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NATO is approaching a watershed moment. It is worth remembering that the most successful military alliance in world history started as a peace project, and its future success depends on its ability to maintain peace. But today, instead of peace, the agenda is the pursuit of war; instead of defense it is offense. All this runs counter to NATO’s founding values. Hungary’s historical experience is that such transformations never lead in a good direction. The task today should be to preserve the alliance as a peace project.

On those occasions when we need to make statements about NATO, we Hungarians are in a special position. Our accession to NATO was the first time in several centuries that Hungary had voluntarily joined a military alliance. The significance of our membership only becomes clear in light of Hungary’s history. Läs artikel

– Total timepris er 360.000 kroner, skriver Forsvarets pressevakt Aleksander Hage i en e-post til Vi Menn.

Dette inkluderer ikke utgifter til personell, infrastruktur, investeringer og oppgraderinger.

– Estimatene kan endre seg basert på nye kostnadsvurderinger eller endringer i valutakurser, spesielt dollar, opplyser Hage.

Hvor mange timer en F-35-pilot må fly i året for å være operativ, er gradert informasjon. Läs artikel

[…] The deployment involved many “firsts” for the brigade, the U.S. military and its Nordic NATO allies, said Brig. Gen. Steve Carpenter, commanding general of the 7th Army Training Command.

“With the addition of Finland and Sweden, the opportunity presented itself to go ahead and offload a brigade combat team here at Narvik. It has never been done before,” he said.

And a U.S. Army brigade had never transited by land across Norway and Sweden to conduct a combined exercise in Finland. “You’re going to have 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, a storied brigade, a storied division, fighting underneath the NATO banner underneath a Finnish land component.” […]

“We keep just using Germany … the easy button,” he said. “Then, let’s say a crisis kicks off and you can’t use it, where else are we going to go? We haven’t really, truly tested a lot of ports.”

That’s why the Army started an aggressive effort a few years ago to find alternatives, he said. That involves determining what a port can handle in volume and size of equipment and evaluating whether the adjacent road and rail networks can handle the load.

“And then if we can’t do as much as we would like to, what do our NATO partners need?” he continued, saying the Army is messaging allies, “Hey, in order to assist to defend Europe as a NATO partner and ally, we need to try to help expand your rail network or expand your road network.”

The United States has been pushing for more infrastructure investment in Europe, he said.

“We have to be more interoperable to where any unit, any country’s set of vehicles can transport all over the different roads, road networks, rail networks,” he said. Läs artikel

[…] As geopolitical competition intensifies, it is crucial that the United States and its European allies deepen their ties in all fields in order to strengthen the resilience of our societies and economies. In the long term, we cannot subsidize or isolate ourselves into success. Instead, we must continue building our progress based on fair competition, openness and well-proven multilateral solutions. […]

Our long-term goal should be a free trade agreement between the European Union and the U.S. Before political conditions make that possible, the focus should be on dismantling nontariff barriers by way of intensified regulatory cooperation. Läs artikel

Multiple European leaders slam Hungary’s Russia-sympathizing PM for talking to Moscow without a mandate.

Fresh off the back of his trip to Ukraine, Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán is expected to meet Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday, according to several media reports.

The meet would take place on the fifth day of Hungary’s turn at the helm of the rotating presidency of the Council of the EU. […]

Following initial reports on Thursday of a possible Orbán-Putin meet in Moscow, the president of the European Council, Charles Michel, wrote on X: “The EU rotating presidency has no mandate to engage with Russia on behalf of the EU. “The European Council is clear: Russia is the aggressor, Ukraine is the victim. No discussions about Ukraine can take place without Ukraine.” Läs artikel

Det har fått Natohögkvarteret i Bryssel att zooma in på anläggningen. Den största anledningen till det är Esranges nya förmåga: att kunna skjuta upp satelliter. […]

På en fråga från DN svarar en av Natos talespersoner att rymdbasen utanför Kiruna är en ”avgörande förmåga” för alliansen, och att en säker och obehindrad tillgång till rymden är kritisk för Natos avskräckning och försvar. Säkerhetspolisen och Must, den militära underrättelse- och säkerhetstjänsten, varnade i vintras för ett ökat underrättelsehot mot rymdverksamheten i Sverige.

– Vi ser försök till cyberattacker och annat i vår verksamhet. Detta ökar för varje år som går, säger Philip Påhlsson. […]

Den ryska militärstrateg som tittar på Esrange ser heller inte bara en svensk rymdbas, utan Natos rymdbas. Läs artikel

[…] ”We saw a need to create a tailored model for Finland to ensure that allied troops show their presence and defence capabilities here whenever needed,” Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen explained to Yle. This shift underscores Finland’s changed perspective since joining Nato, now emphasising a need for allied military presence to enhance security.

Häkkänen is currently engaging with his counterparts from across the alliance to identify which Nato countries could station troops in Finland.

Nato’s Forward Land Forces (FLF) model would be carried out differently in Finland, compared to other eastern Nato states, and focus more on regular training and intensified exercises if situations were to escalate. Läs artikel

[…] Efter att både Sverige och Finland blivit fullvärdiga medlemmar av försvarsalliansen är det vissa som börjat kalla Östersjön för Natos innanhav, på gott och ont.

– Alla tycker inte om uttrycket, men jag tycker att det är helt bra. Innebörden är ändå den att alla andra länder runt Östersjön nu är Natomedlemmar, och det utmanar Rysslands aktivitet och militära funktioner på Östersjön.

Här är det även viktigt att komma ihåg att inte gå för hårt åt Ryssland på Östersjön, utan även lämna lite andningshål och upprätthålla status quo. Det handlar ändå om internationella vatten.

– De har Kaliningrad i söder, och i Sankt Petersburg-området bor det över fem miljoner invånare. Östersjön är mycket viktig för Rysslands import och ekonomi, men också militärstrategiskt. Så på något sätt så vill de säkert försäkra sig om en fortsatt militär närvaro i Östersjöområdet.

Själv tror Nurmi att Ryssland skiftar fokus.

– Jag tror att de kommer att lägga mera vikt vid sina norra områden, uppe i Murmansk och på Kolahalvön. Men det är min personliga åsikt, poängterar han. Läs artikel

Organized by Stephen Wertheim, a senior fellow with the Carnegie Endowment, 60 experts have signed a letter published Wednesday warning against the use of next week’s upcoming NATO summit to push Ukrainian NATO membership.

The letter says including Ukraine in the pact would give Kiev a security guarantee that could lead to World War III and commit the U.S. to fighting Russia in any future Russia–Ukraine conflict. The letter argues that Ukrainian NATO membership “would reduce the security of the United States and NATO Allies, at considerable risk to all.” The letter also calls into doubt whether Ukrainian NATO membership would deter a future conflict.

The letter argues that NATO expansion and the desire of many to incorporate Ukraine into NATO were the primary motivations for Russia’s invasion. The letter claims that the sooner Ukrainian NATO membership is taken off the table, the sooner peace can be established.

The letter deprecates emotive arguments for Ukrainian NATO membership: “The purpose of NATO is not to signal esteem for other countries; it is to defend NATO territory and strengthen the security of NATO members.” Läs artikel

NATO members agreed on Wednesday (3 July) to continue supplying Ukraine with €40 billion worth of military aid for next year, in a bid to give the country long-term reassurances, Euractiv has learnt.

The decision comes one week before NATO leaders are to meet in Washington for their annual summit. Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is expected to attend and plead for more help as his country tries to overcome its ammunition and air defence shortages and withstand Russia’s invasion.

Over the past two years, NATO members have been spending roughly €40 billion a year to support Ukraine militarily, according to the latest data by the military alliance.

After NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg initially proposed a multi-annual €100 billion proposal, the plan was debated, revised, and changed due to reluctance to give multi-year pledges and questions around burden-sharing among NATO allies.

On Wednesday, NATO countries reached an agreement to share the sum of €40 billion per year, based on the gross national income (GNI) of each country, a person familiar with the discussions told Euractiv. Contrary to the original Stoltenberg proposal, the money will not be pledged across several years, but for only one. After that, NATO will annually review this on the basis that this is a non-binding commitment.

The pledge will most likely not contain new cash, three NATO diplomats told Euractiv. Läs artikel