The new NATO secretary-general yesterday called for a “strategic partnership” with Russia.
In his first public appearance since he took up the post, former Danish prime minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen said good relations with Russia were a priority during his five-year tenure.
His statement will worry NATO members from central Europe and the Baltic who are protesting to the White House over US President Barack Obama’s recent overtures to the Kremlin.
In remarks that appeared in tune with the pragmatic security policies being pushed by Washington, Rasmussen said that relations with Moscow should be guided by “shared interests,” making no reference to common “values.”
Senior NATO officials said Rasmussen was sending a conciliatory signal to the Kremlin and fishing for an invitation to Moscow to discuss a common agenda that could include counter-terrorism programs, Afghanistan, nuclear non-proliferation and action to curb piracy.
His predecessor, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, who stood down at the weekend, had poor personal relations with the Russian leadership.
Alarmed by the Russian invasion of Georgia last year and its implications for their own security, the former Soviet satellites of the Baltic and central Europe are appealing to the White House for stronger security guarantees.
The new NATO members are worried that better relations between Moscow and the west could come at their expense.
Several former and current senior officials from the region have just written an open letter voicing fears over the direction of Obama’s foreign policy.
“People question whether NATO would be willing and able to come to our defense in some future crises,” they said two weeks ago. “Our ability to continue to sustain public support depends on us being able to show that our own security concerns are being addressed in NATO.”
They said their hopes for better relations with Moscow had been dashed and they felt bullied.
“Russia is back as a revisionist power pursuing a 19th-century agenda with 21st-century tactics and methods. It challenges our claims to our own historical experiences. It asserts a privileged position in determining our security choices,” the letter said. “It uses overt and covert means of economic warfare, ranging from energy blockades and politically motivated investments to bribery and media manipulation in order to advance its interests.”
But Rasmussen indicated the emphasis was on Russia, not on central Europe.
“We should develop a true strategic partnership with Russia,” he said.
The governor of Ohio is to send law enforcement and millions of dollars in healthcare resources to the city of Springfield as it faces a surge in temporary Haitian migrants. Ohio Governor Mike DeWine on Tuesday said that he does not oppose the Temporary Protected Status program under which about 15,000 Haitians have arrived in the city of about 59,000 people since 2020, but said the federal government must do more to help affected communities. On Monday, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost directed his office to research legal avenues — including filing a lawsuit — to stop the federal government from sending
A Zurich city councilor has apologized and reportedly sought police protection against threats after she fired a sport pistol at an auction poster of a 14th-century Madonna and child painting, and posted images of their bullet-ridden faces on social media. Green-Liberal party official Sanija Ameti, 32, put the images on Instagram over the weekend before quickly pulling them down. She later wrote on social media that she had been practicing shots from about 10m and only found the poster as “big enough” for a suitable target. “I apologize to the people who were hurt by my post. I deleted it immediately when I
At first, Francis Ari Sture thought a human was trying to shove him down the steep Norwegian mountainside. Then he saw the golden eagle land. “We are staring at each other for, maybe, a whole minute,” Sture said on Monday. “I’m trying to think what’s in its mind.” The bird then attacked Sture five more times on Thursday last week, scratching and clawing the 31-year-old bicycle courier’s face and arms over 10 to 15 minutes as he sprinted down the mountain. The same eagle is believed to be responsible for attacks on three other people across a vast mountainous area of southern Norway
Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) is to visit Russia next month for a summit of the BRICS bloc of developing economies, Chinese Minister of Foreign Affairs Wang Yi (王毅) said on Thursday, a move that comes as Moscow and Beijing seek to counter the West’s global influence. Xi’s visit to Russia would be his second since the Kremlin sent troops into Ukraine in February 2022. China claims to take a neutral position in the conflict, but it has backed the Kremlin’s contentions that Russia’s action was provoked by the West, and it continues to supply key components needed by Moscow for