Månad: augusti 2021

Vi har levt med kärnvapen i 75 år. Vanan invaggar oss i trygghet. Falsk trygghet, då det har varit många tillbud då ett kärnvapenkrig varit nära att utlösas av misstag. General Lee Butler, som på 1990-talet var befälhavare för USA:s samlade kärnvapenstyrkor har sagt: ”Att vi överlevt beror inte på skicklighet utan på tur, eller kanske Guds försyn”. Hur länge kan vi förlita oss på detta?

En som ofta ställde den frågan var Maj Britt Theorin. Hon citerade Butler som liksom hon var medlem i Canberra-kommissionen, en expertgrupp som 1996 la fram konkreta förlag till hur man skulle minska risken för kärnvapenkrig. Just då, efter Sovjetunionens fall, var utsikterna för kärnvapennedrustning särskilt stora. Maj-Britt Theorin var född i Annedal, Göteborg och förblev rotad i sin hemstad. Hon arbetade med kärnvapenfrågor som riksdagsledamot och senare som ledare för den svenska nedrustningskommissionen, liksom i Europaparlamentet. Hon spelade en viktig roll när Sverige beslöt att avstå från att anskaffa atomvapen. Läs artikel

Danish Navy describes the situation as “dramatic” when the giant Oscar-II class submarine “Orel” drifted at 1,5 knots towards the island of Sejerø. Ropes were prepared for towing and two other Russian warships came to assist.

“Orel” was sailing together with the navy tug “Altay” and the large anti-submarine missile destroyer “Vice-Admiral Kulakov” in an inter-fleet transit from St. Petersburg towards the Kola Peninsula when it got problems with propulsion and started to drift.

The incident happened on July 30 in the busy waters east of Denmark’s second-largest city Århus. “Orel” and the two other Northern Fleet vessels had a few hours earlier sailed under the Great Belt Bridge en route out of the Baltic Sea towards Skagerak. Läs artikel

More than 10,000 soldiers take part as the Northern Fleet over the next days conducts a command and staff training exercise on land, at sea, and in the air.

Russia and Belarus are gearing up for large-scale military exercises near NATO’s eastern flank, which a Belarusian military official on Thursday said will involve nearly 13,000 troops.

“About 12,800 troops will participate in the drills on the territory of the Republic of Belarus, including 2,500 Russian personnel and up to 50 Kazakh servicemen,” Belarus Deputy Defense Minister Viktor Gulevich said, as quoted by Russia’s Tass official news agency.

Every four years, Russia and Belarus hold the Zapad exercise, which has a history of unnerving U.S. and NATO military officials concerned that Moscow could use the drill as a means for moving larger than announced numbers of forces near allied borders. Läs artikel

2.      We have consistently advocated the strengthening of the genuine multilateral framework of international relations and world economy based on the norms of international law, including the UN Charter, with an emphasis on the unconditional respect for the sovereignty of States and non-interference in their internal affairs. We deem unacceptable the attempts of Western States to replace the universally recognized international legal principles with the so-called ”rules-based world order” elaborated behind the scenes.

4.     Preventing conflicts and addressing their consequences is our first priority. However, effective international assistance in this sphere, including from the UN, is only possible with the consent of the States concerned and in line with the UN Charter. This applies equally to good offices, preventive diplomacy and mediation, which should be conducted impartially and with respect for the sovereignty of States. It is crucial that there should be no universal ”conflict indicators”: each situation calls for a delicate and unbiased approach as well as a thorough search for a tailored solution that would take into account the roots and history of the conflict.

32.    The UNSC sanctions, as one of the strongest instruments of ’targeted action’ to tackle threats to international peace and security, should not be abused. As a measure of last resort in the area of conflict resolution, they cannot be applied without first taking into account the full range of their possible humanitarian, social and economic and human rights consequences. It is unacceptable to use them as a means of unfair competition and pressure on ”undesirable regimes”. The functions of the existing institution of the Ombudsperson should be expanded to protect the interests of all the entities on the Security Council sanctions list. It is unacceptable to supplement Security Council sanctions with unilateral restrictions, especially those of an extraterritorial nature. Läs dokumentet

Etterretningsinformasjon som TV 2 har fått tilgang til, viser at det er registrert rundt ti fartøy i Norges nærområder for tiden.

Av disse er fire undervannsbåter. Tre av disse igjen er reaktordrevne og en er konvensjonell. Den ene ubåten er av Dolgorukiy-klassen som er topp moderne og en av de nyeste  farkostene som russerne har. De moderne marinefartøyene fra Nordflåten er på vei tilbake til basene på Kola etter feiring av Marinens Dag i St. Petersburg 25. juli.

Historisk sett de siste tre – fire årene har man brukt denne anledningen til å øve utenfor den norske kysten. […]

At den russiske nordflåten viser seg fram med stadig større styrker er blitt mer og mer vanlig utenfor norskekysten.

– De driver blant annet strategisk signalering og forsvarssjefen var ute for noen år siden og kommenterte at slik han så situasjonen nå, så var Norge omringet av russiske marinestyrker, sier Odlo. Läs artikel

After two Russian comedians managed to get Sweden’s Foreign Minister Ann Linde to reveal that she is open to supporting secret sanctions against Russia, which means ousting Putin, the Foreign Ministry replied that “foreign policy relations have not been affected”. Now the Russian embassy replies that they do not agree with the Foreign Ministry at all. […]

We would like the Foreign Ministry’s press release writers to notice that their profound conclusion that «the foreign policy relations have thereby not been affected» (i.e. the Swedish-Russian relations) is incorrect.

Such proposals in support of a so-called “opposition” constitute, gracious gentlemen, a clear example of an intervention in the internal affairs of neighboring Russia and can not be considered in any other way than as directly detrimental to our bilateral relations.” Läs artikel

Den finska och svenska armén övar planering av operationer och samverkan på arménivå inom Övre Lapplands område under tiden 16 – 20.8.2021. Målsättningen för övningen är att utveckla samverkan mellan den finska och svenska armén och göra samarbetet med svenskarna ännu smidigare än tidigare.

Under övningen ökar man finländarnas och svenskarnas ömsesidiga kunskaper om varandras styrkor, materiel, utrustning samt taktiska tänkande. Vidare planerar man den framtida samverkan och utvecklandet av samarbetet i fortsättningen. Läs pressmeddelande

USA, China, Japan, and Russia are among the countries planning to conduct joint research on fishing in the Arctic Ocean in an effort to establish international rules. […]

Representatives from nine countries and the European Union are planning to meet in South Korea early next year to discuss fishing quotas based on similar treaties covering other regions, according to Nikkei.

Starting with the quotas, which could take effect as early as 2022, the group intends to gradually expand guidelines to enforce sustainable fishing. […]

The members of the research project, which also include Canada, Denmark, Norway, Iceland and South Korea, will discuss setting up a body to manage resources to enable monitoring for unchecked fishing and settle fishing disputes. The goal is to establish such international rules by 2023-2024. Läs artikel