NATO: Bulgaria Throws Wrench In Works Of NATO Black Sea Plans

Bulgaria's prime minister has said the country will not participate in a proposed joint NATO naval fleet in the Black Sea, slowing the momentum of a project that had thus far received broad support from NATO members and partners.

The move would “turn the Black Sea into a territory of war,” Prime Minister Boyko Borissov said on Thursday, adding that he “wants to see cruising yachts, and tourists, rather than warships.”

“To send warships as a fleet against the Russian ships exceeds the limit of what I can allow,” Borissov told reporters in Sofia on Thursday, as quoted by Bloomberg. “To deploy destroyers, aircraft carriers near Bourgas or Varna during the tourist season is unacceptable.”

The Romanian-led proposal to create a sort of joint NATO Black Sea naval force has the support of Turkey, the United States, NATO headquarters, as well as non-NATO members Georgia and Ukraine.

Bulgaria's refusal could have several causes. For one, presidential elections are coming up and Borissov may be concerned that rival, more pro-Russia parties could use the move against him, said Dimitar Bechev, a Bulgarian political scientist and fellow at Harvard's Center for European Studies. "Most of all, I think he's concerned about domestic repurcussions," Bechev said in an interview with The Bug Pit. He added that Bulgaria could likely eventually join whatever NATO naval force emerges in an "under the radar" fashion

Bulgaria also has reasons to be skeptical of the merits of a NATO Black Sea force, added Michael Kofman, a military analyst at CNA Corporation and a fellow at the Wilson Center’s Kennan Institute. He noted that Bulgaria is still participating in a new multinational NATO brigade to be based in Romania, sending 400 soldiers.

And Russia maintains an overwhelming superiority in the Black Sea, including such a strong sea-denial system of land-based anti-ship weapons that they could easily destroy any enemy forces in the sea. "There's little sense in further militarizing a space in which there is no chance of coming out on top with the correlation of forces. The consequence is a net security minus for member states. A NATO fleet has little viability and is unnecessary to achieve sea denial in the Black Sea. Bulgaria simply has more common sense than some others.," Kofman said in an interview with The Bug Pit.

It remains unclear what form a joint NATO Black Sea force might take, but Bulgaria's refusal to take part is a significant blow, politically if not militarily. The plan is nevertheless on the agenda of the upcoming alliance summit in Warsaw from July 8-9.

Read more: Bulgaria Throws Wrench In Works Of NATO Black Sea Plans | EurasiaNet.org

The Netherlands - Almere: Some bus services temporarily interupted after struck by stones from vandals - by RM

Mr. Franc Weerwind, Mayor of Almere: "we don't tolerate vandalism"

Almere Police have arrested two people who were apparently involved in acts of vandalism on some of Almere/s public transport bus routes.

At a recent press conference the Mayor of Almere, Mr. Weerwind, noted that these groups of vandals, mainly teenagers and young adults, appear to be from North-African (Moroccan) descent, and are known to the police

The Mayor also stated there will  additional security controls on the Almere buses and camera surveillance at bus stops. "We don't tolerate this kind of behavior in Almere and we will make sure to remove all anonymity from these vandals by exposing them", said Mr. Weerwind

He also appealed to the parents, relatives and friends of the vandals to challenge them in changing their unacceptable behavior.

The Almere City Council will debate the issue today, June 16, 2016,  at the request of the VVD political fraction in the Council.


Almere-Digest

NATO:- are Eastern Europeans and Baltic States Serving two Masters? and why is NATO catering to them?

Have they outlived their purpose ?

The NATO's chief on Monday said the alliance will agree this week to send four multinational battalions to the Baltic states and Poland as part of its response to Russian meddling in Ukraine and a series of alleged provocations by Russian military.

Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the troop surge in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland was meant to “send a clear signal that NATO stands ready to defend any ally”.

“We will agree to deploy by rotation four robust multi-national battalions in the Baltic states and Poland," he told a news conference ahead of a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Brussels on Tuesday.

The Baltic states and Poland have expressed concern over perceived threats by Moscow, especially following the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and covert Russian military interventions on the side of Ukrainian separatists.

The announcement also comes after a series of risky military encounters between Russian and US military personnel.

In April, the US Navy vehemently protested what it described as a “simulated attack” by a Russian fighter jet, which flew within nine metres of a US destroyer that was conducting exercises in the Baltic Sea.

The Donald Cook was in international waters off the coast of Poland. Those waters are also close to the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.

Note EU-Digest: why is the US military  leadership of  NATO  playing with fire (and endangering the EU) to please Eastern European members of the EU. 

Whenever these same Eastern European members of the EU are asked to support EU programs related to the refugee crises or other important programs, they are usually un-supportive and take a very nationalistic and self-centered position. 

Hopefully Brussels and other EU member states will remind these Eastern European EU member states that they can not serve two masters. 

As the saying goes, you can't have your cake and eat it too ! 

The EU,  as a whole, needs to be reviewing the actual need for and value of NATO, a cold war creation, which has outlived its time and purpose within the context of the European Union.

Read more: NATO to deploy four battalions in bid to reassure Poland, Baltic allies - France 24

Terrorist Financing: Gulf Donors Remain Important Source of Terrorist Financing says US Treasury

Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman reportedly said Saudi has enthusiastically funded Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign.  Saudi Arabia is a major funder of Hillary Clinton’s campaign to become the next president of the United States, according to a report published by Jordan’s official news agency.

The Petra News Agency published on Sunday what it described as exclusive comments from Saudi Deputy Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman which included a claim that Riyadh has provided 20 percent of the total funding to the prospective Democratic candidate’s campaign.

The report was later deleted and the news agency has not responded to requests for comment.

It is illegal in the United States for foreign countries to try to influence the outcome of elections by funding candidates.

The Washington-based Institute for Gulf Affairs has re-published the original Arabic Petra report, which quoted Prince Mohammed as having said Saudi Arabia had provided with “full enthusiasm” an undisclosed amount of money to Clinton.

“Saudi Arabia always has sponsored both Republican and Democratic Party of America and in America current election also provide with full enthusiasm 20 percent of the cost of Hillary Clinton’s election even though some events in the country don’t have a positive look to support the king of a woman (sic) for presidency,” the report quoted Prince Mohammed as having said.

The US Federal Election commission reports that over the past two years Clinton has raised a little more than $211.78m. Twenty percent of this sum is $42.35m.

The report was published on the eve of Prince Mohammed making an official visit to the United States.

Terrorism: Press and.Governments should stop identifying this band of deranged murderers as IS

Press and Government better start calling a spade a spade

Sad story ( click on link below for full report) reminding us about the cruel practices of these deranged, derelict, murderers, who call themselves IS

The press and.Governments should stop identifying this band of deranged murderers and killers as IS.

There is no country or so called "Caliphate" called IS. It is all dreamworld fiction.

We must start to call a spade a spade, so why not identify these Deranged Psychotic Murderers Trash as DPMT- Deranged Psychotic, Murderous, Trash.

Press and.Governments should stop "glorifying" the exploits of these murderers and Social Media must be far more vigilant in localizing and eliminating Jihadist propaganda from the Internet.

Read more: Flash - Syrian teen's amputated hand a cruel reminder of IS rule - France 24

USA: Deranged Orlando murderer dedicates his crime to Daesh

Read the full report: USA: Deranged Orlando murderer dedicates his crime to Daesh 

Global Economy - The Globalization Fairy Tale

Globalization’s Gluttony By Anatol Zukerman A painting and poem by Anatol Zukerman. A painting and poem by Anatol Zukerman. ©2015 The Globalist ALL RIGHTS RESERVED You can join the conversation about this story on the original post on theglobalist.com. http://www.theglobalist.com/globalization-gluttony-united-states/#noredirect Powered by Como: http://www.como.com

To read the full report click here