French riot police fired teargas to force back hundreds of anti-NATO protesters who tried to prevent world leaders celebrating the military alliance’s 60th anniversary at a summit yesterday.
Leaders of NATO’s 28 member states including US President Barack Obama hoped to forge a new strategic vision for the alliance, which was created soon after World War II to defend Europe’s borders and has expanded despite the demise of its first foe, the Soviet Union.
But a dispute between Turkey and Europe over the appointment of a new leader threatened to shatter any semblance of unity after the leaders failed to reach a deal on Friday.
PHOTO: AP
Turkey blocked Europe’s candidate, Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen, who had emerged as front-runner to replace Dutchman Jaap de Hoop Scheffer as secretary-general when he steps down at the end of July.
Turkey has criticized Rasmussen’s handling of a row in 2006 over cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that offended Muslims.
NATO officials put a brave face on the deadlock and said talks would continue yesterday, the second and last day of the summit that is co-hosted by France and Germany in Strasbourg and nearby Baden-Baden.
“We don’t have consensus yet,” NATO spokesman James Appathurai told a news conference late on Friday. “We will get there. This alliance always gets there.”
Anti-summit protesters, campaigning to have NATO disbanded following the end of the Cold War, vowed to disrupt yesterday’s meeting after two days of sometimes violent clashes.
Clashes began several hundred meters from the summit early yesterday after protesters defied a security cordon around Strasbourg in eastern France and hurled smoke bombs and fireworks. There were no immediate signs that the most closely guarded security zone around the leaders had been breached.
An Iranian journalist based in Germany collapsed with breathing difficulties after being hit in with face with teargas and was taken away by ambulance, witnesses said.
Police said they had arrested 25 demonstrators during the night and estimated 1,800 had left a makeshift protest camp on Strasbourg’s outskirts in groups, watched by police helicopters.
Leaders had hoped to reach a decision on the top NATO job on Friday, clearing the way for detailed discussions yesterday over Afghanistan with Obama promoting his new Afghan strategy.
In a speech to students on Friday, Obama said Europe was more threatened by al-Qaeda than the US because it was closer to the conflict zones.
He said European nations should do more to help in the fight against Islamist militants in the Afghan war, which risks slipping from NATO’s control more than seven years after US-backed forces toppled the Taliban from power.
Obama also signaled to Europe he would support Rasmussen in his bid to become NATO secretary-general. Deadlock over the appointment could have ramifications for Turkey’s tortuous bid to join the EU.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel had openly endorsed Rasmussen and sounded confident a deal would be swiftly reached, but she appeared to misjudge Turkey, which suggested the Dane would undermine NATO’s reputation in the Muslim world.
“We ask why we got stuck on a single name. Let’s look for new alternatives,” Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said.
Turkey’s negotiations over EU membership are blocked at a number of levels and neither Germany nor France, the traditional engines driving the union, are likely to promote the talks if Ankara persists in blocking their favored NATO candidate.
Four people jailed in the landmark Hong Kong national security trial of "47 democrats" accused of conspiracy to commit subversion were freed today after more than four years behind bars, the second group to be released in a month. Among those freed was long-time political and LGBTQ activist Jimmy Sham (岑子杰), who also led one of Hong Kong’s largest pro-democracy groups, the Civil Human Rights Front, which disbanded in 2021. "Let me spend some time with my family," Sham said after arriving at his home in the Kowloon district of Jordan. "I don’t know how to plan ahead because, to me, it feels
Poland is set to hold a presidential runoff election today between two candidates offering starkly different visions for the country’s future. The winner would succeed Polish President Andrzej Duda, a conservative who is finishing his second and final term. The outcome would determine whether Poland embraces a nationalist populist trajectory or pivots more fully toward liberal, pro-European policies. An exit poll by Ipsos would be released when polls close today at 9pm local time, with a margin of error of plus or minus 2 percentage points. Final results are expected tomorrow. Whoever wins can be expected to either help or hinder the
North Korea has detained another official over last week’s failed launch of a warship, which damaged the naval destroyer, state media reported yesterday. Pyongyang announced “a serious accident” at Wednesday last week’s launch ceremony, which crushed sections of the bottom of the new destroyer. North Korean leader Kim Jong-un called the mishap a “criminal act caused by absolute carelessness.” Ri Hyong-son, vice department director of the Munitions Industry Department of the Party Central Committee, was summoned and detained on Sunday, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported. He was “greatly responsible for the occurrence of the serious accident,” it said. Ri is the fourth person
The collapse of the Swiss Birch glacier serves as a chilling warning of the escalating dangers faced by communities worldwide living under the shadow of fragile ice, particularly in Asia, experts said. Footage of the collapse on Wednesday showed a huge cloud of ice and rubble hurtling down the mountainside into the hamlet of Blatten. Swiss Development Cooperation disaster risk reduction adviser Ali Neumann said that while the role of climate change in the case of Blatten “still needs to be investigated,” the wider impacts were clear on the cryosphere — the part of the world covered by frozen water. “Climate change and
RSS