Subscribe free to our newsletters via your
. 24/7 Space News .




SUPERPOWERS
Russia quits arms treaty consulting group amid tensions with West
by Staff Writers
Moscow (AFP) March 10, 2015


Poland and Latvia sceptical over EU army idea
Warsaw (AFP) March 10, 2015 - Polish and Latvian officials on Tuesday voiced scepticism over calls for a European Union army to counter a militarily resurgent Russia.

"It's a very risky idea," Polish Foreign Minister Grzegorz Schetyna told Poland's private Radio Zet in reaction to Sunday's proposal by European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker.

Juncker, a former Luxembourg prime minister, called for the creation of an EU army following rising tensions with Russia, saying the force could help counter new threats beyond the bloc's borders and defend European values.

"First of all we have to ask where to raise money to finance such an army, how the combat units will work, who will be in charge of training them," Schetyna said.

His sentiments were echoed by Latvian Prime Minister Laimdota Straujuma on Monday.

"There is a possibility it could be discussed in July at the European Council, but it's important to check whether this might be duplicating NATO," she told Latvian public broadcaster LTV.

Ex-communist Poland joined NATO in 1999 ahead of the three former Soviet-ruled Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania which joined in 2004.

They have all urged the alliance to boost its presence in the region since Russia annexed Ukraine's Crimean peninsula last year.

NATO is countering Moscow's moves by boosting defences on Europe's eastern flank with a spearhead force of 5,000 troops and command centres in six formerly communist members, including the three Baltic states and Bulgaria, Poland and Romania.

General Stanislaw Koziej, a security adviser to Polish President Bronislaw Komorowski, said Juncker's idea was an impractical "dream".

"These days, nobody in Europe, no single country is contemplating giving up its sovereignty," said Koziej.

"To have an army, you need first of all a political decision-maker who would deploy such an army," added the general, urging further political integration of Europe first.

Russia said Tuesday it was suspending its participation in a consulting group on a conventional arms treaty for Europe, the latest sign of deep tensions with the West.

Russia had already suspended its participation in the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) in 2007. It had however continued to take part in the consulting group related to the treaty, which was signed in 1990.

Moscow remains a signatory to the treaty limiting conventional military equipment such as tanks, aircraft and artillery and seen as a cornerstone of security in post-Cold War Europe.

"The Russian Federation has decided to suspend its participation in meetings of the Joint Consultative Group from March 11, 2015," the Russian foreign ministry quoted a top diplomat, Anton Mazur, as saying.

"Thus, the suspension of the participation in the CFE treaty announced by Russia in 2007 has become complete," it quoted Mazur, the head of the Russian Delegation to the Vienna Negotiations on Military Security and Arms Control, as saying.

The Joint Consultative Group is a Vienna-based body handling issues relating to compliance with the treaty.

Mazur said Russia's continued membership was expensive and no longer made sense since the West had been using it to urge Moscow to resume its participation in the agreement.

Moscow added however that it remained open to "further dialogue on control over conventional weapons in Europe if or when our partners become ready."

Belarus will represent Russia in the consulting group, the statement said.

Ties between Russia and the West have sunk to their lowest point since the end of the Cold War since the start of the Ukraine crisis last year.

"It's just another way of slapping the West in the face," Peter Felstead, editor at IHS Jane's Defence Weekly in London, said of the move.

"The treaty said you are only allowed to have only so much of certain type of equipment in certain regions and this stopped destabilising things like massing equipment on a border," he told AFP.

"Russian operations in Chechnya in the 1990s completely violated the treaty, and they're contravening it by what they're doing in eastern Ukraine and on the border now."


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


.


Related Links
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com






Comment on this article via your Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail login.

Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle




Memory Foam Mattress Review
Newsletters :: SpaceDaily :: SpaceWar :: TerraDaily :: Energy Daily
XML Feeds :: Space News :: Earth News :: War News :: Solar Energy News





SUPERPOWERS
China extends military splurge with 10.1% budget increase
Beijing (AFP) March 5, 2015
China unveiled a fresh double-digit spending boost for its military on Thursday with a 10.1 percent increase in 2015, as it is embroiled in a series of territorial disputes with its neighbours. Beijing plans to raise its military spending to 886.9 billion yuan ($141.4 billion), according to a budget report to the annual session of the National People's Congress (NPC), the communist-controlle ... read more


SUPERPOWERS
Core work: Iron vapor gives clues to formation of Earth and moon

Application of laser microprobe technology to Apollo samples refines lunar impact history

NASA releases video of the far side of the Moon

US Issuing Licenses for Mineral Mining on Moon

SUPERPOWERS
Single Site on Mars Advanced for 2016 NASA Lander

Testing to Diagnose Power Event in Mars Rover

New Flight Software to Fix Memory Issues is Onboard Rover

Curiosity confirms methane in Mars' atmosphere

SUPERPOWERS
Cheap yen, fading Fukushima fears lure Japan tourists

Dubai to build 'Museum of the Future'

Old-economy sectors are now tech, too: US study

Diamantino Sforza - Gentleman Farmer of Prince George's County

SUPERPOWERS
China at technical preparation stage for Mars, asteroid exploration

China's moon rover Yutu functioning but stationary

Argentina welcomes first Chinese satellite tracking station outside China

More Astronauts for China

SUPERPOWERS
US astronauts speed through spacewalk at orbiting lab

Watching Alloys Change from Liquid to Solid Could Lead to Better Metals

NASA Hopes to Continue Cooperation on ISS Until 2024

Russia to use International Space Station till 2024

SUPERPOWERS
Soyuz Installed at Baikonur, Expected to Launch Wednesday

Arianespace certified to ISO 50001 at Guiana Space Center

SpaceX launches two communications satellites

Next Launch of Heavy Angara-5 Rocket Due Next Year

SUPERPOWERS
Exorings on the Horizon

Planet 'Reared' by Four Parent Stars

Planets Can Alter Each Other's Climates over Eons

The mystery of cosmic oceans and dunes

SUPERPOWERS
NASA uses CubeSat bus to to test re-enter drag device

ESA experts assess risk from exploded satellite

Google gearing Android for virtual reality: report

New paint makes tough self-cleaning surfaces




The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2014 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. Privacy Statement All images and articles appearing on Space Media Network have been edited or digitally altered in some way. Any requests to remove copyright material will be acted upon in a timely and appropriate manner. Any attempt to extort money from Space Media Network will be ignored and reported to Australian Law Enforcement Agencies as a potential case of financial fraud involving the use of a telephonic carriage device or postal service.