Volume 13 Number 3 – October 2017

UPNorth – The Northern European
Lithuania, Latvia, and Estonia Should Not Exist

Nikolay Mezhevich, a St. Petersburg professor who heads the Russian Association of Baltic Research, says that “for Russia the [three Baltic] countries should not exist” and that there are no prospects for an improvement in relations because the Baltic regimes can function only as anti-Russian actors.

In an interview with Rubaltic’s Aleksandr Nosovich following a conference at the Kant Baltic Federal University in Kaliningrad on relations between Russia and Poland, Mezhevich says that relations with Warsaw while bad now can improve but those with the Baltic countries never can.

Asked by Nosovich what the “optimal” Russian policy toward the Baltic countries should be, the St. Petersburg professor is blunt: “For Russia, there are no such countries. Legally, they exist, but we do not maintain any economic or political contacts with them.” The Baltics are thus “a dead zone, a Chernobyl.” He nonetheless opposes breaking diplomatic relations with them. “Why give them that happiness?” Mezhevich asks rhetorically. “They are always dreaming about this. But the presence of diplomatic ties does not mean that me should develop any contacts with them because in these countries already nothing will change.”

http://upnorth.eu/russia-estonia-latvia-lithuania-not-exist-says-russian-expert-baltic-region/


Deutsche Welle
Moscow Slams US

Moscow has accused the US of a “gross violation of international law” after being given two days to shut a Russian diplomatic outpost in San Francisco. The departing Russians burnt papers as the clock ticked down. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said on Friday that Moscow would “reply with firmness” also that they “needed time to study Washington’s directive” and to decide on a response. “We will have a tough response to the things that come totally out of the blue to hurt us and are driven solely by the desire to spoil our relations with the US,” Lavrov said in a televised meeting. The measure is the most serious by the US against Russia since 1986, when the two powers expelled dozens of each other’s diplomats. US-Russia ties have fallen to their lowest point since the Cold War after the Kremlin’s invasion of Crimea in 2014.

http://www.dw.com/en/moscow-slams-us-over-consulate-closure-as-fires-burn-in-san-francisco/a-40335856


The Moscow Times
May Buy 5 Rocket Engines From Russia

A U.S.-based space company ,United Launch Alliance, is expected to confirm plans to buy five previously banned Russian rocket engines by late September, the Kommersant business daily reported. ULA reportedly has been engaged in secret talks for over a year with Russia’s Energomash on the purchase of 10 RD-180s. Initial plans to sign a contract were scrapped because of the U.S. presidential campaign, according to Kommersant. Following Russia’s annexation of the Crimea in 2014, U.S. banned the use of Russian engines for U.S. military and spy satellite launches after 2019. The ban has been partly lifted given the U.S. space industry’s reliance on the RD-180 engines.

https://themoscowtimes.com/news/us-in-talks-to-buy-5-rocket-engines-from-russia-58862


Stars and Stripes
Ungunned Stryker Boosts NATO Firepower on Eastern Flank

WIESBADEN, Germany — The 2nd Cavalry Regiment will begin fielding the first of a new fleet of upgraded Stryker armored combat vehicles next summer, the result of a two-year push to give the unit greater range and firepower in response to concerns about a more assertive Russia. The decision to speed development of the upgraded Strykers was made in 2015, not long after the Russian intervention in the Ukraine. The intervention spurred NATO to enhance its presence along its eastern frontier.

Currently, there are four multinational battle groups in the Baltic states and eastern Poland, including an 800-soldier squadron from the 2nd Cavalry. The regiment is one of only two full-time combat units stationed in Europe.

https://www.stripes.com/news/upgunned-strykers-to-boost-2nd-cavalry-regiment-s-firepower-1.486704#.WdZVa0yZPR0


YLE UUTISET
Finnish President Niinistö: European Defence Force Necessary

Finnish President Sauli Niinistö says the development of a common European defense force will require a great deal of patience and time. He nevertheless senses that movement in this direction is already underway.

“EU defense is still a long way off, in terms of an objective. It will require substantial changes in attitude, and long-term advancement towards the goal in small increments,” he told Yle in a Saturday morning interview.

“It seems to be the case that Europeans will perhaps slowly have to forsake the notion that NATO and the US provide security, and do something about it themselves. Fortunately, Finland has already made quite a bit of progress in this area,” Niinistö said in the interview.

https://yle.fi/uutiset/osasto/news/president_niinisto_european_defence_force_necessary__but_will_take_time/9812645


NATO-OTAN North Atlantic Treaty Organization
NATO Battlegroups in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, and Poland Fully Operational

NATO’s four multinational battlegroups in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland are finally fully operational. This milestone comes after the Canadian-led battlegroup based at Camp Ādaži in Latvia became the fourth battlegroup to complete its Certification Exercise.

Four multinational battlegroups totaling approximately 4,500 troops have deployed to the Baltic nations and Poland. Canada leads the battlegroup in Latvia, with contributions by Albania, Italy, Poland, Slovenia and Spain. Germany leads the battlegroup in Lithuania, with contributions by Belgium, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Norway. The United Kingdom leads the battlegroup in Estonia, with contributions by France. The United States leads the battlegroup in Poland, with contributions by Romania and the UK.

http://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/news_146557.htm