Auto Added by WPeMatico
Source: Europol
The operation resulted in over 500 cash movement checks and the subsequent detection of illicit cash flows of almost EUR 2.7 million in cash. This amount is likely to increase in the upcoming months as many discoveries are currently being prosecuted. In addition to cash, authorities also seized valuable items such as gold and jewellery, including 18 gold bars with…
Source: NATO
The NATO Through Time podcast dives deep into NATO’s history, reflecting on how the past influences the present – and future – of the longest-lasting alliance in history. This episode features Dr Florence Gaub, futurist and Director of the Research Division at the NATO Defense College, as she looks ahead to the future of NATO – from 2025 to 2099.
How can we accurately predict future events?
How do we persuade political leaders to look beyond the next couple of years?
What lies ahead for NATO, in the coming years and in the distant future?
In this episode, researcher and futurist Dr Florence Gaub walks us through her work as a strategic foresight advisor. As Director of the Research Division at the NATO Defense College in Rome, she leads a team that looks for “weak signals” of future events, helping ensure that NATO policymakers are prepared to respond to even the most unlikely scenarios. To celebrate NATO’s 75th anniversary year, she also led the creation of the NATO 2099 graphic novel, looking ahead at the next 75 years of NATO and imagining what the world might look like on NATO’s 150th anniversary.
The podcast is available on YouTube, and on all major podcast platforms, including:
Source: NATO
NATO’s Secretary General, Mark Rutte, visited Bulgaria today (19 December 2024), where he met with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Ivan Kondov, and the Minister of Defence, Atanas Zapryanov, and with personnel from the NATO Multinational Battle Group at the Novo Selo Range Army Base.
The Secretary General praised Bulgaria, for its defence spending and long-standing contributions to Euro-Atlantic security, including support to Ukraine. “Bulgaria plays a key role in our security, in the Black Sea and beyond; and it spends at least 2% of GDP on defence; what Bulgaria is doing is making Bulgaria stronger, but it is also making the whole of the Alliance stronger and safer; I call all Allies to step up and to spend more and to make sure that we also produce more in terms of defence industrial production,” the NATO Secretary General said. “Bulgaria is also helping Ukraine to defend against the Russian aggression, contributing to help Ukraine to be able, one day, to start talks on a peace deal from a position of strength, and that is what we need to achieve,” he added.
Mr. Rutte also underscored the important work carried out by the NATO Multinational Battle Group. “This multinational battlegroup in Novo Selo is exercising the ability to scale up to brigade size, supporting NATO security on the eastern flank, and sending a clear message that we are there to defend our nations together,” he pointed out.
Source: NATO
Belgian national Eddy Groenen served as Deputy Legal Advisor at NATO for more than 30 years, working behind the scenes to shape the Alliance’s legal affairs. He was consulted on major documents and agreements with partner countries, providing legal advice and overseeing the signing of numerous memoranda. Read on to learn more about some developments that influenced his work, and how important the North Atlantic Treaty and NATO are to him.
In 1980, Eddy graduated in Law from the University of Leuven in Belgium, and in 1982 he obtained a Master’s Degree in International Studies at the Johns Hopkins University in Washington, D.C. Before joining NATO, he worked as a legal advisor in both private and public institutions, including the European Southern Observatory (ESO) in Munich, Germany, where he developed his expertise in international law – a skill he later relied on at NATO. At the Belgian Red Cross, he deepened his knowledge of international humanitarian law, which proved useful when NATO embarked on out-of-area operations – meaning all the missions led outside the territory of the Allies. He also gained experience in the field of insurances and risk management. These diverse early roles provided good preparation for the broad array of legal work he would engage in for the following 30 years at NATO.
“I’ve always had a keen interest in public international law, the law and functioning of international organisations, as well as world politics. So, when there was an opportunity to join NATO in Brussels, I did not doubt,” he says.
Eddy joined the Office of the Legal Advisor (now Office of Legal Affairs) at NATO Headquarters in Brussels in 1991, two years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, at a moment when Germany was reunified and the Soviet Union had collapsed. “At that time some wondered where the enemy was and suggested that NATO could be dissolved. History proved them quite wrong!”
When Eddy joined the legal office, it only consisted of three people: the Legal Advisor, the Deputy Legal Advisor – Eddy – and an assistant. The office provided legal support to the work of the different Divisions, Independent Offices and NATO Agencies. The team also worked on legal issues related to NATO-led operations, partnerships and enlargements, the status and functioning of NATO representations in third countries, as well as matters related to the work of the NATO Committees, human resources and the security of information, premises and personnel.
“Having witnessed the war firsthand, I feel strongly that NATO’s peacekeeping deployments paved the way for the Dayton Peace Agreement in 1995, which ended three-and-a-half years of war in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Former NATO Secretary General Manfred Wörner was committed to NATO intervening and halting the conflict, which eventually happened in 1995.”
Eddy was involved in the signing of many official documents between NATO and third parties, and provided legal advice. Among other things, he was in charge of drafting agreements required in the context of NATO-led operations outside Allied territory. In particular, he worked on the status of forces agreements (SOFAs), which set out the terms under which the armed forces of NATO countries are allowed to operate while stationed on the territory of another state. In addition, he managed transit agreements, necessary to move through third countries in order to reach the area of operations. Eddy also handled the finalisation of financial arrangements between NATO and partners that were willing to contribute to a NATO-led operation.
Despite the many challenges he faced in terms of preparations and negotiations, he always liked the broad scope of legal issues he had to deal with.
Sometimes, given the number of Allies and third parties involved, negotiations could be tense and complex. But as Eddy explains, “it always came down to reminding participants that if there was a political will to come to an agreement, then there was always a solution to legal impediments”. This approach helped foster consensus and keep talks moving forward.
In 1990, the Allies extended “a hand of friendship” – as they called it – to former adversaries from Central and Eastern Europe. “The end of the Cold War and the new situation in Europe brought about new states and new political elites that were eager to join, out of their free will, a collective defence organisation like NATO,” Eddy says. With the Partnership for Peace (PfP) programme – set up in the early 1990s to enhance stability and security throughout Europe – and the open-door policy, the Allies intended to reach out to these countries and work together on issues of common interest at a pace determined by the partner country concerned. “It was also the start of a wave of accession requests eventually leading to 14 countries joining NATO in less than two decades”, Eddy explains. The enlargement processes required extensive consultations between Allies, NATO staff and the candidate country. “The role of the legal office in accession talks was basically two-fold,” he describes. “First, to explain the formal steps that had to be taken before a new member state could accede to the North Atlantic Treaty and, secondly, to explain and help prepare a candidate country’s accession to the other NATO treaties, as well as the acceptance of and compliance with the legal framework of the Organization.”
He adds, “working with the legal staff of various partner countries with different legal background too was not only challenging but also enriching. I still recall how close the historical ties of some Central European countries had been with some of the Western Allies.”
On 14 December 1995, the Dayton Peace Agreement was signed in Paris, France, bringing an end to the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the bloodiest and most violent conflicts in Europe since the Second World War. This agreement is considered as a milestone for the Organization’s post-Cold War transformation as it resulted in its first major crisis response operation. “This was an entirely new situation for NATO also from a legal point of view. It was the first time in its history that NATO had to put proper legal provisions in place to give legal protection to Allied service men and women operating under NATO command but outside NATO territory.” At the same time such a NATO-led operation required transit agreements with neighbouring and other countries in order to enable NATO to reach the theatre of operations. “Worth noting,” he also says, “is that the experience gained and the legal instruments used for IFOR (Implementation Force), later SFOR (Stabilisation Force), continued to be the examples to work from for future NATO-led operations like the Kosovo Force and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan.”
The North Atlantic Treaty, signed on 4 April 1949 in Washington D.C. by 12 founding members, established NATO as a collective defence alliance aimed at ensuring the security and stability of its member countries. The treaty enshrines the principle of collective defence, meaning that an armed attack against one member is considered an attack against all. This principle remains the cornerstone of NATO’s mission to safeguard the peace and security of its member countries. According to Eddy, “the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty can be labelled as monumental because it carried in it, from the very beginning, the elements and mechanisms required for building a solid, credible and truly defensive Alliance.”
For him, “NATO remains indispensable, as at its origin, for the safety and defence of its member states and their populations.” As he points out, “NATO was and still is an alliance you want to belong to. It is now up to the same member states to uphold that alliance and keep it functioning.”
“In today’s world NATO is as much, if not more, necessary than when it was created in 1949. We, our families, friends and neighbours, all our compatriots deserve that their freedom and prosperity is protected and defended when need be. NATO, as an alliance, remains the best tool to guarantee that safety and defence,” he concludes.
This article is part of the 75th anniversary #WeAreNATO series.
These interviews feature former NATO staff members who share their personal stories and first-hand experiences related to the Alliance’s key moments and historic turning points, such as the Cold War and 1989, the first out-of-area missions, partnerships, 9/11 and more.
Source: NATO
On 18 October 2024, Allied Defence Ministers endorsed NATO’s Approach to Counter Information Threats. This will strengthen the Alliance by establishing a well-connected and interoperable approach to identify, prevent and respond effectively to information threats.
The Alliance continues to face growing hybrid threats from state and non-state actors who frequently target our values and undermine our security, not least through manipulation of the information environment.
NATO’s approach focuses on information threats: intentional, harmful, manipulative and coordinated activities, which routinely include information manipulation and interference by foreign actors, and information operations. These activities are used to create confusion, sow division, destabilise societies, influence perceptions and behaviours, and ultimately have a negative impact on NATO, Allies and partners.
Even though information threats are not a new danger to the Alliance, new challenges are on the rise. In light of rapidly emerging technologies, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence (AI), the scale and sophistication of tactics, techniques and procedures have reached unprecedented levels, significantly amplifying their use and impact.
Through this common approach, NATO further strengthens its capability to understand, prevent, contain and mitigate, and recover from information threats, and reinforces its commitment to doing so in full respect of fundamental rights, including freedom of expression.
The public summary of NATO’s Approach to Counter Information Threats is available here.
Source: NATO
On Thursday, 19 December 2024, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte will travel to Bulgaria.
Mr Rutte will meet with the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr Ivan Kondov, and the Minister of Defence, Mr Atanas Zapryanov.
He will also address troops of the NATO Multinational Battle Group Bulgaria at the Novo Selo Range Army Base.
Media Advisory
16:15 (CET) Joint press statements by the Secretary General, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, and the Minister of Defence
Media Coverage
The Secretary General’s press statements with the Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Minister of Defence will be streamed live on the NATO website, and broadcast live on EBU News Exchange.
Transcripts of the Secretary General’s remarks, as well as photographs, will be available on the NATO website. Video can be downloaded from the NATO Multimedia Portal after the event.
For more information:
For general queries: contact the NATO Press Office
Follow us on X: @NATO, @SecGenNATO and @NATOPress
Source: NATO
From 1 to 6 December 2024, NATO Defence Capacity Building (DCB) experts visited Nouakchott to support the implementation of key initiatives of Mauritania’s DCB package, including in support of special operations forces (SOF), maritime security, intelligence, military career transition, military education and addressing challenges related to small arms and light weapons.
During the visit, NATO delivered special operations forces’ equipment – such as ballistic protection, communications and medical equipment – to help enhance Mauritania’s defence and security capabilities. The event was attended by the SOF Commandant and Army Chief of Staff, General El Mokhtar Menny, as well as the Secretary General of the Ministry of Defence, General Saidou Dia.
NATO experts also met with other Mauritanian officials, including the Minister of Defence Ould Sidi Hanana, to discuss how to further strengthen Mauritania’s defence and security apparatus and ensure continued support and collaboration between NATO and Mauritania. Specific working sessions were also conducted to review and plan further work on the key aspects of the DCB package. In addition, a live exercise was conducted with officers of the Mauritanian Navy during the stopover of the Portuguese ship “NRP Viana do Castelo” in Nouakchott. This exercise demonstrated the practical application of NATO’s training and capacity-building efforts.
By providing essential resources and expertise and engaging in high-level dialogue, NATO continues to support Mauritania in building stronger, more resilient defence capabilities, essential for maintaining regional stability and security.
Source: NATO
NATO’s highest Military Authority, the Military Committee, will meet in person on 15 and 16 January 2025 in Brussels. Allied Chiefs of Defence will meet with over 20 of their counterparts from NATO Partner nations. The meeting will be presided by Admiral Rob Bauer, Chair of the Military Committee and supported by General Christopher Cavoli, Supreme Allied Commander Europe (SACEUR), and Admiral Pierre Vandier, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation (SACT).
The Chiefs of Defence will discuss issues of strategic importance to the Alliance, while focusing on cooperation with Partners and unified responses to global challenges.
NATO Secretary General, Mr. Mark Rutte, will join the Military Committee for the opening session to address the Alliance’s key priorities and challenges.
The first session will see Supreme Allied Commander Europe General Cavoli brief the Chiefs of Defence on NATO’s readiness to deter and defend the Euro-Atlantic area and to safeguard the region’s one billion inhabitants. SACEUR will also have broader discussions on NATO’s ongoing missions, and on support to Ukraine, including the NATO Security Assistance and Training for Ukraine (NSATU), which has begun to assume responsibilities to support Ukraine.
During the second session, Supreme Allied Commander Transformation Admiral Vandier, will lead a discussion on Interoperability by Design. Additionally, SACT will update the Military Committee on :
In the third and fourth sessions, together with their counterparts from NATO Partners nations, the Chiefs of Defence will discuss the different manifestations of pervasive instability around the globe.
Exchanges with partners will continue on the second day, when Allied and Partner Chiefs of Defence will discuss military cooperation, standardization and interoperability.
This will be followed by thematic sessions on the Global South and the Indo-Pacific, with briefings on the strategic security situation of both regions, their regional challenges and implications for world-wide security.
The MCCS will wrap up with a Joint Press Conference by the Chair of the NATO Military Committee, Supreme Allied Commander Europe, and Supreme Allied Commander Transformation.
Media Opportunities
Wednesday 15 January 2025
08:30 Livestreamed Opening Remarks by:
Thursday 16 January 2025
17:30 Press Conference with
Media representatives holding a valid 2025 NATO Media pass will have access as usual to the NATO HQ. Media representatives wishing to attend the press conference are invited to contact the NATO IMS Public Affairs and Strategic Communications Office via email (pascad@hq.nato.int) with a completed accreditation form no later than 1200hrs on Monday 6 January 2025.
Media passes will not be mailed to applicants; they must be collected in person upon presentation of an ID card or passport and a valid national press pass (or accreditation letter from a recognized media organisation). Media representatives will be given their accreditation at the Guard House South, NATO Headquarters, Boulevard Leopold III, Brussels, Belgium.
Passes must be worn visibly at all times, and security personnel may ask to see another form of ID at any time. Media representatives are informed that security personnel will examine and may test equipment and personal effects carried onto the site. They are also advised to arrive with sufficient lead-time to clear security checks.
The opening remarks delivered by the Chair of the NATO Military Committee and the NATO Secretary General will be streamed live on the NATO website.
The press conference will also be streamed live on the NATO website and the live feed will be provided to EBU.
Video footage will be available for free download from the NATO Multimedia Portal after the event.
Imagery
Following each event, photos, video and audio files will be made available on the NATO IMS webpage www.nato.int/ims, as well as on the Military Committee in Chiefs of Defence session (MCCS) event page.
Social Media
We will post the latest information and photos from the MCCS on the following X accounts: @NATO_PASCAD and @CMC_NATO.
Please use the hashtags #NATOCHoDs and #NATOMC when posting about the NATO Military Committee.
Media Enquiries:
Ms Eleonora Russell, Public Affairs and Strategic Communications Advisor to the NATO Military Committee and the NATO International Military Staff.
Tel: + 32 471 61 09 55
E-Mail: russell.eleonora@hq.nato.int
Cdr Grzegorz Łyko, Deputy Public Affairs and Strategic Communications Advisor to the NATO Military Committee and the NATO International Military Staff.
Tel: + 32 477 57 07 46
E-Mail: lyko.grzegorz@hq.nato.int
For more background information about the NATO Military Committee
Source: Europol
The 17 action days also resulted in the seizure of 30 tonnes of molluscs and 6 tonnes of glass eels worth up to EUR 10 million on the seafood market. Six of the suspects are considered High Value Targets by authorities. Molluscs linked to risk of hepatitis The criminal gangs mainly fished Japanese clams, which are enjoyed by locals and…
Source: NATO
NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte welcomed Lithuania’s President Gitanas Nausėda to NATO Headquarters on Wednesday (18 December 2024), to discuss NATO’s deterrence and defence and support to Ukraine.
The Secretary General thanked Lithuania for its significant contributions to NATO and shared security, including its leadership in defence spending and its efforts to boost defence production. He noted that Lithuania is “investing over 3% of GDP” in defence, adding that this figure is “set to rise to 3.5% soon”. Mr Rutte also referred to the recent agreement between Lithuania and Rheinmetall to establish a 155mm artillery shell factory in Baisogala, which, he said “highlights your commitment to ramping up defence production”. Lithuania hosts a German-led NATO forward land forces presence, which is expected to scale up to brigade level by 2027 – to include around 4,800 troops. “This will significantly strengthen our deterrence and our defence on the eastern flank of our Alliance,” said Secretary General Rutte.
The Secretary General also thanked Lithuania for its strong support to Ukraine, including €1 billion in military assistance since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion. Lithuania has “pushed for all of us to do more, in particular to invest in Ukraine’s defence industry,” Mr Rutte said. He emphasised NATO’s continued commitment to Ukraine, referencing the pledge to provide €40 billion in security assistance in 2024 and NATO’s Security Assistance and Training Command in Wiesbaden which is already taking over responsibilities to support Ukraine.
Mr Rutte underscored the need to go further in supporting Ukraine to change the course of the war. “I know that I can count on Lithuania’s support,” he concluded.