Månad: februari 2020

USA överanvänder sanktionsinstrumentet på ett sätt som saknar motstycke i västvärlden. De utfärdas ofta på ett nyckfullt och rättsosäkert sätt, men att bryta mot dem är inget alternativ eftersom kostnaden kan bli så stor.

För inte så länge sedan var sanktioner något som endast angick företag som handlade med udda varor och länder. Så är inte längre fallet. Idag riskerar alla internationellt verksamma företag – i synnerhet de som handlar i amerikanska dollar – att träffas av svårförutsebar sanktionslagstiftning. Regelefterlevnaden har ett högt pris. USA:s sanktioner mot Iran (vilka inte erkänns av svensk lag) har medfört att den tidigare betydande exportintäkten för svenska företag från Iran har sjunkit med över 90 procent. Dessutom skapar rädsla för sanktionsbrott en överdriven försiktighet i banksektorn med stora betalningsproblem som följd. Läs artikel

Russian authorities used the 100th anniversary for the signing of the Svalbard Treaty from 1920 to vocally attack Norway on how Norway manages the principle of equal treatment of signatory states on the archipelago.

In a letter from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov to his Norwegian counterpart Ine Eriksen Søreide, he consequently refers to the archipelago as ‘Spitsbergen’ or ‘the archipelago’.

And not just that. In a written comment to the Norwegian economy web site E24, the Russian embassy explicitly asks that the area be referred to as ‘Spitsbergen’ in print.

“This is not just a name, it is also politics”, says Jørgen Holten Jørgensen. He currently works as Head of Administration at Berlevåg municipality in Troms and Finnmark, however, he is a former researcher and diplomat. […]

Moscow considers Norway’s introduction and expansion of protected nature areas on the archipelago as a threat to Russian business activity. This applies in particular to mining, but there is also fear that the so far limited Russian tourism in the old mining communities will be threatened by an expansion of the Norwegian protection regulations.

Russia has also objected against restrictions on the use of helicopter. Today, helicopters are only permitted for transporting crew and workers to and from Barentsburg from Svalbard Airport. Läs artikel

”This month, Mali’s president Ibrahim Boubacar Keita said that his government was ready to hold discussions with two of Mali’s most notorious extremist leaders. “Why not try to contact those who we know are pulling the strings,” he said in an interview with Radio France Internationale on the sidelines of the African Union summit in Ethiopia. “The number of dead in the Sahel is becoming exponential. It’s time for certain avenues to be explored.

His comments are likely to raise concerns among the international community, particularly France, the former colonial power, which still has troops stationed in Mali after its 2013 military intervention against the Islamist insurgency that sprang up in the north of the country.“We want to discuss with all the sons of Mali who [have taken] up arms, but France doesn’t want it,” said Ali Nouhoum Diallo, former president of the National Assembly and a leader of the country’s Fulani community.[…]

Minusma, the UN’s 14,000-troop peacekeeping force in Mali, and the 4,500 French troops who remain in the region have so far been unable to quell violence that has spread into neighbouring Niger and Burkina Faso, where the government has lost control of swaths of the country.Last month France said it would send 600 additional troops to the region, but few in Mali expect the meagre extra force to do much to secure the country or region. The effects of climate change, explosive population growth, widespread unemployment and an absent Malian government have created fertile ground for jihadis to stoke grievances. “You have a situation where everyone is on the edge and any little incident can provoke violence from some other part of the conflict,” said Dougoukolo Alpha Oumar Ba-Konaré, a lecturer at the Institut National des Langues et Civilisations Orientales in Paris and founder of the Fulani organisation Kisal. […]

“It’s very complicated. It’s ethnic, it’s tribal . . . it’s so much more than terrorism,” said Lieutenant General Dennis Gyllensporre, the Swedish soldier in charge of Minusma’s peacekeeping mission. “The social contract between the government and citizens is broken, and religious extremists have come into some of these places and provided these services.”Boucar Ali, 46, fled his village last year after one of his children was killed by Dogon people from a neighbouring village. “They burnt our village to the ground,” he said from his new home at a Fulani displaced persons camp outside Bamako, lifting a handful of red-brown dirt. “We knew them, we were together for a long time — our parents and grandparents know each other. We lived together for centuries. I don’t understand it. But there is no government so people do what they want.”He said there must be talks. “I don’t know who is a jihadist, I don’t know who is a hunter — anyone who sees us kills us, so what does it matter?” he said. “The government has failed in all it’s responsibilities — they should do all they can to reconcile the communities so they can go back to their homes.” Citerat ur Financial Times 15 februari

Norge hadde i går samtaler med Frankrike om å bidra militært i Mali. – Frykten er et nytt kalifat, sier Frank Bakke-Jensen. Han understreker at ingen beslutning er fattet. […]

– Men vi må få en aksept hjemme for å eventuelt gjøre de tingene. Vi har vært i dialog med partiene i Norge over tid, og må presentere en skisse for dem, sier Bakke-Jensen.[…]

Tidligere denne måneden ble det kjent at Frankrike sender ytterligere 600 soldater til den afrikanske Sahel-regionen for å bekjempe ekstremister. Etter utsendelsen vil det være totalt 5100 franske soldater i regionen.[…]

Fremskrittspartiet har gjort det klart at de ikke støtter et militært bidrag. Lederen i utenriks- og forsvarskomiteen på Stortinget, Anniken Huitfeldt (Ap), er også på sikkerhetskonferansen i München. Hun forteller Dagbladet at Arbeiderpartet avventer regjeringens skisse før de tar stilling til saken.

Dagbladet er kjent med at de ulike fagmiljøene i regjeringen har divergerende syn på norsk deltagelse i Mali. Forsvarsdepartementet og Utenriksdepartementet er ikke samstemt i vurderingen om Norge bør bidra i Mali. Läs artikel

The chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee on Friday blasted the Trump administration for claiming in a new report that it had authority to order the controversial killing last month of Iranian Gen. Qasem Soleimani in Iraq under Congress’ authorization in 2002 for the use of military force against Iraq.

Rep. Eliot Engel, D-N.Y., the committee’s chairman, argued that the administration’s new report to Congress about the Jan. 3 attack on Soleimani “directly contradicts the President’s false assertion that he attacked Iran to prevent an imminent attack against United States personnel and embassies.”

Chinese State Councilor and Foreign Minister Wang Yi said here Friday that China is willing to continuously strengthen dialogue and cooperation with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) on the basis of equality and mutual respect.

Wang made the remarks during a meeting with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg on the sidelines of the 56th Munich Security Conference.[…]

China and NATO members do not have geopolitical conflicts and competition, and different views on some issues should not be the obstacle for exchanges and cooperation between the two sides, Wang said. Wang voiced hope that NATO will continue to foster a correct view of China and regard China as a friend and partner.

In the past decades, China has achieved rapid development and brought great benefits to the world, said Stoltenberg, adding that NATO does not see China as an adversary, but stands ready to strengthen relations with China.

NATO has always advocated a rule-based international order and is willing to strengthen dialogue with China in this regard, he added. NATO is willing to cooperate with China on such issues as Afghanistan, the Middle East, Iraq, and arms control, he said, expressing his belief that NATO will benefit a lot from its cooperation with China and that the two sides can make joint contributions to maintaining world peace and security. Läs artikel

För första gången kommer ett tiotal svenska officerare och USA:s armé bemanna det amerikanska Patriot-batteriet som deltar i militärövningen Aurora i maj. Den svensk-amerikanska bemanningen i förbandet är ett led i en av de största svenska vapenaffärerna efter kalla kriget.[…]

Den första leveransen av Patriot kommer att ske sommaren 2021, enligt Försvarsmakten. Med det nya system Sverige köpt från USA kommer Sverige för första gången någonsin att ha kapaciteten att hantera hot från ballistiska robotar.

– Vi får möjlighet till ett robotförsvar i och med Patriot. Det gör att vi har möjlighet att förvara oss mot Iskander-roboten. Sedan har Patriot en god förmåga även mot andra mål såsom kryssningsrobotar, attackrobotar och flygplan. […]

Den amerikanska arméns luftvärnsbataljon ”5-7”, som nu är baserad i Tyskland anländer till Sverige redan i vår för att delta i totalförsvarsövningen Aurora 20. Den bli större och mer omfattande än föregångaren Aurora 17 – den då största svenska militärövningen i sitt slag på mer än 20 år. […]

Sverige har köpt är en senare version av Patriot än den som det amerikanska förbandet har. Sveriges system är under produktion i USA.

Samtidigt har USA gett option på att Sverige i ett senare skede kan köpa sammanlagt 300 luftvärnsrobotar till ett maximalt värde av 3,2 miljarder dollar, enligt det godkännandet från USA:s regering i februari 2018.

Det motsvarade 28 miljarder svenska kronor i augusti 2018, då regeringen fattade det formella beslutet att köpa Patriot. Enligt uppgifter från FMV till SVT Nyheter har valutasäkring skett. Läs artikel 

High-level officials from the five nuclear weapon states recognised under the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT) – China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States – met in London this week for the tenth ‘N5 Process’ (also known as the P5 Process) dialogue.

Among the objectives of this wide-ranging dialogue is to better understand each others’ nuclear doctrines and strategic intentions through an exchange of views, and so lessen the likelihood of a miscalculation or misunderstanding that could lead them to stumble into a nuclear conflict. They also discussed how they can contribute to fulfilling their responsibilities around disarmament, non-proliferation and the peaceful uses of nuclear technology within the context of the NPT Review Conference later this year. Läs artikel

– Det er tragisk at man ikke ser parallellene mellom det som skjedde under den kalde krigen og den eskaleringen vi ser mellom Russland og Vesten i dag.

– Man glemmer hvordan våpenkappløpet oppsto, hvordan begge parters påstander om at den andre utgjorde en trussel og påfølgende egen opprustning førte inn i en spiral der alles trygghet ble mindre.

Det sier seniorforsker ved Norsk utenrikspolitisk institutt (Nupi), Julie Wilhelmsen. Hun har doktorgrad i statsvitenskap og arbeider spesielt med russisk utenriks- og sikkerhetspolitikk.

Denne uken la den norske Etterretningstjenesten frem sin sikkerhetsrapport «Fokus 2020». Her blir Russland og Kina pekt ut som de mest truende aktørene mot norske interesser.

– Jeg er kritisk til selve praksisen med åpne trusselvurderinger som Etterretningstjenesten begynte med for ti år siden. Å gå såpass sterkt ut og definere sikkerhetssituasjonen for Norge på denne måten, bidrar på et lite nøkternt vis til å skape fiendebilder. E-tjenesten har enorm autoritet, og det er få som stiller spørsmål ved deres analyser. Dermed får de stor makt til å forme samfunnets virkelighetsforståelse. De konstaterer hvor høy en trussel er, og kan vise til at de sitter på informasjon ingen andre har. Da er det lite rom for kritisk debatt, sier Julie Wilhelmsen til ABC Nyheter. Läs artikel

The Iraqi government has given NATO the green light to stay in the country, the alliance’s chief said Thursday, weeks after Iraq demanded foreign forces leave the country over the U.S. killing of Iran’s top general near the Baghdad airport.

Prodded by U.S. President Donald Trump to do more in the wider Middle East, NATO has been developing plans to expand its training effort in Iraq, where it was helping build up the Iraqi army and provide security advice to government ministries until it was suspended over the drone strike.

“The government of Iraq has confirmed to us their desire for a continuation of the NATO training, advising and capacity building activities for the Iraqi armed forces,” Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg told reporters in Brussels during a meeting of allied defense ministers.

“We will only stay in Iraq as long as we are welcome,” he added.

NATO’s Canada-led training mission was launched in 2018 and involves about 500 troops. The plan now is to move hundreds of trainers working with the international force fighting Islamic State militants in Iraq over to that mission. Unlike the international coalition, NATO’s training effort does not involve combat operations.[…]

Despite Trump’s insistence that NATO step up, there is little appetite among European allies and Canada to deploy additional troops to the potentially volatile region — beyond the Iraq training effort — even though the U.S. is by far the biggest and most influential of the 29 NATO member countries. Läs artikel