NATO

mickeyrat

Swedish Authorities have boarded the Chinese ship

https://www.threads.net/@kevin.burini/post/DDzQesmNv6I?xmt=AQGzCb0EiYnqRAxt8dJJ0J1yfsq4Cc1S-BoL87oVQo0rYQ

shecky

A group of four NATO leaders and a representative from the European Union on Sunday said they agreed it was time to invest more in defense spending as Russia remains a chief security threat in Europe amid the war in Ukraine, and as Western leaders brace for the incoming Trump administration. 

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis argued the era of spending 2% of a nation’s GDP on defense was "probably history" but he, along with the other four leaders in attendance at the North-South Summit in Lapland, Finland fell short of saying what that figure should look like. 

"We know that we need to spend more than 2%," Mitsotakis said. "But it will become very clear… once we interact with the new president, what is the figure that we will agree on within NATO."

The summit was convened by Finnish Prime Minister Petteri Orpo, and was also attended by Swedish Prime Minister Ulf Kristersson, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni and European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas.

The leaders were questioned about a recent report by the Financial Times that said President-elect Donald Trump intends to push NATO to increase its defense spending requirement from 2% to 5% — a requirement that would demand all nations, including the U.S. which spends just over 3% of its GDP, to drastically increase spending on defense.

The Trump transition team did not answer Fox News Digital’s questions on whether Trump is going to be pushing all NATO nations, including the U.S., to drastically ramp up defense spending.

Instead, a spokesperson for the Trump transition team said, "President Trump believes European nations should meet their NATO defense spending obligations and step up their share of the burden for this conflict, as the U.S. has paid significantly more, which is not fair to our taxpayers. He will do what is necessary to restore peace and rebuild American strength and deterrence on the world stage."

Fox News Digital also could not get clarity over whether an increase in defense spending would be supported by GOP lawmakers given the large number of conservatives in Congress, as well as his Vice President-elect, who have called for cutting U.S. aid to Ukraine, as well as last week’s internal fighting in the House among Republican lawmakers over spending disagreements. 

Even as NATO leaders at the North-South Summit agreed Russia is Europe’s "greatest threat," they urged caution when it came to dealing with "rumors" surrounding the incoming Trump administration. 

"I would wait to understand exactly what is the real will of the new president of the US," Meloni said, according to a Bloomberg report. "On NATO, we all know and understand that we have to do more. A lot of what we can do is up to the tools that we are able to put on the table."

The Finnish prime minster echoed a similar sentiment and said, "Europe has to take greater responsibility for its own security. This means that European countries have to be strong leaders, both in the EU and in NATO.

"[Russia] is trying to consolidate power and sow discord in Europe. The geopolitical situation is also very challenging in the Middle East and North Africa, for example," Orpo added, according to Euro News. 

Kristersson said spending more on defense was important, in part, so that European nations were less dependent on the U.S. being "the main sponsor" of the alliance’s defense, but also to show Washington that European nations do take defense "seriously."

"European countries — individually, most of us, and collectively — need to strengthen our defense. And let’s do that," he said. 

Trump during his first administration pushed NATO leaders to meet their 2% defense spending pledge, which several did — increasing the number of allies to meet the terms of the NATO agreement from five in 2016 to nine in 2020.

But that number dropped to just six once Trump left in 2021.

By 2022, however, NATO leaders have once again began re-evaluating their defense budgets following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and by 2024, a historic number of NATO allies had met their spending agreements, with 23 out of 32 nations spending at least 2% of their GDP on defense. 

Only Poland spends over 4% of its GDP on defense, while four nations spend over 3%, including Estonia, the U.S., Latvia and Greece. 

Croatia, Portugal, Italy, Canada, Belgium, Luxembourg, Slovenia and Spain have yet to meet their defense spending commitments.

mickeyrat

https://apnews.com/article/eu-finland-estonia-baltic-sea-power-cable-6741ef1ce9130602abac6214d7297717

mickeyrat

https://www.threads.net/@ghostoflviv_/post/DED8uAzyEfP?xmt=AQGzeQxYQm7j1i2czW1txIyb9awi9NPvSzVoK-ZEDICYKw

mickeyrat

The Treaty....

https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/official_texts_17120.htm

mickeyrat

increase nato presence

https://www.threads.net/@tvp_world/post/DEFJpJFtjfJ?xmt=AQGzpz9MWEjdWr6LaSR9ltNYUWuiwSC1OxY4xO1Lomn4rA

mickeyrat

of course they can.....

https://www.threads.net/@nwowatcher/post/DEFNo-tucFr?xmt=AQGzc3_YLUmVhipMEHhC8-sYmubGHyH7fIZaum3b3W-O4A

mickeyrat

spy equipment AND cutting cables? act of war , no?

https://www.threads.net/@neilgerardo6710/post/DEF7WLDSXxr?xmt=AQGzZLmVSPDdyhir_DUrsop9giuQZyTyfRL7eWaWohWIIg

mickeyrat

Estonia lauches naval patrols....

https://www.threads.net/@margogontar/post/DEIbUZytBNp?xmt=AQGz8JpM0fPkDLkUaMta9FvbYDN0RRnlBt_m2c3L5BOoqw

mickeyrat

https://www.threads.net/@tvp_world/post/DEJ67ElT2pT?xmt=AQGzX5-AVmjVOE4Fj5CAd1-TX1JdIUIF-fopKme_jm3Oqg

josevolution

mickeyrat said:

https://www.threads.net/@tvp_world/post/DEJ67ElT2pT?xmt=AQGzX5-AVmjVOE4Fj5CAd1-TX1JdIUIF-fopKme_jm3Oqg

Poor folks on that plane damn 

mickeyrat

Russian tanker, western Med. Stationary for close to 10 days?

https://www.threads.net/@itamilradar/post/DEKs58UImpA?xmt=AQGzYVkGI7jL2SxSv_Fho3mLkv2IrZzrJoRs2rMYFmV_zQ

mickeyrat

https://www.threads.net/@newsguyusa/post/DELQ3BMRTWG?xmt=AQGzP9erIG0s1uVMjWDHd2NYn_EKJlo0_4IHsMguddKhjA

Finland finds drag marks on Baltic seabed after cable damage - https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/finland-finds-drag-marks-baltic-seabed-after-cable-damage-2024-12-29/

mickeyrat

2 ships in the Baltic Sea

https://www.threads.net/@johanstravel/post/DEK6vd0oE2R?xmt=AQGztEGhld0nkhGKDBLIs5mxJkpr5O3-b0kHTzzVVn2g-g

mickeyrat

https://www.threads.net/@npr/post/DEQKBPoPTEO?xmt=AQGz271So0nWV74rXB8vothPj6AVn1DFdnhsMEnQk6-jhA

mickeyrat

https://www.threads.net/@kevin.burini/post/DEXVCDeNWvB?xmt=AQGzu9LxVKokBeHiX-Bbot0YwMJPLnXoWSjnEGIbFDc82A

mickeyrat

in case folks were wondering or were concerned. Fucksticks choice of Sec State , pushed through into law.....

https://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/22/1928f

22 U.S. Code § 1928f - Limitation on withdrawal from the North Atlantic Treaty Organization

• U.S. Code
• Notes

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(a) Opposition of Congress to suspension, termination, denunciation, or withdrawal from North Atlantic Treaty

The President shall not suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty, done at Washington, DC, April 4, 1949, except by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, provided that two-thirds of the Senators present concur, or pursuant to an Act of Congress.

(b) Limitation on the use of funds

No funds authorized or appropriated by any Act may be used to support, directly or indirectly, any decision on the part of any United States Government official to suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty, done at Washington, DC, April 4, 1949, except by and with the advice and consent of the Senate, provided that two-thirds of the Senators present concur, or pursuant to an Act of Congress.

(c) Notification of Treaty action

(1) Consultation

Prior to the notification described in paragraph (2), the President shall consult with the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives in relation to any initiative to suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty.

(2) Notification

The President shall notify the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate and the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the House of Representatives in writing of any deliberation or decision to suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw the United States from the North Atlantic Treaty, as soon as possible but in no event later than 180 days prior to taking such action.

(d) Rule of construction

Nothing in this section shall be construed to authorize, imply, or otherwise indicate that the President may suspend, terminate, denounce, or withdraw from any treaty to which the Senate has provided its advice and consent without the advice and consent of the Senate to such act or pursuant to an Act of Congress.

(e) Severability

If any provision of this section or the application of such provision is held by a Federal court to be unconstitutional, the remainder of this subtitle and the application of such provisions to any other person or circumstance shall not be affected thereby.

(f) Definitions

In this subtitle, the terms “withdrawal”, “denunciation”, “suspension”, and “termination” have the meaning given the terms in the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties, concluded at Vienna May 23, 1969.

(Pub. L. 118–31, div. A, title XII, § 1250A, Dec. 22, 2023, 137 Stat. 464.)

mickeyrat

looking for confirmation. no source cited.

mickeyrat

https://www.threads.net/@b4ukraine/post/DEhzL20N-Ef?xmt=AQGzZ5B2w0uxwPZR9dJWv2qf9qEfzQEh3DqJq4O1zRmhcw

mickeyrat

https://www.threads.net/@barbaraj.sobel/post/DFBYG0eS8V6?xmt=AQGzl4PHPFcE7oPSgjXbfbCpvTb0vGGb8BIwg--aGl9hpQ