Tag Archives: NATO

Norway-Russia relations to deteriorate following U.S. Marines’ base extension: Russian embassy

FILE PHOTO: U.S. Marines, who are to attend a six-month training to learn about winter warfare, arrive in Stjordal, Norway January 16, 2017. NTB Scanpix/Ned Alley/via REUTERS

OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s decision to extend the presence of U.S. Marines on its soil will worsen relations with neighboring Russia and could escalate tensions on NATO’s northern flank, the Russian embassy in Oslo told Reuters on Saturday.

Some 330 Marines will be stationed in Norway until the end of 2018, the government said on Wednesday, doubling the length of what was initially billed as a one-year trial period.

The deployment last January to practice winter warfare and cross-country skiing, and to participate in joint exercises, marked the first foreign troops to be stationed in the NATO member country since the end of World War Two.

“We consider that this step contradicts Norwegian policy of not deploying foreign military bases in the country in times of peace,” the Russian embassy wrote in an statement to Reuters.

It further “makes Norway (a) not fully predictable partner, can also escalate tension and lead to destabilization of the situation in the Northern region,” it added.

Norway has downplayed the significance of the deployment, emphasizing the training element and denying that the arrival of Marines was an act directed against Russia. The U.S. troops are stationed some 1,500 km (900 miles) from the Russian border.

“A high level of regular allied presence creates a stabilizing state of normality in times of peace, which contributes to deterrence and defence,” Norwegian Defence Minister Ine Eriksen Soereide said in a June 21 statement.

The center-right minority government’s decision received broad support from Norwegian opposition parties, but was criticized by the far left.

“The deployment … shows the government being more concerned by being well-liked by the Americans and in NATO than by conducting responsible security policy,” Lars Haltbrekken of Norway’s Socialist Left Party told public broadcaster NRK.

(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis, Gwladys Fouche and Terje Solsvik; Editing by Toby Chopra)

U.S. ‘not winning’ in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary tells Congress

U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis testifies before the Senate Armed Services Committee on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 13, 2017. REUTERS/Aaron P. Bernstein

By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The United States is “not winning” the war against Taliban insurgents in Afghanistan, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis told Congress on Tuesday, promising to brief lawmakers on a new war strategy by mid-July that is widely expected to call for thousands more U.S. troops.

The remarks were a blunt reminder of the gloom underscoring U.S. military assessments of the war between the U.S.-backed Afghan government and the Islamist militant group, classified by U.S. commanders as a “stalemate” despite almost 16 years of fighting.

“We are not winning in Afghanistan right now. And we will correct this as soon as possible,” Mattis said in testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee. Mattis acknowledged that he believed the Taliban were “surging” at the moment, something he said he intended to address.

Some U.S. officials questioned the benefit of sending more troops to Afghanistan because any politically palatable number would not be enough to turn the tide, much less create stability and security. To date, more than 2,300 Americans have been killed and more than 17,000 wounded since the war began in 2001.

The Afghan government was assessed by the U.S. military to control or influence just 59.7 percent of Afghanistan’s 407 districts as of Feb. 20, a nearly 11 percentage-point decrease from the same time in 2016, according to data released by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction.

A truck bomb explosion in Kabul last month killed more than 150 people, making it the deadliest attack in the Afghan capital since the Taliban were ousted in 2001 by a NATO-led coalition after ruling the country for five years.

On Saturday, three U.S. soldiers were killed when an Afghan soldier opened fire on them in eastern Afghanistan.

Reuters reported in late April that the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump was carrying out a review of Afghanistan, and conversations were revolving around sending between 3,000 and 5,000 U.S. and coalition troops there.

Deliberations include giving more authority to forces on the ground and taking more aggressive action against Taliban fighters.

Senator John McCain, the chairman of the Senate committee, pressed Mattis on the deteriorating situation, saying the United States had an urgent need for “a change in strategy, and an increase in resources if we are to turn the situation around.”

“We recognize the need for urgency,” Mattis said.

(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali; Editing by Bernadette Baum and Grant McCool)

Trump and Brexit give momentum to EU defense push

European Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska arrives to a meeting of European Union defence ministers at the EU Council in Brussels, Belgium May 18, 2017. REUTERS/Eric Vidal

By Gabriela Baczynska and Robin Emmott

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – The European Union’s executive is ready to increase support for the bloc’s first ever defense research program, offering more funds to develop new military hardware in its earliest stages after years of government cuts, a top EU official said.

Following a 90-million-euro pilot investment from the EU’s common budget in 2017-2019, the European Commission is proposing 500 million euros ($563 million) for the 2019-2020 period that could rise to 1.5 billion euros a year from 2021, Industry Commissioner Elzbieta Bienkowska told Reuters.

“European citizens see security as the number one thing that Europe should provide to them, so it’s time to propose this,” Bienkowska said in an interview.

With Britain, one of EU’s leading military powers, leaving the bloc, ideas for common EU defense are gathering pace in the wake of Islamic attacks in Western Europe. Europeans are also worried about U.S. commitment to NATO under President Donald Trump.

Under the proposal unveiled on Wednesday, at least three firms and two member states would have to submit a joint project to be eligible for financing from the EU budget.

If agreed by governments and the European Parliament, the EU budget would put up 20 percent of the costs of developing prototypes, Bienkowska said.

“The prototype phase is the riskiest one and it is very important to have incentives from the European budget to prepare common projects,” she added.

A European drone is often cited as an example of how EU funding can help get projects underway. Bienkowska said she also hoped to see cyber projects from smaller firms and innovative startups.

She said she wants negotiations and legislative work between the Commission, member states and the European Parliament to finalize by the end of 2018.

BREXIT FACTOR

The EU’s political capital Brussels hopes it can turn the tables on Brexit – an unprecedented setback in 60 years of European integration – by moving ahead with closer defense and security cooperation, which London had long blocked.

The EU, where most governments are also NATO allies, have also come under increased pressure from Trump, who last month scolded the Europeans for failing to spend enough on their own defense.

Though Bienkowska said work on promoting more security and defense cooperation in the EU has started two years ago, she admitted Europe’s unease about Trump gives it additional momentum: “All developments in the United States will make our cooperation (in Europe) stronger.”

“We will work more closely in the European Union, what we want to achieve is to have a stronger European defense and a stronger NATO.”

Russia’s 2014 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine and its subsequent backing for militias fighting Kiev troops in the industrial east of the former Soviet republic also add to the bloc’s security concerns.

The EU estimates it loses up to a 100 billion euros a year on duplication, leaving it with far fewer capabilities than the United States. Years of defense cuts have worsened the issue as national governments jealously protect their own firms.

Europe has 37 types of armored personal carriers and 12 types of tanker aircraft compared to nine and four respectively in the United States, according to EU analysis.

“Up until now, member states were doing things completely separately, without any cooperation. I want to appeal to the member states to think about common projects, because the money will be there,” Bienkowska said.

For the future, Bienkowska is mulling a common European defense bond for joint purchases from 2021, though she said no decisions had yet been taken.

Italy is a proponent of issuing joint EU debt, as well as exempting various types of spending from budget deficit limits. Germany, on the other hand, which is the bloc’s largest economy and key power, is opposed to both these approaches. ($1 = 0.8887 euros)

(Editing by Pritha Sarkar)

Germany says will avoid escalation of Turkey row during troop pullout

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel and his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu attend a news conference in Ankara, Turkey, June 5, 2017. REUTERS/Umit Bektas

BERLIN (Reuters) – Germany’s foreign minister said on Tuesday he would try to avoid damaging already strained relations with NATO partner Turkey during a withdrawal of German troops, as he didn’t want a mounting dispute to push Ankara into closer ties with Moscow.

Sigmar Gabriel said his officials would do their best not to escalate the situation as German troops left the Incirlik air base in southern Turkey – in reaction to Ankara’s decision to restrict German lawmakers’ access to the soldiers.

“Above all we should organize the withdrawal so that there is no megaphone diplomacy where we trade insults,” Gabriel told Deutschlandfunk radio.

He said he had agreed with Chancellor Angela Merkel and Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen that the German cabinet would deal with the issue on Wednesday. He also said the defense ministry had already been working on a withdrawal plan.

Turkey’s ties with Germany and other European Union states deteriorated sharply in the run-up to Turkey’s April 16 referendum that handed President Tayyip Erdogan stronger presidential powers.

Germany, citing security concerns, banned some Turkish politicians from addressing rallies of expatriate Turks before the referendum. Ankara responded by accusing Berlin of “Nazi-like” tactics, drawing rebukes from Berlin.

Turkey has reignited a row over access to German forces on its territory by imposing new restrictions on German lawmakers visiting Incirlik.

The German deployment at Incirlik is part of a mission providing reconnaissance aircraft to support U.S.-led coalition operations against Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

Gabriel said the defense ministry had concluded it now made more sense logistically to send Germany’s Tornado jets to Jordan.

“We have no interest in pushing Turkey into a corner … we don’t want to push it towards Russia,” Gabriel said. “This is no small thing but it is about more than Incirlik, it’s about our relationship with Turkey,” he said.

Turkey has been seeking to improve relations with Russia. Last month it agreed plans with Moscow and Tehran to reduce the fighting in Syria, and has been working to end economic barriers imposed after Turkey shot down a Russian plane near the Syrian border in 2015.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said after meeting Gabriel in Ankara on Monday that relations with Germany had suffered recently, but that trade and investment between the two countries were still strong.

“We spoke about how we can focus on this more, what steps could be taken to increase contact between the two nations and disperse this negative atmosphere,” he said.

Berlin is also worried about a security crackdown in Turkey after last year’s failed coup. Some 150,000 people have been sacked or suspended from their jobs and 50,000 people jailed pending trial.

“Turkey wants an expansion of the customs union. We say we are ready for that … but you have to move, too,” said Gabriel, who stressed that adhering to the rule of law was necessary.

Germany has also pushed for the release of German-Turkish journalist Deniz Yucel, who was arrested in Turkey in February on a charge of spreading terrorist propaganda.

(Reporting by Madeline Chambers; Editing by Andrew Heavens)

Bracing for Russian military exercise, Lithuania puts up a border fence

Workers drill a hole for a fence near the Sudargas border crossing point with Russia in Ramoniskiai, Lithuania June 5, 2017

By Andrius Sytas

RAMONISKIAI BORDER CROSSING POINT, Lithuania (Reuters) – Lithuania has began constructing a two-meter high wire fence along its border with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad ahead of military exercises Moscow is planning to hold there in September.

While the 45-km-long (30 mile) fence will provide little defense against a full-scale attack, it aims to prevent provocations and incidents, Lithuanian Interior Minister Eimutis Misiunas said on Monday.

“In order to avoid such situations, we decided we need the fence”, Misiunas said at the groundbreaking ceremony.

For Lithuania and other Baltic republics, which won their independence from Moscow in 1991 but remain home to ethnic Russian minorities, any massing of Russian troops near their borders spreads concern, especially since the 2014 annexation of Ukraine’s Crimea peninsula by Moscow.

Although Russia has not disclosed the size of the Zapad (West) exercises that it holds every four years on its western borders, analysts have said that this year’s drill may be the largest in quarter of a century, with a movement of about 100,000 Russian troops expected.

The recent deployment of 1,000 NATO troops to Poland and each of the Baltic states has unnerved Moscow, which had warned in January that it was a bad idea.

The United States will have doubled its troops in the region for the duration of the military exercises, an official told Reuters, speaking on condition of anonymity.

In July, the U.S. Patriot surface-to-air missile (SAM) missile battery will be deployed in Lithuania for two weeks in July, for the first time in the region where Russia has air superiority.

The fence, which is to cost 3.6 million euros, is to define clearly the geographical border between Kaliningrad and Lithuania. Surveillance equipment installed alongside will give an early warning of any violation, the minister said.

(Writing by Andrius Sytas; Editing in Warsaw by Lidia Kelly)

Sewage tanker bomb kills at least 80, wounds hundreds in Afghan capital

Burned vehicles are seen after a blast at the site of the incident in Kabul, Afghanistan May 31, 2017. REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

By Mirwais Harooni and Sayed Hassib

KABUL (Reuters) – A powerful bomb hidden in a sewage tanker exploded in the morning rush hour in the center of Kabul on Wednesday, killing at least 80 people, wounding hundreds and damaging embassy buildings in the Afghan capital’s unofficial “Green Zone”.

The victims of the explosion at a busy intersection appeared mainly to have been Afghan civilians on their way to work or school, as well as office workers whose nearby buildings did not have the protection of the blast walls that fortify the zone.

The bomb, one of the deadliest in Kabul and coming at the start of the holy month of Ramadan, exploded close to the entrance to the German embassy, wounding some staff, German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said. Pictures showed the embassy building with its windows ripped out.

One Afghan security guard was killed and others were likely among the dead, Gabriel said. A spokeswoman for the German foreign ministry said the bomber’s target was unknown.

“Such attacks do not change our resolve in continuing to support the Afghan government in the stabilization of the country,” Gabriel said.

Basir Mujahid, a spokesman for city police, said the explosives were hidden in a sewage truck. He also suggested that the German embassy might not have been the target of the blast, which sent towering clouds of black smoke into the sky near the presidential palace.

“There are several other important compounds and offices near there too,” he told Reuters.

The blast, which shattered windows and blew doors off their hinges in houses hundreds of meters away, was unusually strong.

No group had claimed responsibility by late Wednesday afternoon.

The Taliban, seeking to reimpose Islamic rule after their 2001 ouster by U.S.-led forces, denied responsibility and said they condemned attacks that have no legitimate target and killed civilians.

Islamic State, a smaller militant group in Afghanistan seeking to project its claim to a global Islamic caliphate beyond its Middle East base, has previously claimed responsibility for high-profile attacks in Kabul, including one on a military hospital in March that killed more than 50 people.

The NATO-led Resolute Support (RS) mission in Kabul said Afghan security forces prevented the vehicle carrying the bomb from entering the Green Zone, which houses many foreign embassies as well as its headquarters, also suggesting it may not have reached its intended target.

A public health official said at least 80 people had been killed and more than 350 wounded.

Germany will cease flights deporting rejected asylum seekers to Afghanistan in the next few days, a German official confirmed. Germany began carrying out group deportations of Afghans in December, seeking to show it is tackling an influx of migrants by getting rid of those who do not qualify as refugees.

The French, Turkish and Chinese embassies were among those damaged, the three countries said, adding there were no immediate signs of injuries among their diplomats. The BBC said one of its drivers, an Afghan, was killed driving journalists to work. Four journalists were wounded and treated in hospital.

Switzerland said the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation had several windows broken but the staff were safe.

Video shot at the scene showed burning debris, crumbled walls and buildings, and destroyed cars, many with dead or injured people inside. Blood streamed down the faces of walking wounded.

“FELT LIKE AN EARTHQUAKE”

At the Wazir Akbar Khan hospital a few blocks away, there were scenes of chaos as ambulances brought in wounded. Frantic relatives scanned casualty lists and questioned hospital staff for news.

“It felt like an earthquake,” said 21-year-old Mohammad Hassan, describing the moment the blast struck the bank where he was working. His head wound had been bandaged but blood still soaked his white dress shirt.

Another lightly wounded victim, Nabib Ahmad, 27, said there was widespread destruction and confusion.

“I couldn’t think clearly, there was a mess everywhere,” he said.

Frenzy erupted out outside the hospital as ambulances and police trucks began bringing in the bodies of those killed. Some bodies were burned or destroyed beyond recognition.

India and Pakistan condemned the blast.

“India stands with Afghanistan in fighting all types of terrorism. Forces supporting terrorism need to be defeated,” Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi said in a tweet. India said its embassy staff were safe.

Wednesday’s attack provided another clear demonstration that Ramadan, which began at the weekend, would provide little respite from the violence across Afghanistan.

Amnesty International demanded an immediate and impartial investigation.

“Today’s tragedy shows that the conflict in Afghanistan is not winding down but dangerously widening, in a way that should alarm the international community,” it said in a statement.

The explosion will add pressure to the fragile government of President Ashraf Ghani, which has faced mounting discontent over its inability to control the insurgency and provide security for Afghan citizens.

The Taliban have been stepping up their push to defeat the U.S.-backed government. Since most international troops withdrew at the end of 2014, the Taliban have gained ground and now control or contest about 40 percent of the country, according to U.S. estimates, though Ghani’s government holds all provincial centres.

U.S. President Donald Trump is due to decide soon on a recommendation to send 3,000 to 5,000 more troops to bolster the small NATO training force and U.S. counter-terrorism mission now totaling just over 10,000.

The commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, General John Nicholson, told a congressional hearing this year that he needed several thousand more troops to help Afghan forces break a “stalemate” with the Taliban.

(Additional reporting by Josh Smith in Kabul, Kay Johnson in Islamabad, Sudip Kar-Gupta and Emmanuel Jarry in Paris, Ben Blanchard in Beijing, Madeline Chambers and Michelle Martin in Berlin, Tulay Karadeniz in Ankara and Doug Busvine in New Delhi; Writing by James Mackenzie; Editing by Nick Macfie and Sonya Hepinstall)

Good atmosphere but nothing new in EU talks with Erdogan, sources say

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during a graduation ceremony at an Imam Hatip religious school association in Istanbul, Turkey, May 26, 2017. REUTERS/Murad Sezer

By Gabriela Baczynska

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Talks last week between the heads of European Union institutions and Turkey’s president, Tayyip Erdogan, were held in a “good atmosphere” but produced no new agreements, officials in Brussels said, playing down comments by the Turkish leader.

Tensions between Turkey and the EU run high over rights and security issues, but the bloc depends on the help of NATO ally Ankara on migration and the conflict in Syria.

After meeting European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker last week in Brussels, Erdogan was quoted as saying he had been presented with a new 12-month timetable for renewing ties.

But senior EU officials voiced caution and some scepticism, saying no formal deadlines were set. The EU has a list of mid- and high-level meetings it hopes to hold with Turkey this year, they said, but any improvement in bilateral ties would depend on Erdogan’s resolving at least some of many points of contention.

They include the EU’s worry that Turkey’s anti-terror laws are too broad and used to persecute Erdogan critics, as demonstrated in Ankara’s sweeping security crackdown following a botched coup almost a year ago.

Other concerns relate to the treatment of the Kurds, the media and academics, as well as Erdogan moving to assume even more powers following an April referendum.

The pre-referendum campaign produced new spats with EU members Germany and the Netherlands, whose authorities Erdogan likened to Nazis when they had prevented Turkish politicians from campaigning in their countries.

Despite the often harsh rhetoric, senior EU officials said the atmosphere of the meeting was “good” and “constructive”.

“It was definitely not hostile, but both sides pretty much restated their well-known positions,” one of the sources said.

Turkey complains about slow progress in its stalled EU accession talks, discussions on visa-free travel for Turks to the EU and disbursement of EU funds to Syrian refugees living in Turkey.

The bloc says Erdogan must first address concerns over human rights and rule of law, and should work with the Council of Europe – a European rights watchdog of which Turkey is a member – on that..

The EU says progress in talks over reuniting the ethnically split Cyprus is also key to unlocking other area, including ideas to beef up an existing customs union between Turkey and the EU.

Erdogan has suggested Turkey could hold a referendum on continuing EU accession talks, and possibly another on reinstating the death penalty. Restoring capital punishment would end Turkey’s bid to join the EU.

EU leaders will discuss their ties and especially their cooperation with Turkey on migration when in Brussels on June 22-23. Calls from the European Parliament to formally halt Turkey’s accession talks have so far not reached critical mass.

“We have no choice,” one of the sources said when asked if the EU was looking to working more with Turkey after the top-level talks with Erdogan.

(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska, editing by Larry King)

Good atmosphere but nothing new in EU talks with Erdogan, sources say

Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan delivers a speech during a graduation ceremony at an Imam Hatip religious school association in Istanbul, Turkey, May 26, 2017.

By Gabriela Baczynska

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Talks last week between the heads of European Union institutions and Turkey’s president, Tayyip Erdogan, were held in a “good atmosphere” but produced no new agreements, officials in Brussels said, playing down comments by the Turkish leader.

Tensions between Turkey and the EU run high over rights and security issues, but the bloc depends on the help of NATO ally Ankara on migration and the conflict in Syria.

After meeting European Council President Donald Tusk and European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker last week in Brussels, Erdogan was quoted as saying he had been presented with a new 12-month timetable for renewing ties.

But senior EU officials voiced caution and some scepticism, saying no formal deadlines were set. The EU has a list of mid- and high-level meetings it hopes to hold with Turkey this year, they said, but any improvement in bilateral ties would depend on Erdogan’s resolving at least some of many points of contention.

They include the EU’s worry that Turkey’s anti-terror laws are too broad and used to persecute Erdogan critics, as demonstrated in Ankara’s sweeping security crackdown following a botched coup almost a year ago.

Other concerns relate to the treatment of the Kurds, the media and academics, as well as Erdogan moving to assume even more powers following an April referendum.

The pre-referendum campaign produced new spats with EU members Germany and the Netherlands, whose authorities Erdogan likened to Nazis when they had prevented Turkish politicians from campaigning in their countries.

Despite the often harsh rhetoric, senior EU officials said the atmosphere of the meeting was “good” and “constructive”.

“It was definitely not hostile, but both sides pretty much restated their well-known positions,” one of the sources said.

Turkey complains about slow progress in its stalled EU accession talks, discussions on visa-free travel for Turks to the EU and disbursement of EU funds to Syrian refugees living in Turkey.

The bloc says Erdogan must first address concerns over human rights and rule of law, and should work with the Council of Europe – a European rights watchdog of which Turkey is a member – on that..

The EU says progress in talks over reuniting the ethnically split Cyprus is also key to unlocking other area, including ideas to beef up an existing customs union between Turkey and the EU.

Erdogan has suggested Turkey could hold a referendum on continuing EU accession talks, and possibly another on reinstating the death penalty. Restoring capital punishment would end Turkey’s bid to join the EU.

EU leaders will discuss their ties and especially their cooperation with Turkey on migration when in Brussels on June 22-23. Calls from the European Parliament to formally halt Turkey’s accession talks have so far not reached critical mass.

“We have no choice,” one of the sources said when asked if the EU was looking to working more with Turkey after the top-level talks with Erdogan.

(Reporting by Gabriela Baczynska, editing by Larry King)

EU raises human rights in talks with Turkey’s Erdogan

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan (L) shakes hands with European Council President Donald Tusk (R) in Brussels, Belgium, May 25, 2017. REUTERS/Oliver Hoslet/Pool

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – Senior European Union officials on Thursday pressed President Tayyip Erdogan over Turkey’s human rights record while he pushed Brussels to deliver on promises of visa-free travel to Europe for Turks.

Erdogan’s visit to Brussels, where he was also due to attend a NATO summit, comes at a time of strain in EU-Turkey relations.

The EU has expressed concern over Turkey’s sacking and jailing of tens of thousands of soldiers, police, teachers and civil servants since a failed military coup last July. It has also criticized a revamping of Turkey’s constitution – backed by a referendum – that greatly expands Erdogan’s powers.

Turkey says its crackdown is targeting supporters of a exiled Muslim cleric it blames for the coup attempt. It has also accused the EU of frustrating Ankara’s decades-old bid to join the bloc. Talks are now effectively frozen and Erdogan has suggested Turkey might walk away from the EU.

“We discussed the need to cooperate. I put the question of human rights in the center of our discussions with Erdogan,” European Council chief Donald Tusk wrote in a tweet following the meeting but gave no further details.

Erdogan posed for photos with Tusk and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker but the atmosphere was frosty and they exchanged no words in public, in contrast to the impromptu conversation the EU officials struck up with U.S. President Donald Trump earlier in the day.

Juncker, Tusk and Erdogan met together for 40 minutes, followed by a 30-minute meeting between Juncker and Erdogan, a spokeswoman for the Commission said.

“The EU and Turkey must and will continue to cooperate. Major issues of common interest were discussed in detail in a good and constructive atmosphere,” she said.

MIGRANT DEAL

EU officials said the three men discussed the functioning of a 2016 accord whereby Ankara prevents migrants traveling from its territory to Europe in return for funds to aid refugees stuck in Turkey and visa-free travel to the bloc for Turks.

Ankara has previously threatened to walk away from the deal, citing frustration over what it says is Europe’s failure to deliver on its side of the bargain. The EU says Turkey must first amend its security laws.

But EU officials said the agreement did not appear to be in jeopardy after the talks between Erdogan, Tusk and Juncker, their first for nine months. “It is working so far,” one EU official said. “We didn’t see any sign of it changing.”

Turkish presidential sources said Erdogan, Tusk and Juncker had emphasized the need to implement the deal on migrants in their talks.

Erdogan also met new French President Emmanuel Macron in Brussels and they agreed on boosting annual bilateral trade to 20 billion euros ($22 billion) and improving Ankara’s diplomatic ties with the EU, the Turkish sources said.

Macron raised the issue of a French photographer detained by Turkish police while on an assignment in the mainly Kurdish southeast and who has begun a hunger strike in protest, a French official said.

Erdogan told Macron he would quickly look into the situation. Macron and Erdogan also agreed to strengthen consultations on the situation in Syria, the official said.

(Reporting By Philip Blenkinsop, Alastair Macdonald and Michel Rose; additional reporting by Ece Toksabay and Tuvan Gumrukcu; Writing by David Dolan,; Editing by Robert-Jan Bartunek and Gareth Jones)

Turkey’s Erdogan says Manchester attack shows need for NATO solidarity

FILE PHOTO: Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan makes a speech during the Extraordinary Congress of the ruling AK Party (AKP) in Ankara, Turkey May 21, 2017. Murat Cetinmuhurdar/Presidential Palace/Handout via REUTERS

By Humeyra Pamuk

ISTANBUL (Reuters) – Turkish President Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday the Manchester bombing showed terrorism was a global problem and NATO allies should cooperate more closely and share information swiftly to confront it.

Speaking two days after the attack at a Manchester concert venue which killed 22 people and was claimed by Islamic State, Erdogan said member states of the military alliance must acknowledge they faced the same threats.

Turkey’s relations with NATO ally the United States have been strained by Washington’s decision to arm Kurdish YPG militias who are part of a force preparing to fight for the Islamic State-held city of Raqqa in Syria.

Turkey regards the YPG as an extension of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), deemed a terrorist organization by the United States, Turkey and the European Union. Washington sees the YPG as distinct from the PKK and as a valuable partner in the fight against Islamic State in Syria.

“Terrorism is not the problem of a single country but it is a global issue. Global problems can only be solved through global cooperation,” Erdogan told a news conference in Ankara before heading to Brussels for a NATO summit on Thursday.

“We still see the distinctions of ‘my terrorist, your terrorist’. We have to move away from this.”

“The antidote of terrorism is solidarity,” Erdogan said. “Instant sharing is obligatory in terms of intelligence. In this environment, it is compulsory that NATO is more active and it specifically has to offer more support to allies.”

TENSE EU TALKS

The Turkish president will also have a potentially tense meeting in Brussels on Thursday with European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker and European Council President Donald Tusk.

Turkey has worked for decades toward a goal of joining the European Union and Erdogan is seeking a Turkey-EU summit to address their future plans. But relations have been frayed by sharp public disputes during the campaign for last month’s referendum which granted Erdogan greater powers.

Erdogan likened German and Dutch leaders to Nazis when Turkish politicians were prevented from campaigning in their countries, and his narrow referendum victory was greeted with little enthusiasm by most EU countries.

“We are not trying to break away from the European Union but the bloc should fulfill its responsibilities (to Turkey),” Erdogan told the news conference, saying the bloc should not view his country “like a beggar”.

“What we will be discussing with them is: ‘What do you want? Why are you still waiting? It’s been 54 years’,” he said, referring to the start of the process in 1963 when Ankara partnered up with the bloc’s then economic union.

“The EU seems to be in a mood as if waiting for Turkey to pull out. And we say, if there is such a situation then you make this decision and we will not make it difficult for you.”

Tensions with the EU have spilled over into NATO. Austria’s call last year for an end to Turkey’s EU accession talks led Ankara to withdraw cooperation from some of the alliance’s training projects. Ankara said the move was aimed at Vienna but NATO officials said other countries were affected.

A separate dispute with the EU’s leading country, Germany, has further clouded relations.

Turkey has refused to allow German parliamentarians access to troops based at the Incirlik air base, which is used by a U.S.-led coalition fighting Islamic State in Syria and Iraq.

On Wednesday, German lawmakers also canceled a visit to Turkey where they had planned to talk to opposition lawmakers, governors and rights groups about the referendum, saying Ankara had refused to give them a security detail.

Berlin has said it is looking for an alternative base for its forces to Incirlik, and that Jordan is an option, but Erdogan said Germany had not made its official position clear.

“If they were to do this, it is not a major issue for us,” he said. “If they go, we say ‘Goodbye’.”

(Reporting by Humeyra Pamuk; Writing by Dominic Evans; Editing by David Dolan)