JUN 19, 2023 | theworldmail.co.uk
Europe defense ministers are holding talks in Paris on how to better defend the continent’s airspace
PARIS, France (AP) — Defense ministers and other representatives of 20 European countries will hold a conference in Paris on Monday on how to better defend Europe’s airspace, a long-divisive issue that takes on new urgency because of Russia’s war in Ukraine.
The talks will include anti-drone combat and ballistic missile defense, French organizers said, noting that Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has shown the importance and effectiveness of such equipment. Nuclear weapons deterrence will also be on the agenda.
The French Defense Ministry said among the nations taking part in the meeting are Germany, the U.K. and Sweden as well as Ukraine’s neighbors Poland, Slovakia, Hungary and Romania. Representatives of NATO and the European Union were also due to attend.
With the help of Western weapons and growing experience, Ukraine’s air defense systems have made great strides since the war started last year, saving infrastructure and lives and preventing Russia from achieving air superiority.
“There is therefore a need for Europeans to think collectively and strategically about the threats coming from the skies,” a French official said on condition of anonymity in accordance with the government’s customary practices.
The one-day meeting is taking place on the sidelines of the Paris Air Show, the world’s largest event focusing on aviation and space industry that is opening Monday. French President Emmanuel Macron will make the closing speech of the conference in the evening.
France has been openly critical of German-led plans for improved European air defense capabilities. The so-called European Sky Shield project, launched at the end of last year, is made up of 17 European nations including the U.K. — but not France. It’s meant to be integrated within NATO air and missile defense systems.
The French government believes the project doesn’t adequately preserve European sovereignty, because it’s expected to be largely based on U.S. and Israeli industry.
The German-led plan “has limitations,” the French official said, adding that Monday’s conference would propose a “more global approach.” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius will attend the meeting.
“With the European Sky Shield Initiative, we are bringing together European states to jointly increase protection against ballistic missiles, cruise missiles and drones,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said at a news conference on Monday in Berlin with NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
The German-led plan is expected to feature the Israeli Arrow 3 system and build on existing U.S. Patriot missile capabilities.
Scholz made no reference to Paris’ objections to the initiative.
The French Mamba system is already part of NATO’s integrated air and missile defense.
Defense has been a recurrent bone of contention between the two countries, with France complaining that Germany wasn’t doing enough in the area for years — until the war in Ukraine led Berlin to announce a major boost to military spending.
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Newsroom | theworldmail.co.uk Source/Contribution/Photo Credit by Associated Press AP staff contributed to this report from Germany.
JAN 2020 | theworldmail.co.uk
Johnson hails UK’s ‘new beginning’ as Brexit day arrives
LONDON (AP) — Britain begins the day as a member of the European Union. Its status at the end of the day — as a proud nation that has reclaimed its sovereignty, or a diminished presence in Europe and the world — will still be up for debate.
Britain officially departs the EU at 11 p.m. local time Friday, midnight in Brussels (2300 GMT, 6 p.m. EST). The departure comes 3½ years after the country voted by a margin of 52%-48% to walk away from the club that it had joined in 1973.
It’s the first time a country has left the EU, and many in the bloc regard it as a sad day. In Brussels, European Council President Charles Michel and EU Commission leader Ursula von der Leyen are due to sketch out the EU’s first steps as a group of 27, rather than 28.
U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson is to meet in the morning with his Cabinet in the pro-Brexit town of Sunderland, in northeast England. He is scheduled to deliver a televised address to the country an hour before departure, calling Brexit “not an end but a beginning.”
According to his office, he will describe it as “a moment of real national renewal and change.”
The government hopes the moment will be marked in a dignified, nontriumphalist fashion, with red, white and blue lights illuminating government buildings and a countdown clock projected onto the prime minister’s 10 Downing St. residence.
Some Brexit supporters will be holding more raucous celebrations. Arch-Brexiteer Nigel Farage and his band of devotees will gather for patriotic songs and speeches in London’s Parliament Square to mark a moment that even Farage sometimes doubted would ever come.
Others do not feel like indulging in any festivities. Lawyer Alice Cole-Roberts said Friday morning she expects “more and more frustration” as Brexit unfolds.
“It’s a very sad day,” she said. “I’m very upset that we are leaving the European Union and I simply wish it didn’t happen.”
Britain was never a wholehearted EU member, but actually leaving the bloc was long considered a fringe idea. It gradually gained strength within the Conservative Party, which has a wing of fierce “euroskeptics” — opponents of EU membership. Former Prime Minister David Cameron eventually agreed to hold a referendum, saying he wanted to settle the issue once and for all.
It hasn’t worked out that way. Since the 2016 vote, the U.K. has held fractious negotiations with the EU that finally, late last year, secured a deal on divorce terms. But Britain is leaving the bloc arguably as divided as it was on referendum day.
By and large, Britain’s big cities voted to stay in the EU, while small towns voted to leave. England and Wales backed Brexit, while Northern Ireland and Scotland voted to remain.
In Edinburgh, the EU flag will not be lowered outside the Scottish Parliament on Friday night. Lawmakers there voted to keep it as a symbol of their opposition to Brexit. Scotland’s pro-EU government will also light up two government buildings in the blue and yellow of the EU flag on Friday.
First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said Friday her Scottish National Party will continue to pressure Britain’s government to authorize a second referendum on Scottish independence.
“I believe a referendum is practical this year,” she said. “I believe it can be delivered this year and I will continue to do all that I can to bring that about.”
Thus far, Johnson has stoutly ruled out a second independence vote. Scotland voted to remain in the U.K. in a 2014 referendum that the prime minister’s office says was a “once in a lifetime” opportunity.”
Scottish Brexit Secretary Mike Russell urged the EU to “leave a light on for Scotland” so that it could eventually return.
London, which is home to more than 1 million EU citizens, also voted by a wide margin to stay in the bloc. Mayor Sadiq Khan, who has linked the Brexit vote to a rise in xenophobic abuse, said Britain’s capital would remain “a truly global, European city.”
“We continue to be a beacon for progressive ideas, for liberal values and for decency and diversity,” Khan said in a statement. “And we will continue to welcome people from around the world, regardless of the color of their skin, the color of their passport or the colors of their national flag.”
Britain’s departure is a historic moment, but it only marks the end of the first stage of the Brexit saga. When Britons wake up on Saturday, they will notice very little change. The U.K. and the EU have given themselves an 11 month “transition period” — in which the U.K. will continue to follow the bloc’s rules — to strike new agreements on trade, security and a host of other areas.
Negotiations are due to start in March, and the early signs are not encouraging. Britain says it will not agree to follow an EU rule book in return for unfettered trade. The bloc insists there can be no trade deal unless Britain agrees to a “level playing field” and does not undercut EU regulations.
Johnson’s government hopes to negotiate a deal with the EU alongside a free trade agreement with the United States. That’s also likely to be contentious. Opposition politicians are already raising concerns about issues ranging from food-safety standards — especially the U.S. practice of chlorine-washing chicken to kill germs — to drug prices.
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Newsroom | theworldmail.co.uk
Source/Contribution/Photo Credit by Associated Press