Opinion: A slap in the face for East Europeans and Americans

[unhappycamper]

http://www.dw.de/opinion-a-slap-in-the-face-for-east-europeans-and-americans/a-18509284

According to recent polls, a majority of Germans are against helping NATO allies militarily in an emergency. Not only is that shameful, DW's Michael Knigge writes, it erodes the alliance altogether.

Opinion: A slap in the face for East Europeans and Americans
10.06.2015
Michael Knigge

It's honest. It reflects the mood. And it is a pathetic display. According to a new Pew Research Center poll, most Germans say that if a NATO partner were attacked by Russia they would be against offering military help. The poll's results are not necessarily surprising. The cooling of the trans-Atlantic alliance has been diagnosed and criticized time and again since the fall of the Berlin Wall. For instance, last year a poll by the German Marshall Fund showed that, for the first time, a majority of Germans thought that Germany should seek to be more independent of the United States in questions of foreign policy and security.

Despite a number of soapbox oratories about the need for a reorientation of the trans-Atlantic alliance, with initiatives like "pooling and sharing" and "smart defense," not much has changed over the years. There's also NATO's oft-repeated, self-imposed - and with few exceptions - narily attained goal that each member should devote at least 2 percent of GDP to defense. The fact remains: The alliance has always been worth the cost.

This new poll calls into question the foundation of the trans-Atlantic alliance, namely the clause of mutual self-defense anchored in Article 5 of the NATO Treaty. As stated in the defense pact drafted in 1949, "the parties agree that an armed attack against one or more of them in Europe or North America shall be considered an attack against them all."

The core of the contract is obsolete

Sixty-six years later, and in light of Russia's interference in Ukraine, confronted with at least the conceivability of a possible mutual self-defense situation, the majority of Germans have declared the core of the NATO Treaty practically obsolete. Military aid for a Baltic state in the case of a Russian invasion? Fifty-eight percent of Germans say: No, thank you, that's not really what we meant by collective defense.

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1. FI demands to end to Russian sanctions

(ANSA) - Rome, June 11 - Ex-premier Silvio Berlusconi's Forza Italia (FI) political party on Thursday called for an end to Italy's participation in sanctions against Russia over its role in the violence in Ukraine.

The bid, which also chided the United States for selfishness, came just hours after Berlusconi held a private meeting with Russian President Vladimir Putin, described by many as a personal friend, in Rome.

FI House Leader Renato Brunetta said he hoped for a parliamentary debate on the issue before June 25 when European Union leaders begin their own meetings on whether to extend current sanctions.

Brunetta said that the sanctions are costing Italians about eight million euros daily due to lost business opportunities.
"Italy must be a bridge of peace between the EU, US and Russia," said Brunetta, adding that Berlusconi was now drafting the precise wording of the motion for an end to sanctions. He suggested the US was selfish in pushing hard for sanctions that don't actually hurt Washington as much as it harms Italy and other European countries.

http://www.ansa.it/english/news/politics/2015/06/11/fi-demands-to-end-to-russian-sanctions_aebfbf0f-c54c-485b-a84e-b7ed328143b2.html

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4. Italy gives Vladimir Putin stage to make case against sanctions

Russian President Vladimir Putin used a trip to Italy to press his case against international sanctions and was urged by Pope Francis to make a "sincere effort" for peace in Ukraine. After telling Italian premier Matteo Renzi that Western sanctions imposed over Russia's actions in Ukraine would cost Italian companies a billion euros, Putin spent 50 minutes chatting to the pope at the Vatican on Wednesday. A Vatican statement said the pontiff had urged the Russian leader, and other parties to the Ukraine conflict, to make a "sincere effort" for peace. "The holy father stressed that there has to be an important and sincere effort to achieve peace (in Ukraine)," the statement said.

http://www.dnaindia.com/world/report-italy-gives-vladimir-putin-stage-to-make-case-against-sanctions-2094619

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2. Russia accuses US of inflaming Ukraine conflict

Russia responded on Thursday to claims made in a US State Department report that Russia was "continuing provocative actions in and around Ukraine."

A statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry countered that it was, in fact, the United States that was making the conflict in Ukraine worse "pushing the current Kyiv authorities into continuing the fratricidal internal conflict."

Washington and some Western European countries have accused Russia of supplying pro-Russian rebels in east Ukraine with arms and soldiers, and of increasing its military presence near the Russian border with Ukraine.

In the statement, Russia said it was not conducting any "unusual military activity."

http://www.dw.de/russia-accuses-us-of-inflaming-ukraine-conflict/a-18511260

[bemildred]

3. UPDATE 1-Ukraine finmin suggests 40 pct haircut on dollar bonds - spokesman

(Reuters) - Ukraine's finance minister has suggested a 40 percent writedown on bonds earmarked for restructuring, a finance ministry spokesman said on Thursday, as creditors voiced concern over Kiev's stance in debt talks.

Ukraine needs to restructure its debt to comply with the conditions of an International Monetary Fund-led $40 billion rescue package. But a committee of its creditors refuses to accept the haircut Kiev is pressing for.

Finance Minister Natalia Yaresko and Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk met with the IMF in Washington this week and gave a number of media briefings.

During one of the briefings, Yaresko suggested the 40 percent writedown on the bonds' principal amount, a spokesman for the finance ministry said in emailed comments in response to a Wall Street Journal story.

http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/11/ukraine-bonds-haircut-idUSL5N0YX23T20150611?rpc=401

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5. . nt