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NATO, Russian jets hold first ever joint exercise
by Staff Writers
Warsaw (AFP) June 7, 2011

Polish Air Force officers listen as unseen Colonel Sylwester Bartoszewski, supervisors of Nato Russia Council Cooperative Airspace Initiative "Vigilant skies 2011" explains the first of two planned exercises of Polish F-16s and Russian Sukhoi jets on June 7, 2011 in Warsaw. NATO and Russian fighter jets held their first ever joint exercise, teaming up in a bid to prevent attacks such as the September 11, 2001 strikes on the United States, a NATO official confirmed. Photo courtesy AFP.

NATO and Russian fighter jets held their first ever joint exercise Tuesday, teaming up in a bid to prevent attacks such as the September 11, 2001 strikes on the United States, a NATO official confirmed.

"Today was an important step for NATO-Russia relations, and therefore in my opinion, also an important step for the world because the threat of terrorism is a common one," Georges D'hollander, general manager of the NATO Consultation, Command and Control Agency told reporters in Warsaw Tuesday after the first of two planned exercises were completed.

"This is a confidence-building initiative which originated by the decision of the NATO-Russia Council," D'hollander added, at once stressing its "important political dimension."

The unprecedented exercise began Tuesday morning with the departure of a Polish CASA 295M aircraft from Krakow simulating a hijacked civilian aircraft. Two Polish F-16s from the Krzesiny air base near Poznan, central Poland, later intercepted the "renegade" aircraft and then handed the mission over to two Russian Sukhoi jets that guided the plane to the northern Polish city of Malbork.

"This was the first time in history when there was co-operation between Russian and NATO fighters in this kind of a scenario," NATO exercise director Czech Colonel Petr Mikulenka told reporters in Warsaw.

The aircraft were taking part in the four-day NATO-Russia "Vigilant Skies 2011," event that began Monday involving flights over Poland and the Black Sea.

On Wednesday, three Turkish F-16s and two Russian Sukhois will intercept a rogue plane over the Black Sea.

"The aerial exercises are to test the NATO-Russia Council Cooperative Airspace Initiative (CAI), aimed at preventing a new 9/11 by "sharing information on movements in NATO airspace and Russian airspace, and by coordinating interceptions of renegade aircraft," according to a NATO statement.

The initiative hopes to "improve air safety for the thousands of passengers using international flights between NATO airspace and Russian airspace each day, and the millions of inhabitants on the ground."

The new airspace security system "provides a shared NATO-Russia radar picture of air traffic and allows early warning of suspicious air activities through commonly agreed procedures."

"In situations when an aircraft starts behaving erratically, the air traffic coordination system offers increased information sharing and communication to ensure rapid, joint responses to terrorist threats," a NATO statement said.

The system has two coordination centres, one in Warsaw and another in Moscow, with local coordination sites in Russian cities of Kaliningrad, Rostov-on-Don and Murmansk as well as Warsaw, Bodo in Norway and Ankara in Turkey.




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Asia, Europe march ever closer
Godollo, Hungary (AFP) June 7, 2011 - From piracy on the high seas to nuclear safety and trade, 46 nations from Asia and Europe wind up talks Tuesday aimed at tightening bonds between 60 percent of the planet's people.

Held in Hungary, which currently holds the rotating European Union presidency, foreign ministers from the Asia Europe ASEM group conclude a two-day meeting bent on finding joint solutions to what they describe as "non-traditional security challenges."

Ranging from counter-terrorism to food security and climate change, ministers from tiny Laos to EU powerhouse Germany exchanged views on regional crises -- Afghanistan and North Korea on the one side, the Arab Spring on the other -- as Asia and the EU move ever closer on trade.

Japan last month took a key step towards striking a free trade deal with the world's biggest market, following in the footsteps of rival South Korea, as India treads with care on the same path.

"The dialogue reflects the importance of the solid engagement between Europe and Asia," said EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.

A first day of talks highlighted the planet's challenge of dire food and water shortages as well as energy issues, following Japan's triple disaster in March.

"We have more demand for food in the world than we currently can supply," said Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd. "We have a responsibility for the planet to show the leadership to fix this problem. Otherwise, we are going to have a crisis."

ASEM groups the EU, the 10-member Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), China, Japan, South Korea, India, Pakistan, Mongolia, Australia, New Zealand and Russia -- four billion people representing over 60 percent of world trade.

"Counter-terrorism, disaster management, nuclear safety and security and also climate change and nuclear non-proliferation, all of these are challenges in the interest of all," said Japan's Foreign Minister Matsumoto Takeaki.





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China seeks to placate neighbours, demands respect
Singapore (AFP) June 5, 2011
China on Sunday sought to ease fears about its military ambitions and demanded respect from the international community as smaller neigbours accused it of behaving like a bully in the South China Sea. Defence Minister Liang Guanglie told an annual security forum in Singapore that "democracy in international relations" and respect for "each other's core interests" were necessary to ensure "la ... read more


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