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Strange Bedfellows: Serbia's Outgoing President to Connect UAE With Russia

© AP Photo/ Darko Vojinovic

POLITICS

10:47 28.05.2017Get short URL

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Serbia's outgoing President Nikolic will become the head of the newly-established National Council for Cooperation with Russia and China once his term in office expires on May 31. In his interview with Sputnik, he talked about his new job and revealed that the Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi has asked for his assistance in setting up ties with Russia.

© AP PHOTO/ ANDREJ CUKIC

NATO Expansion Technique Exemplified by Yugoslavia: Create a Problem, Then Impose Your Services

Serbia has recently established the National Council for Cooperation with Russia and China. The country's outgoing President Tomislav Nikolic will become the head of the newly-established body once his term in office expires on May 31.

The major task of the Council will be to maintain strategic and operative ties with Moscow and Beijing — political, economic, infrastructural, energy, trade, and cultural.

It will overview the implementation of the Agreement on Strategic Partnership between Serbia and Russia, and the Agreement on Comprehensive Strategic Partnership between Serbia and China.  And regulate the cooperation between Serbia and China within China's One Belt, One Road strategy in Serbia.

Sputnik Serbia sat down with Serbia's outgoing leader to talk about his new job.

© SPUTNIK/ ALEXEI DRUZHININ

Russian President Vladimir Putin meets with his Serbian Counterpart Tomislav Nikolic

"I spoke with the President of China and sent a letter to the Russian President where I informed that the Serbian government is setting up the National Council which will oversee the implementation of strategic agreements with Russia and China. I also said that we are planning to set up an administrative office which will provide the technical support to the Council," President Tomislav Nikolic told Sputnik.

"China's President Xi Jinping said that he fully endorsed the idea and said that China will also set up a national authority which will cooperate with Serbia's National Council. Russian Ambassador to Serbia Alexander Chepurin told me that President Putin was very satisfied with our decision," the Serbian outgoing leader added.

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Centuries of Scorn and Loathing: Why Warsaw's Hate for Russia Burns so Intensely

© Photo: Noël Lemire

POLITICS

20:49 28.05.2017(updated 21:02 28.05.2017) Get short URL

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Independent Russian journalist Svyatoslav Knyazev explores the reasons why Poland remains such a determined and obnoxious opponent to Moscow, even more than a quarter of a century after the collapse of the Soviet empire.

Last week, Warsaw announced plans to create a new defense doctrine singling out Russia as the single greatest threat to Poland, and to build up its military capabilities accordingly. Days earlier, Defense Minister Antoni Macierewicz indicated that the Polish Navy would like to obtain at least four new submarines to 'protect' the Baltic Sea (from Russia, naturally).

© AP PHOTO/ CZAREK SOKOLOWSKI

Why Polish Defense Chief, Vehement Opponent of Russia, is Unpopular in NATO, Pentagon

Also last week, PGNiG, Poland's state-controlled oil and gas company, vowed to launch a formal protest if the European Commission accepted Gazprom's proposal to settle alleged anti-monopoly legislation violations. The move was part of Warsaw's long-running effort to block Russian and Western European plans to build the Nord Stream 2 gas pipeline through the Baltic Sea. 

Along with these measures, Warsaw has long been an adamant supporter of anti-Russian sanctions, and has embraced the beefing up of NATO's military presence on Russia's borders, including the deployment of alliance troops, equipment and components of the US missile defense shield on Polish territory. In short, the country's leaders seem to have it in for Moscow. 

What are the reasons behind this animosity? In a recent article devoted to the subject, Svyatoslav Knyazev, a Russian journalist, political analyst and popular historian, explained that traditionally, Poland's historical hostility toward Russia has been seen to be motivated by three major historical events. 

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NATO Chief Sends 'Empty' Political Message in Vow to Join Anti-Daesh Coalition

© REUTERS/ Francois Lenoir

POLITICS

05:04 27.05.2017Get short URL

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NATO’s decision to join the US-led coalition against Daesh terrorist group (banned in Russia) without taking part in combat operations sends a political message that is empty and meaningless, analysts told Sputnik.

WASHINGTON (Sputnik) — On Thursday, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said in a briefing that the alliance will join the US-led coalition to defeat Daesh, which will consist of air-to-air refueling and intelligence sharing, but not deploying ground troops.

"It will send a ‘strong political message’ that NATO is still in the business of sending ‘strong political messages,’" retired Canadian diplomat Patrick Armstrong said.

© REUTERS/ MATT DUNHAM/POOL

NATO Summit in Brussels: Trump Shows 'Who the Boss is in the Alliance'

Armstrong also noted that Stoltenberg’s statement was undermined the same day by President Donald Trump’s unprecedented public criticism and "drubbing" of other nations for not fulfilling their military and financial obligations at the same Brussels summit that both men attended.

University of Rhode Island Professor of Peace Studies and Non-Violence Nicolai Petro told Sputnik NATO lacked the military strength and political influence to make any significant contribution to the ongoing struggle to destroy Daesh.

"If NATO had any contribution to make to the resolution of the Syrian conflict, it would have already made it," he said.

Stoltenberg was speaking from weakness, not strength and his comments revealed a very weak and badly divided alliance, Petro observed.

"This is a purely rhetorical statement of support, far short of the commitment that the Trump administration had hoped for, but already a strain on European unity. Stoltenberg's explicit disavowal of combat operations speaks volumes," he said.

© REUTERS/ INTS KALNINS

NATO's Decision to Join Anti-Daesh Coalition 'is Not a Symbolic Move'

In his comments, Stoltenberg claimed NATO membership in the anti-Daesh coalition would send a strong political message of alliance commitment to the fight against terrorism.

Later in his briefing, Stoltenberg said NATO's expanded role would provide a coordinating platform among member states in addition to displaying what he described as a strong political message of unity.