by Oui
Fri Mar 7th, 2025 at 11:28:31 AM EST
Dutch former Foreign Minister in a cabinet of Rutte !, set policy in the 2014 year of turbulence, Maidan massacre, Donbas hostilities, annexation of Crimea and the tragedy of Malaysian flight MH-17 of July 2014. Today after a stint as VDL's deputy [not on speaking terms], Frans Timmermans returned to Dutch politics to become the successor to Rutte as Prime Minister ... the voters saw it differently and overwhelmingly voted for a Geert Wilders (PVV) majority. Thus, Frans sits in the opposition seats .. quite uncomfortably. Has been shedding all his "Left" socialist feathers as he turns to the right on many issues plaguing Dutch society after 14 troublesome years of the Rutte Conservative cabal, lacking vision and refusal to solve problems in society.
After the Rutte chaos and defense spending multiplied, all that rests is cuts in social benefits, humanitarian aid to developing nations in the Third World, and years of austerity measures ahead. Infrastructure, public transport, housing and vision for 2035 are all sacrificed for the war in Ukraine and the BS war narrative for Europe's security.
To my amazement also on defense spending and America's proxy war against Russia in the Ukraine. His opinion piece in the British quality paper The Guardian today. Not peace, but more war ... shaking Zelensky's bloodied hands.
So contrary to the person playing a key role as Secretary General of NATO during the years Bush-Cheney declared war on the Russian Federation, Jaap de Hoop Scheffer.
Pravda ... Truth may not be told in the DisInfo era of VDL at the helm of the European Union, a messy mix of 'Old' and 'New' European states. For the last two decades successive administrations of Washington have done their best to destroy, or divide the economic bloc of the EU, the most successful alliance to keep Europe safe and secure.
Secretary General of NATO Jaap de Hoop Scheffer meets Bush at Bucharest Summit in 2008
President Bush Meets with NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer
Marriott Bucharest Grand Hotel
Bucharest, Romania
PRESIDENT BUSH: Mr. Secretary, thank you for your time. Thank you for organizing the Bucharest summit. I appreciate your service very much to the cause of real peace, and I want to thank you for your briefing. I'm, like you, optimistic that this is going to be a very successful summit.
We came in with some objectives in mind. One was to get NATO to continue to support Afghanistan's democracy. And I feel good about what I'm hearing from my fellow leaders about their desire to support Afghanistan. And I think if tomorrow we get clarification on troop support, I think the people of Afghanistan -- the way you indicated it may be -- the people of Afghanistan are going to be more than grateful. And the people who these nations are represented in NATO will be supporting a cause that is worthy, a cause for peace.
Secondly, you and I discussed the need for a comprehensive missile defense regime out of NATO, and it looks like to me that the ingredients are coming together where that could be a distinct possibility. And that would be a very important statement because NATO could assure its members and the people within NATO that there would be defenses available to prevent a Middle Eastern nation, for example, from launching a strike which could harm our security.
We've also talked, obviously, about enlargement. And we'll see, on enlargement. There's an issue with one country, in particular, but it -- I'm optimistic that it will get solved. And finally, of course, Ukraine and Georgia is a very difficult issue for some nations here. It's not for me. I think that these nations are qualified nations to apply for Membership Application. And I said so on Ukrainian soil; I also said so in the Oval Office with the President of Georgia. And I haven't changed my mind, because it's -- one of the great things about NATO is it encourages the kind of habits that are necessary for peace to exist.
And today in a press conference, I was asked, Mr. Secretary General, about Russia's reactions. I said I have always told Vladimir Putin, my friend, that it's in his interest that there be democracies on her border, and that he doesn't need to fear NATO; he ought to welcome NATO because NATO is a group of nations dedicated to peace. And so I appreciate your hard work and I'm excited about tomorrow's -- about tonight's meeting, and tomorrow's meetings, as well.
SECRETARY GENERAL DE HOOP SCHEFFER: Mr. President, thank you for having us and your Afghanistan position. I can share your, and echo your opinion I think on NATO's key operational priority, which is Afghanistan. We will do well. We will do well in the political sense because we will publish a vision document, as we call it, which is a clear sign of our commitments not only of NATO, but of the whole international community -- long-term commitment vis-a-vis Afghanistan, which is important for them, for the Afghan people, but is also important for the reason that said we should not forget that we are on one of the front lines in a fight against terrorism in Afghanistan. And that is a major argument and a major reason that we -- reason that we cannot afford not to prevail. And we are prevailing in Afghanistan. So I think that's good news. And President Karzai, whom I spoke this morning, reconfirms that feeling.
I'm optimistic about enlargement, Mr. President. I think that enlarging the NATO family of democratic nations, this value-based organization, is a plus, and I hope that tomorrow will see invitations.
I also hope that we'll see a positive and constructive meeting with President Putin and the NATO-Russia Council, with the right tone and the right ambition for practical cooperation.
Like you, Mr. President, I'm optimism about -- optimistic about missile defense. I think the Alliance will -- will take a clear position on missile defense, recognizing the threat and working on the answers to that recognized threat.
And last but not least, Mr. President, you mentioned another issue which will be discussed, Membership Action Plan for Ukraine and Georgia. I think this can never be a question of "whether." The "whether" is not questionable. If these nations fulfill the criteria, and if they want to enter -- want to enter themselves through NATO's open door, I think that door should be open. So that is a discussion that certainly -- we certainly are going to have.
We have a large agenda, we have a full agenda. It will be not only NATO's biggest summit ever, but it will also be a very interesting political summit with, I think, very good results. Mr. President, once again, thank you for having us.
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you, sir.
NATO Crossed the Red Lines of the Kremlin in 2008 | Opinion Jaap de Hoop Scheffer - Dec. 2017 |
Sealing the fate of the Russian Federation, Georgia and the Ukraine at the breakfast able in Bucharest on April 2nd, 2008.
See my previous diary ... the Declaration of War at the NATO Bucharest Summit of 2008.
Slow Death of NATO
also ...
Europe Failed the Litmus Test In 2009
30 years ago today: Kissinger on Russia & NATO expansion
PBS Newshour, w/ Jack Matlock - Dec. 5, 1994
US vs Europe in 2009 | Jerome a Paris @dKos - 24 Feb 2009 |
A former senior US government official, reacting to some of the sentiments I expressed in a previous essay for the Atlantic Community, said I was too pessimistic in my assessments. Europeans, I was told, always loudly disagree with US proposals but, in the end, whether it be expanding NATO or recognizing an independent Kosovo, will acquiesce to what America insists upon. At the same time, the US can continue to have fundamental disagreements with its European partners over matters such as climate change policy or international law without causing any major damage to the relationship.
The Wider Black Sea Region in the 21st Century:
Strategic, Economic and Energy Perspectives
Enlarge
Source: The Black Sea region: Beyond NATO | Council on Geostrategy |
NATO's Black Sea Frontier Is the Southern Shore of the Caspian Sea | Hudson Institute - 16 Mar 2023 |
Russia's large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has led to a renewed focus [??] on the geopolitical importance of the Black Sea. What the North Atlantic Treaty Organization has overlooked is Russia's use--often in coordination with Iran--of the Caspian Sea to advance its war aims in Ukraine. The Caspian Sea offers Russia a strategic depth to strike targets far afield in a relatively safe manner, is currently the only way for Russia to reinforce its Black Sea Fleet, and serves as a transport conduit allowing Iran to deliver military assistance to Russia for use against Ukraine.
As Admiral Sir Tony Radakin, the United Kingdom's chief of the defence staff, recently said, "The flow of Iranian weapons to Russia's war in Ukraine demonstrates that there is no easy geographical distinction on matters of defense." In the context of regional security, military planners in the United States and NATO should see the most extreme point of the alliance's Black Sea frontier as the southern shoreline of the Caspian Sea.
A Geopolitical Black Hole
Official documents rarely mention the Caspian Sea. The latest US National Security Strategy, the most recent US Central Asia Strategy, and NATO's most recent Strategic Concept make no mention of it. The 2022 Posture Statements for US European Command (EUCOM) and US Central Command (CENTCOM)--the two combatant commands covering the region--have a combined word count of more than 16,000 words, and Caspian does not appear once. In US strategic thinking, the Caspian Sea is a geopolitical black hole.
In reality, the Caspian Sea is at the heart of the Eurasian continent and is a crucial geographical and cultural crossroads linking Europe and Asia. For centuries, the region has proven strategically important to many countries for military and economic reasons. Following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the Caspian Sea region caught the attention of Western policymakers, but they narrowly focused on energy and transport. Seeking quick and dependable alternatives to Russian energy, the European Union scrambled to the region to secure new energy deals. Last year, for example, the EU signed a deal with Azerbaijan to double the amount of gas it transports from the Caspian Sea through the Southern Gas Corridor by 2027.
Projection of Russian Power
However, in the broader discussion about the Caspian Sea, NATO has given little attention to security. For Moscow, the Caspian Sea plays a key role in the projection of Russian power in a way Western capitals fail to understand. This role has direct implications for NATO's Black Sea security for three reasons ...
My earlier analysis .. America's defeat in Afghanistan caused panic in the Pentagon as it loses a foothold in Central Asia [and the Caspian Sea]
Four US Presidents and Lives Lost 2001-2021 | 31 Aug. 2021 |
Envoy Kellogg Delivers Keynote Address ... listen carefully is sets out the national Security analysis for coming weeks/months of the Trump administration.
The foolish proxy war against Russia has emboldened and solidified a new alliance Russia-Iran-China-North Korea. This can be fought by more war or accepted as a rotten result of Biden's 50 years of failed foreign policy - his legacy. Draw the bridges to isolationism.
Becoming a key ally in the puzzle of power in West- and Central-Asia.
