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NATO LEADERS HAVE agreed to set up a new rapid reaction force and to maintain a “continuous” presence in an eastern Europe rattled by Russian moves in Ukraine.
The new “spearhead” force, comprising several thousand troops and ready to deploy in a few days, means “we can deal swiftly and firmly with any threat,” Nato head Anders Fogh Rasmussen said.
“This decision sends a clear message — Nato protects all allies, at all times,” he said.
At the same time, Nato’s 28 leaders adopted a Readiness Action Plan to strengthen collective defence, he said on the second day of a Nato summit.
“This is a demonstration of our solidarity and our resolve,” he said, and would help reassure allies spooked by the Ukraine crisis and gains by Islamic radicals in the Middle East.
Building on previous measures of support, Nato leaders agreed also to “maintain a continuous presence in the air, on land and at sea in eastern parts of the alliance on a rotational basis,” Rasmussen said.
Nato has rotated troops and aircraft through newer member states such as Poland and the Baltic states, which were once ruled from Moscow and have called for help in the face of a more assertive Russia.
Nato’s relations with Russia are based on the 1997 Founding Act which fixed eastern Europe’s post-Cold War borders and prohibited both parties from stationing their troops there permanently.
It also said those borders could not be changed by force.
Nato and Rasmussen have repeatedly charged that Russia’s intervention in Ukraine puts it in breach of the Founding Act which the alliance, in contrast, continues to honour.
There has been speculation Nato might revoke the Founding Act but the consequences could be severe and stoke uncertainty in the region.
Nato already has a larger Response Force but it has never been deployed in action and could take weeks to put in the field, analysts say.
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Not to worry, the Queen and Obama’s visit should kick extra tourism into gear any time now.. Lol
These figures and a decline in exports are the start of a further decline in economic activity.
The next Exchequer returns for the jan mar period will see a reduction in spend thus proving austerity is forcing the economy into a depression.
This allied to a budget taking 3.5 billion
out will lead to a bleak 2011/12
Part of the decrease may have to do with a slowdown in emigration also.
Please tell me you mean immigration Noel? ;)
What? People AREN’T going on holidays in the winter?
And partly the impact of circa 15 flights in and 15 flights out of the Galway Airport that are no more
The useless DAA should sell the old terminal building in Cork airport to Ryanair. Let them make a regional hub out of it like they wanted to do when the new one opened and then we’ll see the numbers rise…at the moment its just sitting there empty…lateral thinking is needed.
The decline in movements doesn’t necessarily correspond to passenger decline.
The Cork decline looks bad, but amounts to 6 movements a day. Then you look at what those movements were.
The Manx2 flight to Belfast, which was canned after the crash, accounted for 4 of them, yet the plane only had a capacity of 19 and usually carried 10-15 people.
Also gone are the Air SouthWest flights to Newquay and Plymouth after the airline ceased operating. Their aircraft would have been the same size that Aer Arann use.
And then there seem to be fewer ski charters.
Passenger numbers are only down by 2%, despite the large fall in flight movements.
These figures refer to number of flights – not necessarily the number of passengers. Airlines may be running less flights with higher passenger loads, or bigger aircraft.
have your say