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NATO Actions to Deter Russia in Eastern Europe

U.S. troops arrive in Poland in 2014. NATO is hardly in the position to stop a Russian offensive in the event that war breaks out, especially if that offensive begins in the Baltics. (JANEK SKARZYNSKI/AFP/Getty Images)

Washington grabbed international headlines Wednesday when it announced plans to deploy another armored brigade to Eastern Europe. This is the latest step in Operation Atlantic Resolve, the United States’ effort to show its commitment to NATO’s collective security in the face of Russia’s growing assertiveness in Ukraine. The plans include the nine-month deployment of 4,500 troops beginning in February as well as the withdrawal and refurbishment of some of the United States’ pre-positioned equipment on the Continent. Despite the attention the combat rotation is getting, however, the U.S. military is making other moves in the region that are just as important, if not more so, in signaling its intentions for Russia. more…

(SRATFOR, A New U.S. Brigade Won’t Change the Status Quo in Eastern Europe,  Geopolitical Diary, 

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Increase in NATO Defense Posture vs. Putin’s Russia

Marines with Combined Arms Company, step back as an M777 Howitzer fires a round during a live-fire shoot in Rena, Norway, Feb. 23, 2016. U.S. Marine Corps Photo

There have been a number of recent articles regarding increased posture by NATO to counter an aggressive Russia in Europe.

General Philip Breedlove, NATO Commander, recommends increasing NATO deterrence–see section A, Deter Russia.

Feb. 25, 2016 U.S. European Command posture statement from commander Gen. Philip Breedlove.

 

 

 

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Riga journalist: Moscow has already begun hybrid war against Latvia

Soldier of Russian special operations troopsIn words that some will dismiss as being like those of the little boy who cried wolf and that others will see as a cry of despair, Latvian TV journalist Olga Dragilyeva says that Moscow has launched a hybrid war against Latvia by using its media to generate “dissatisfaction and illusions” among the residents of …

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Citing Russia and IS threat, Kosovo urges faster EU expansion

Kosovo's Foreign Minister Thaci speaks to the media in BerlinBy Stephen Brown BERLIN (Reuters) – Kosovo’s Foreign Minister Hashim Thaci urged the European Union and NATO to speed up integration of Balkan states or risk the spreading influence of both Russia and Islamist extremists. Thaci, the first prime minister of independent Kosovo until last year, told Reuters he hoped for tangible results in the coming months, such as a new EU visa regime for Kosovo. “It is the moment when Brussels should move from rhetoric and nice words about Kosovo to concrete measures,” Thaci said in Berlin on Tuesday, after meeting his German counterpart Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Kosovo, a poor, landlocked state of 1.7 million people, declared independence from Serbia in 2008, but Belgrade and its former Soviet master Moscow refuse to recognize this and have blocked its membership of bodies such as the United Nations.


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Six post-Soviet countries now say they were occupied by the USSR

Georgian President and Minister of Defence pay honour to the Memorial of Cadets in Kodjori. Photo by the President's press office.Yesterday, Georgians marked the 94th anniversary of what Tbilisi calls “the battle of the Soviet Occupation” of that country in 1921, a self-definition that means six post-Soviet states now officially view the Soviet system as an occupation and one that marks an important milestone in their separation from Russia and possible future development. Estonians, Latvians …

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