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U.S. NEWSThursday 4 February 2016
Central Europe guardedly welcomes U.S. military spending boost
VANESSA GERA states — the NATO mem-
Associated Press bers that feel most nervous
WARSAW, Poland (AP) — about Russia — want their
Countries in Central and allies to create permanent
Eastern Europe are wel- bases on their territory. But
coming a U.S. plan to qua- so far, the alliance’s main
druple military spending in response to the new chal-
Europe in reaction to Rus- lenges presented by Mos-
sia’s military resurgence, cow has been to cycle
yet the tone from several forces in and out of the
governments appears area, hold more exercis-
guarded as it remains un- es, preposition additional
clear how much of the weaponry and supplies
spending will translate into and create a new, highly
a real and lasting presence nimble force to come to
of troops and weapons on the aid of allies in trouble.
NATO’s nervous eastern One of the few concrete
flank. details so far on where the
Poland’s Foreign Ministry, money could go came
for instance, said Wednes- from the Netherlands —
day that it welcomes the much further to the west.
U.S. plan but considers it About the same time that
only one element in im- Carter was making the
proving the region’s secu- announcement in Wash-
rity. It said it also hopes the ington, the Netherlands
initiative will be “supple- In this June 17, 2015 file photo an air-cushion vehicle goes toward the beach as NATO troops par- Defense Ministry was an-
mented” at a NATO sum- ticipate in the NATO sea exercises BALTOPS 2015 that are to reassure the Baltic Sea region allies in nouncing an agreement
mit in Warsaw this July “with the face of a resurgent Russia, in Ustka, Poland. in principle for stockpiling
other specific and credible some U.S. equipment at
Associated Press
elements of military pres- Eygelshoven, a hamlet in
ence, fully adequate to was announced in 2014 pean Leadership Network, age and be happy, or the southern province of
the current threats in the after Russia’s annexation of a London-based think tank should we still try to get Limburg where the existing
security environment.” Crimea and incursion into focused on international more defense commit- military depot had been
U.S. Defense Secretary eastern Ukraine. relations and security. “The ments from the U.S. and slated to close.
Ash Carter announced “The U.S. initiative still seems Americans talks about other NATO countries at the Still, Estonian Defense Min-
Tuesday that the Obama to fall short of the expec- weapon pre-positioning Warsaw Summit in July?” ister Hannes Hanso wel-
administration plans to in- tations of Poland and the and a ‘persistent’ rotation- He said the region also wor- comed the U.S. announce-
crease spending in 2017 three Baltic states for a al presence, not ‘bases.’” ries about whether the U.S. ment as a “solid response”
to $3.4 billion from $789 permanent presence of That, Kulesa said, leaves spending pledge, which is to Russia’s recent behavior
million for what the Penta- U.S. combat units on their many leaders struggling only for 2017, can be sus- and said he thinks it “dem-
gon calls its European Re- soil,” said Lukasz Kulesa, re- with this question: “Should tained. onstrates the shift in the
assurance Initiative, which search director at the Euro- we just accept this pack- Poland and the Baltic thinking of the U.S. and
NATO.”
Rebel shelling destroys museum in Yemen “When you look at Rus-
sia’s troop movements, the
exercises, snap exercises,
AHMED AL-HAJ In this picture taken Tuesday, Jan. 2, 2016, a man examines Al-Badr, who visited the and the aims of those ex-
Associated Press the damage at the National Museum in the war-torn city of Taiz, museum earlier Wednes- ercises and the very unpre-
SANAA, Yemen (AP) — Yemen. day, said it housed a col- dictability of Russia’s be-
Shelling by Yemen’s Shiite lection of watches, guns, havior, then it is quite clear
Houthi rebels in the heavily Associated Press swords, gifts from foreign that this behavior needs a
contested western city of visitors and manuscripts be- response,” Hanso said.
Taiz struck a museum hous- longing to Imam Ahmed, Bruno Lete, senior program
ing rare manuscripts and who ruled until the 1960s. officer at the German Mar-
the possessions of a de- Houthi spokesmen de- shall Fund think tank in Brus-
ceased ruler, activists said clined to comment. sels, said he is struck by the
Wednesday. Yemen has been torn apart fact that the U.S. plan was
Activist Reham al-Badr, by conflict since 2014, unveiled just two weeks
who inspected the Na- when the rebels allied with after Russia announced
tional Museum in Taiz, told troops loyal to a former the creation of three new
The Associated Press that president and captured military divisions on Russia’s
Shiite rebels have routinely large swaths of the coun- western borders and five
shelled the district where it try, including the capital, new strategic nuclear mis-
is located, which is defend- Sanaa. sile regiments.
ed by local fighters. Taiz, Yemen’s third-largest “So while Russia is pushing
She said the museum was city, lies along a main route westwards, the U.S. plan
struck Sunday. from the port city of Aden, seems to meet a call from
The interior walls of the held by a loose array of Central European nations
building were torched forces allied with the inter- to push Europe’s first de-
black and the museum nationally recognized gov- fense line eastwards,” Lete
was filled with rubble and ernment, to Sanaa. said. “But it is a tactical
twisted metal. Residents and aid groups necessity.q
