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MISSILE DEFENSE U.S., NATO Countries Agree on Need To Maintain Defense Linkage. Under Secretary of Defense Eric Edelman, citing successful coupling of NATO and U.S. defense programs during the Cold War, said April 19 that such partnerships remain a good idea today “even though we’re now in a post-Cold War era, facing new challenges and new threats.” NATO Secretary-General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer concurred, saying “the principle of the indivisibility of security” is a view held unanimously by the 26 NATO members. more
U.S.-Russia Cooperation Touted for Reducing Nuclear Threat. Russia is one of the strongest partners of the United States in countering the global terrorist threat and in restraining countries from becoming “nuclear weapons states,” says Deputy Secretary of State John Negroponte. In April 25 prepared remarks, Negroponte touted the U.S. Cooperative Threat Reduction Program as an important aspect of the U.S.-Russian relationship in securing and dismantling weapons of mass destruction in states of the former Soviet Union. more The West Needs a Defense System that Works, Secretary Rice and Secretary Gates say Sixteen years after the end of the Cold War, the transatlantic community and Russia are not adversaries. Indeed, on a number of issues, we are partners. more US - EU Relations
President Bush Meets with EU Leaders. Bush says that EU-U.S. relations are very important to our country, that not only is it important for us to strategize how to promote prosperity and peace, but it's important for us to achieve concrete results. And we have done so. I thank the Chancellor and Jos very much for the trans-Atlantic economic integration plan that the three of us signed today. It is a statement of the importance of trade. It is a commitment to eliminating barriers to trade. It is a recognition that the closer that the United States and the EU become, the better off our people become. So this is a substantial agreement and I appreciate it. more Challenges and Opportunities Facing the Transatlantic Community: Trade, Economics, Climate Change, and Global Cooperation Kurt Volker, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary for European and Eurasian Affairs April 23, 2007. Foreign Press Center Briefing. more |
IRAQ President Bush Rejects Artificial Deadline, Vetoes Iraq War Supplemental Cross Hall. President Bush explains the reasons for this veto -- and his desire to work with Congress to resolve this matter as quickly as possible. Reasons for the veto included unacceptable actions, to includes a mandate a rigid and artificial deadline for American troops to begin withdrawing from Iraq, imposes impossible conditions on our commanders in combat, and includes billions of dollars in non-emergency spending that has nothing to do with fighting the war on terror. Congress should debate these spending measures on their own merits -- and not as part of an emergency funding bill for our troops. more Briefing on Upcoming Launch of the International Compact With Iraq and the Expanded Ministerial Conference of the Neighbors of Iraq. Senior Advisor David Satterfield said "Too often, neighbors have concerns about what is happening in Iraq. The international community has concerns about what is happening in Iraq. Iraq has concerns about what the neighbors are doing. There's not an adequate dialogue. The conference is designed as part of a process and I want to underscore that; not a one-off event, but as part of a process which should lead, we hope, Iraq hopes, to a continuing better level of dialogue at the working and political level with those concentric rings: neighbors, region, international community on the political side." more AFGHANISTAN
North Atlantic Council visit to Afghanistan. The North Atlantic Council, NATO’s highest level decision-making body, visited Afghanistan from 16 to 18 April 2007. The Alliance’s Supreme Allied Commander Europe, General John Craddock, and the Chairman of the Military Committee, General Ray Henault, accompanied the Council. During the visit, the Council – led by the Deputy Secretary General, Ambassador Alessandro Minuto Rizzo - held meetings with President Karzai and other key members of the Afghan Government, as well as with international community representatives from the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, the European Union, G-8 lead nations and NGOs. more ESTONIA Tensions in Estonian-Russian Relations. Tom Casey, U.S. Department of State Deputy Spokesman, highlighted that “we welcome the restoration of calm in Tallinn following the relocation of the Bronze Soldier monument.” He further stressed that “we are concerned, however, about continuing reports of violence and harassment, including harassment of Estonian diplomatic personnel and premises in Moscow. more |
NATO Ministerial, Oslo Remarks With Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store. Secretary Rice commented on the ongoing discussions within the NATO Russia Council on missile defense, progress in the Middle East, Afghanistan, and Kosovo. When asked about missile defense, she replied, “we have had discussions with the Russians now going back to last June about missile defense. In fact, well before that discussions with the Russians about missile defense, about the common threat that we think we all face, not from each other's strategic nuclear arsenals -- that was the case in the '80s when clearly there were some who believed that strategic stability was best served by leaving yourself vulnerable to attack. more
NATO Informal Ministerial. NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said we are making progress and making a difference in Afghanistan. With regard to missile defense, he stressed “that the principle of the indivisibility of security is strongly supported by the Alliance.” He stressed however that “there is a full understanding that the plans cannot, will not and do not upset the strategic balance in Europe.” On Kosovo, Ministers reiterated their unanimous support for the Ahtisaari package, and their hope that the United Nations Security Council will pass a resolution based on that package as soon as possible. more | Key Issues at the NATO Ministerial TERRORISM REPORT 2006 State department Counterterrorism Report Frank C. Urbancic, Acting Coordinator for Counterterrorism related that “the 2006 Report aims to inform, to stimulate constructive debate and to enhance our collective dynamic understanding of the global terrorist threat. It should serve as a reference tool to inform policy makers, the American public and our international partners about our efforts, progress and challenges in the war on terrorism.” more | 2006 Country Reports
KOSOVO The Outlook for the Independence of Kosovo [...] This is the American vision for Southeastern Europe. This vision, however, cannot be realized until both Kosovo and Serbia move beyond the conflicts of the past and set themselves on an irrevocable path to the European Union and NATO. Therefore, we must act now to solve the last major issue related to Yugoslavia's bloody collapse. [...] more |
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Transatlantic Focus:
A U.S. Foreign Policy Newsletter
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