativet. […]

Det franska initiativet innehåller inga nya trupper eller högkvarter. Istället bygger idén på dialog och arbete på strategisk nivå mellan försvarsmakterna.

Hur mår det europeiska säkerhetssamarbetet överlag?

– Bättre än någonsin tidigare, men det är en annan sak om det här är tillräckligt. Men man fortsätter diskutera och hitta lösningar, och det är jag mycket nöjd över.

Niinistö berättar att han kommer att träffa Rysslands president Vladimir Putin inom en snar framtid. Han säger att han gärna hör vad Putin har att säga men att det här inte innebär att man skulle backa gällande de beslut som fattats sedan krisen i Ukraina.

Enligt Niinistö råder det samförstånd mellan honom och Macron om vikten av att upprätthålla en dialog med Ryssland, trots att stora uppfattningarna går isär på många punkter. Läs artikel

Det kinesiske forsvaret har for første gang i historien deployert militært personell og pansrede militære kjøretøy i et europeisk NATO-land for å delta i en felles militærøvelse med det tyske forsvaret i Tyskland.

Combined Aid 2019, som øvelsen heter, finner sted i Feldkirchen og har som oppgitt formål å trene på felles medisinsk innsats fra de to landenes militære styrker i en katastrofesituasjon, opplyser det amerikanske militære tidsskriftet Stars and Stripes. Det er altså ikke tale om kamptrening. […]

En pensjonert oberst fra Folkets Frigjøringshær omtaler det hele som et «gjennombrudd» for Kina. Det såkalte silkeveiprosjektet handler også om å vise militære muskler på den globale scenen:

Yue Gang, a retired PLA colonel, told the South China Morning Post that the exercise was a breakthrough given that NATO is wary of China’s military development.

“The PLA in the future will need to go abroad to protect China’s overseas interests in countries along the Belt and Road Initiative, and if there could be some basic mutual trust and understanding with NATO forces, the risk of potential conflict could be greatly mitigated,” Gang told the Hong Kong-based newspaper.

Denne tilnærmelsen skaper uunngåelig bekymring i Washington, hvor man er vitne til et Tyskland som er lite samarbeidsvillig både når det gjelder å prioritere forsvaret og å stille opp når USA ber om det – som nå sist i Syria. Läs artikel

Den iranska tankern som för en dryg vecka sedan stoppades i Gibraltar får fortsätta sin färd så länge Iran garanterar att de inte har för avsikt att gå emot EU:s sanktioner mot Syrien.

När tankern stoppades ledde det till hätska hot från Iran, som uppgav sig vara redo att lägga beslag på en brittisk oljetanker.

Storbritanniens utrikesminister Jeremy Hunt skrev på lördag på Twitter att han diskuterat frågan konstruktivt med Irans utrikesminister Mohammad Javad Zarif. Läs artikel

The European Union supports an Iraqi proposal to hold a regional conference amid rising tensions between the United States and Iran, the group’s foreign policy chief said Saturday. […]

Foreign Policy Chief Federica Mogherini, on her first visit since 2014, said the EU shared with Iraq the approach to dealing with the difficult situation, adding that the priority is to avoid escalation and any miscalculations that could lead to “dangerous consequences” for Iraq and beyond.

She said the EU is ready to support the regional conference idea “in all ways that could be useful.” She said there is a need to de-escalate and find avenues for dialogue.

Avenues of the “unknown … can be dangerous for everybody,” Mogherini said. Läs artikel

[…] To the grave disappointment of the Iranian people and government, Europe has proved too inept and spineless to mitigate the effect of U.S. withdrawal by honoring its commitments under the JCPOA. […]

The experience of the last three years has been a bitter one for those Iranians who had invested their hopes not only in the nuclear deal but in improving relations with the West and complying with international nuclear nonproliferation regimes.

As a consequence of recent developments, Iranian officials have started to entertain the idea of a gradual withdrawal from the JCPOA. The public has also grown receptive to this option, since the economic benefits of the agreement were abruptly cut short when the Trump administration unilaterally withdrew. More broadly, Iranian officials are calling into question the strategy of “constructive engagement and cooperation” with the West. Policymakers in Iran now see advantage in cultivating alliances with the economic and political powers of the East, such as China and Russia, instead. Public opinion, which for the last century had favored strengthening political and economic ties with Western powers, also now looks favorably on a shift toward the East. […]

For the first time since it became a signatory in 1970, Iran is now seriously considering withdrawing from the NPT. The more transparency Iran has shown, the country’s officials feel, the more economic sanctions it has received. Hence, for Iran, compliance with the NPT yields no economic or political benefit—just pressure and penalties. Läs artikel

Under ”det stora fosterländska kriget”, som andra världskriget kallas i rysk och sovjetisk historieskrivning, deltog över en miljon kvinnor på olika sätt. Det är en unik siffra i världshistorien. Även om andra länder började välkomna kvinnor i försvarsmakterna vid den här tiden så var de förbjudna att delta i strid.

I Sovjetunionen tjänstgjorde omkring 120 000 kvinnor som regelrätta soldater: infanterister och fältsjukvårdare, stridvagnsförare och prickskyttar, frontingenjörer och stridspiloter.

En av de mest kända var prickskytten Ludmila Pavlitjenko, född 1916 i Ukraina. Läs artikel

…Why did I vote against the Atlantic Pact? I wanted to vote for it-at least I wanted to vote to let Russia know that if she attacked western Europe, the United States would be in the war. I believe that would be a deterrent to war… We issued just this warning in the Monroe Doctrine, and though we were a much less powerful nation, it prevented aggression against Central and South America. That was only a President’s message to Congress, and there were no treaty obligations, and no arms for other nations. But it was one of the most effective peace measures in the history of the world. I would favor a Monroe Doctrine for western Europe.

But the Atlantic Pact goes much further. It obligates us to go to war if at any time during the next 20 years anyone makes an armed attack on any of the 12 nations. Under the Monroe Doctrine we could change our policy at any time. We could judge whether perhaps one of the countries had given cause for the attack. Only Congress could declare a war in pursuance of the doctrine. Under the new pact the President can take us into war without Congress. But, above all the treaty is a part of a much larger program by which we arm all these nations against Russia… A joint military program has already been made… It thus becomes an offensive and defensive military alliance against Russia. I believe our foreign policy should be aimed primarily at security and peace, and I believe such an alliance is more likely to produce war than peace. […]

There is another consideration. If we undertake to arm all the nations around Russia from Norway on the north to Turkey on the south, and Russia sees itself ringed about gradually by so-called defensive arms from Norway and. Denmark to Turkey and Greece, it may form a different opinion. It may decide that the arming of western Europe, regardless of its present purpose, looks to an attack upon Russia. Its view may be unreasonable, and I think it is. But from the Russian standpoint it may not seem unreasonable. They may well decide that if war is the certain result, that war might better occur now rather than after the arming of Europe is completed…

How would we feel if Russia undertook to arm a country on our border; Mexico, for instance? Läs artikel

Hotet från kärnvapen är större än på flera decennier. Flera länder moderniserar sina arsenaler och bristen på tillit mellan länder är ett akut problem. För regeringens säkerhets- och utrikespolitik är kärnvapennedrustning därför en central prioritering.

Regeringen konstaterar att FN:s förbudskonvention (TPNW) i sin nuvarande form inte är redo för undertecknande. Regeringen avstår i nuläget från att underteckna eller ratificera kärnvapenförbudskonventionen. Arbetet för kärnvapennedrustning fortsätter dock genom en rad olika satsningar. Läs pressmeddelande