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Turkey, Azerbaijan, and Georgia are in favor of holding joint military exercises
The Defense Ministers of Azerbaijan, Georgia and Turkey have agreed to hold joint military exercises in order to increase the combat readiness of their armed forces. This was said by the Head of the Azerbaijani Defense Ministry, Colonel General Zakir Hasanov.
“We are in favor of conducting trilateral military exercises with the aim of raising the level of combat readiness of our armed forces. We also hope to establish cooperation in the field of military education, to develop cooperation in …
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Poland says NATO should not abide by its agreements with Russia
NATO should not adhere to the agreement between Russia and NATO, believes the Polish Minister of Foreign Affairs, Witold Waszczykowski.
"This document is a political commitment; it is not legally binding,” said the head of the Polish Foreign Ministry in Tallinn at the Lennart Meri Conference. “I do not think that we should implement this treaty."
He reminded that the treaty was signed in 1997, but the situation with Russia has changed since then. The promises were made by the NATO of that …
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Lithuania to increase defense budget
According to an estimate of the Ministry of Finance, Lithuania intends to increase defense spending by 150 million euros next year, up to 725 million euros, Kauno Diena reported.
The current Lithuanian military budget is 575 million euros, approximately 1.48% of the country’s GDP. It is expected that next year's defense spending will rise to 725 million euros, or 1.77% of GDP.
According to Lithuanian Minister of Defense Juozas Olekas, the country plans to spend 2% of GDP on defense in 2018. …
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Estonian Defense Minister favors the deployment of NATO equipment near the borders of the country
The Estonian daily newspaper Postimees reported that the Estonian Minister of Defense, Hannes Hanso, favored the deployment of NATO heavy military equipment near the country’s borders.
“We want NATO heavy military equipment to be deployed closer to Estonia rather than a thousand miles away from it. For our part, in alliance with Latvia and Lithuania, we will do our best to ensure simplified transportation of the units across the state border and provision of weapons to our allies,” Hanso noted. …
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EU Ambassador to Ukraine: Jamala told Europe the truth
The head of the EU delegation in Ukraine, Jan Tombinski, congratulated the head of the Mejlis of the Crimean Tatar people, Refat Chubarov, on Jamala’s victory at Eurovision 2016, with the performance of the song "1944" dedicated to the deportation of the Crimean Tatars by Soviet authorities in 1944. “I didn’t watch the Eurovision contest but I have already congratulated our friends from the Crimean Tatar organizations, Mr. Chubarov, on Jamala’s success,” Tombinski said.
He added that Ukraine’s …