The flags of seven new East European members were raised at NATO headquarters yesterday as foreign ministers prepared to confer on a growing list of global trouble spots where overstretched forces are involved.
"At the dawn of a new century, the entry of the seven new members extends the area of stability of our continent," said Italian Foreign Minister Franco Frattini. "It ... confirms that the divisions of the past have been overcome."
The banners of formerly communist Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia were hoisted in the courtyard of the sprawling low-rise NATO complex in a Brussels suburb four days after they joined, raising membership to 26.
PHOTO: AP
The three Baltic states are former Soviet republics whose incorporation into the Western alliance has riled Moscow.
But, after much deliberation, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov agreed to meet NATO counterparts later yesterday in what Western diplomats saw as a signal of acceptance.
"It's a historic moment. For 50 years we were occupied by the Russians. We've never been as safe as we are today," said Lithuanian warrant officer Algirdas Nakvosas, resplendent in a green dress uniform, as he watched the flags go up.
NATO warplanes began air patrols over the Baltic states as soon as they acceded on Monday, despite complaints from Moscow.
Former Lithuanian president Vytautas Landsbergis, a hero of independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, told state radio: "People have been trying to tell us that the Cold War is over ... but there are many facts showing us that this is an illusion.
"I speak not of the Russian people, but in the minds of Russian leaders nothing is different from 10 or even 15 years ago. The Cold War against the Baltic States continues."
US Secretary of State Colin Powell said there was no reason for "heightened nervousness" over Russia's unease.
"I don't sense that the Russians will find it necessary to counter this move with anything that would be either provocative or destabilizing or dangerous," he said in remarks released by the State Department yesterday.
Bulgaria, Romania and Slovakia once formed part of the Soviet-led Warsaw Pact, NATO's foe which collapsed in 1991. Slovenia once belonged to non-aligned but communist Yugoslavia.
In their talks, the ministers were to discuss the slow delivery on pledges to expand security in Afghanistan, which won record aid from donors this week but is still threatened by a resurgent drug trade, warlordism and guerrillas.
"I would like to see additional forces go in there over the next couple of months in order to secure the country for the elections that are going to be held in September," Powell said.
Aid groups have criticized NATO for planning to set up military reconstruction teams in relatively stable areas of the country and failing to address major security problems.
The CIA has a message for Chinese government officials worried about their place in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s (習近平) government: Come work with us. The agency released two Mandarin-language videos on social media on Thursday inviting disgruntled officials to contact the CIA. The recruitment videos posted on YouTube and X racked up more than 5 million views combined in their first day. The outreach comes as CIA Director John Ratcliffe has vowed to boost the agency’s use of intelligence from human sources and its focus on China, which has recently targeted US officials with its own espionage operations. The videos are “aimed at
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo on Friday expressed concern over the rate at which China is diversifying its military exercises, the Financial Times (FT) reported on Saturday. “The rates of change on the depth and breadth of their exercises is the one non-linear effect that I’ve seen in the last year that wakes me up at night or keeps me up at night,” Paparo was quoted by FT as saying while attending the annual Sedona Forum at the McCain Institute in Arizona. Paparo also expressed concern over the speed with which China was expanding its military. While the US
RSS