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Flüchtlinge in Europa sollen nach dem Willen der EU-Kommission künftig nach einem Quotensystem gerechter auf die einzelnen Mitgliedsländer verteilt werden – eine Idee, die auf Widerstand vieler EU-Staaten und politischen Parteien stößt. Die Briten etwa wollen Flüchtlingsboote zurück nach Afrika schicken.

Plus de 100 ONG de protection de l'environnement craignent que la Commission européenne n'utilise son programme de meilleure législation pour supprimer les lois de protection de la nature.

Les négociateurs du Parlement européen ont soumis leur « dernière offre » sur le règlement relatif aux aliments nouveaux, précisant ainsi qu'ils ne fléchiraient pas davantage face aux États membres.

Pascal Rogard, le directeur de la SACD, se penche sur la place de la diversité culturelle dans le marché unique numérique avancé par la Commission européenne.

Bilan des guerres dans l'ancienne Yougoslavie : établir les faits
Kosovo : un tribunal spécial pour juger les crimes de guerre de l'UÇK
Crimes de guerre au Kosovo : la communauté internationale est-elle coupable ?
Kosovo : 800 dossiers de crimes de guerre attendent la nouvelle mission européenne
Crimes de guerre : la Serbie exhortée à affronter le passé
Kosovo : les services secrets serbes ont couvert les crimes de guerre

/ Courrier des Balkans, Kosovo Eulex, dialogue Kosovo Serbie, Kosovo, Serbie, Culture et éducation, Défense, police et justice, Histoire, Relations régionales

Bilan des guerres dans l'ancienne Yougoslavie : établir les faits
Kosovo : un tribunal spécial pour juger les crimes de guerre de l'UÇK
Crimes de guerre au Kosovo : la communauté internationale est-elle coupable ?
Kosovo : 800 dossiers de crimes de guerre attendent la nouvelle mission européenne
Crimes de guerre : la Serbie exhortée à affronter le passé
Kosovo : les services secrets serbes ont couvert les crimes de guerre

/ Courrier des Balkans, Kosovo Eulex, dialogue Kosovo Serbie, Kosovo, Serbie, Culture et éducation, Défense, police et justice, Histoire, Relations régionales

Macédoine : Kumanovo, les jours d'après ?
Kosovo-Albanie : qui agite le spectre de l'unification nationale ?
Serbie : la Vallée de Preševo, enjeu central de la « normalisation » régionale
Sud de la Serbie : reprise timide du dialogue pour sortir d'une impasse de dix ans
Affrontements armés à Kumanovo : le monde albanais dit non aux violences
Edi Rama : « l'unification de l'Albanie et du Kosovo, au sein de l'UE ou pas »

/ Relations régionales, Défense, police et justice, Serbie, Macédoine, Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso, Vallée de Preševo, Violences interethniques Macédoine

Macédoine : Kumanovo, les jours d'après ?
Kosovo-Albanie : qui agite le spectre de l'unification nationale ?
Serbie : la Vallée de Preševo, enjeu central de la « normalisation » régionale
Sud de la Serbie : reprise timide du dialogue pour sortir d'une impasse de dix ans
Affrontements armés à Kumanovo : le monde albanais dit non aux violences
Edi Rama : « l'unification de l'Albanie et du Kosovo, au sein de l'UE ou pas »

/ Relations régionales, Défense, police et justice, Serbie, Macédoine, Osservatorio Balcani e Caucaso, Vallée de Preševo, Violences interethniques Macédoine

Ein Militäreinsatz gegen Schleuser von Flüchtlingen im Mittelmeer rückt in unmittelbare Nähe: Bundesaußenminister Frank-Walter Steinmeier rechnet mit dem gewünschten UN-Mandat. Ein 40-seitiges Einsatzkonzept fand am Mittwoch EU-intern Zustimmung.

Die Europäisierung der Innenpolitik macht doch hin und wieder Fortschritte. Das zeigt das neue Grundsatzprogramm der Österreichischen Volkspartei, meint Politik- und Medienberater Herbert Vytiska.

 

Alors qu'une tentative de coup d'Etat au Burundi a échoué, le Haut-Commissaire des Nations Unies aux droits de l'homme, Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein, a exprimé vendredi son inquiétude concernant la situation dans le pays, craignant une instabilité prolongée et de possibles représailles.

Le Secrétaire général de l'ONU, Ban Ki-moon, s'est réjoui vendredi de la signature à Bamako de l'Accord pour la paix et la réconciliation au Mali par le gouvernement malien et une partie des groupes armés, ceux dits de la Plateforme.

Plus de 300 enfants –dont plusieurs de moins de 12 ans- ont été libérés par des groupes armés en République Centrafricaine aujourd'hui à la suite d'un accord conclu sous l'égide du Fonds des Nations Unies pour l'enfance (UNICEF), à travers lequel les dirigeants de ces groupes s'engagent à rendre leur liberté à tous les enfants se trouvant dans leurs rangs.

Americas

• The Air Force has launched a tender for the launch of a next-generation Global Positioning System satellite, releasing a RFP for the launch vehicle production, mission integration and launch operations. The latest Lockheed Martin GPS-III satellite was recently announced as being ready for system testing.

• The Pentagon is set to award $4 billion in contracts for modernization of the RQ-4 Global Hawk over the next five years, with the program funded to 2020. The program recently achieved milestone C, a key requirement for the platform to progress with modernization efforts.

• Raytheon has been awarded another contract for the Tactical Boost Guide program, with DARPA exercising a $19.5 million option, bringing the total value of Raytheon’s contract with the agency to $24,390,645. The TBG program seeks to develop air-launched tactical range hypersonic boost glide systems, with DARPA working in conjunction with the Air Force.

Europe

• Norway has requested 200 AIM-9X Block II missiles. The potential $345 million deal will likely see the missiles equip the Royal Norwegian Air Force’s (RNoAF) fleet of F-16s. The Norwegians helped develop the IRIS-T missile as part of a German-led multinational program, with this missile supposedly meant to replace the AIM-9 missiles in service with many NATO countries.

• The Spanish Air Force has taken over the investigation of the crashed A400M, which came down outside Seville. The government initially tasked civilians from the Defense and Transport Ministries to investigate, however that responsibility has passed to the Spanish Air Force’s CITAAM investigative body.

Middle East

• China is offering to sell Jordan armed UAVs, according to a California Republican. The Obama administration denied Jordanian requests for MQ-1 Predators last October.

Asia

• The State Department has approved a possible sale of 48 UGM-84L Harpoon Block II anti-ship missiles to Japan. The submarine-launched Block II version of the missile is designed to improve the missile’s ability to attack targets in congested littoral environments, where nearby land masses and other ships can provide cover for targets. The Foreign Military Sale would be worth $199 million, with the missiles manufactured by Boeing. The company is meanwhile offering the latest version of the missile – known as the Harpoon Next-Gen – to the US Navy.

• India has cleared three defense procurement deals worth a total value of $3.8 billion, media reported Thursday. These include 145 M777 howitzers through a government-to-government Foreign Military Sale with the US, with Indian firms set to provide maintenance and ammunition.

• The government also cleared the procurement of Russian Ka 226T light utility helicopters, following the restart of the program’s procurement process in March. The helicopters will be manufactured in India.

• Airbus and TATA have teamed to supply the Indian Air Force with new transport aircraft, edging out home side HAL in the process. The partners will supply 56 C-295 transporters, with that particular deal worth $1.89 billion. Forty of the planes will be manufactured in India, with the remainder purchased in ready-to-fly condition.

• The Indian Defence Acquisition Council also cleared the construction of India’s second domestically-manufactured aircraft carrier, to supplement the INS Vikrant currently under construction in Cochin Shipyard. The ship will be called the INS Vishal (Giant). In a further boost for the Indian Navy, the DAC cleared the procurement of six indigenously-developed BrahMos missile systems, with these set to equip Talwar and Delhi class ships.

• L-3 has been selected to supply the Australian Defence Force (ADF) with SATCOM terminals, according to a company press release. The $81.8 million contract, awarded by prime contractor Raytheon as part of Joint Project 2008 Phase 5B1, will enable more ADF units to connect to the Wideband Global SATCOM network, with this latest contract a follow-on to a similar 2013 contract to supply 51 Very Small Aperture Terminals (VSATs). This latest contract will see the firm supply 236 VSATs, with these split between the company’s Hawkeye and Panther systems.

Today’s Video

• The 155mm M777, soon to be in the hands of the Indian Army…

RQ-4A Global Hawk
(click to view full)

Northrop Grumman’s RQ-4 Global Hawk UAV has established a dominant position in the High Altitude/ Long Endurance UAV market. While they are not cheap, they are uniquely capable. During Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF), the system flew only 5% of the US Air Force’s high altitude reconnaissance sorties, but accounted for more than 55% of the time-sensitive targeting imagery generated to support strike missions. The RQ-4 Global Hawk was also a leading contender in the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance (BAMS) UAV competition, and eventually won.

The Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration Program (GHM-D or BAMS-D) aims to use the proven RQ-4 Global Hawk airframe as a test bed for operational concepts and technologies that will eventually find their way into BAMS, and contribute valuable understanding to the new field of maritime surveillance with high-flying UAVs. It’s not just a test program, however, as its remaining drones also deploy to assist the fleet in active operations.

Contracts and Key Events BAMS-D to Pax River
click for video

All contracts are managed by The Naval Air Systems Command in Patuxent River, MD. The US military lists Northrop Grumman Corp. Integrated Systems, Western Region in San Diego, CA as the contractor, which is technically true. While that was the original contract, NGC Integrated Systems was combined with NGC Space Technology to form Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems in January, 2009.

FY 2015

Increasing ops tempo.

May 15/15: The Pentagon is set to award $4 billion in contracts for modernization of the RQ-4 Global Hawk over the next five years, with the program funded to 2020. The program recently achieved milestone C, a key requirement for the platform to progress with modernization efforts.

May 6/15: The RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle has been given milestone C approval from the Defense Acquisition Executive. The Global Hawk demonstrated interoperability and software maturity prior to milestone C, with the program fully funded throughout the Future Years Defense Program.

Feb 4/15: Northrop Grumman starts production on four units to go to South Korea. In late 2014 the Republic of Korea awarded Northrop Grumman a contract for four RQ-4s, including two ground stations and various support equipment. This is the first Pacific sale for the Global Hawk under the Foreign Military Sales process. RQ-4s are already being procured by Australia and Japan.

FY 2013 – 2014

Increasing ops tempo. RQ-4A Global Hawk
click to play video

June 13/14: FY 2014. Northrop Grumman System Corp. in San Diego, CA receives a $61.3 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification for BAMS-D operations and maintenance services: logistics support; field service representatives; and organization, intermediate, and depot-level maintenance. That’s a significant increase, compared to past years, but the Navy has been clear about their intent to raise operational tempo (q.v. Sept 6/13).

All funds are committed immediately, using US Navy FY 2014 O&M budgets. Work will be performed in Patuxent River, MD (70%); outside continental United States (25%); and Rancho Bernardo, CA (5%), and is expected to be complete in June 2015. US NAVAIR in Patuxent River, MD manages the contract (N00019-12-C-0117).

Jan 23/14: The BAMS-D fleet hits 10,000 flying hours supporting missions in the Middle East. It has been helpful during movements of carrier and amphibious groups, and has reached its goal of 15 missions per month (q.v. Sept 6/13). Sources: NGC, “Northrop Grumman-Built Maritime Surveillance Demonstrator Unmanned Aircraft Surpasses 10,000 Combat Flying Hours”.

Sept 6/13: More missions. A maximum $10 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification for additional BAMS-D/ GHMD operations and maintenance services. The goal is to increase BAMS-D operational tempo from the current 9 maritime intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions per month to a sustained level of 15 missions per month. That will require more people to handle maintenance and operations, rather than more UAVs. $3 million is committed immediately.

Work will be performed in Patuxent River, MD (70%), and outside continental United States (30%), and is expected to be complete in May 2014 (N00019-12-C-0117).

Aug 21/13: FY 2013. A $27.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification, exercising an option for this year’s BAMS-D operations and maintenance services. All funds are committed immediately, and expire at the end of the fiscal year on Sept 30/13.

Work will be performed in Patuxent River, MD (70%), and outside the continental United States (30%), and is expected to be complete in May 2014 (N00019-12-C-0117).

Dec 18/12: Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems in Bethpage, NY receives a $7.2 million cost-plus-award-fee contract modification to support new Airborne Recorder certification requirements for BAMS-D. The change was forced by an NSA Information Assurance Security and Requirements Directive.

Work will be performed in Anaheim, CA (75%); Bethpage, NY (20%); and San Diego, CA (5%), and is expected to be complete in December 2013. Funding will be committed as needed (N00019-08-C-0023).

FY 2011 – 2012

Crash. BAMS-D crash
click for video

Aug 29/12: FY 2012. Northrop Grumman in San Diego, CA receives a $40.1 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract for continued operations and maintenance services in support of the Broad Area Maritime Surveillance – Demonstrator Unmanned Aircraft System, also known as the Global Hawk Maritime – Demonstrator.

Work will be performed in Patuxent River, MD (70%) and outside the continental US (30%), and will run until August 2013. All contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/12. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1 (N00019-12-C-0117).

June 11/12: Crash. An RQ-4A BAMS-D Global Hawk crashes into a marshy tributary of Maryland’s Nanticoke River, during a routine training flight from Naval Air Station Patuxent River. There were no injuries to civilians and no property damage, but the crash site has been blocked to recreational boat traffic while the agency investigates.

The crash leaves 4 UAVs in the program: 3 for testing, tactics, and doctrine development in the USA, and 1 deployed abroad with the 5th fleet. CNN | Wired Danger Room | WBOC.

Crash

Aug 23/11: FY 2011. A $35.6 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract modification, exercise an option for another year of operations and maintenance services in support of the U.S. Navy Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration.

Work will be performed in Patuxent River, MD (75%), and outside the United States (25%), and is expected to be complete in September 2012. All contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/11 (N00019-10-C-0018).

FY 2009 – 2010

Deployments. MP-RTIP radar. Global Hawk Cutaway
(click to view full)

July 23/10: FY 2010. Northrop Grumman Aerospace Sector in San Diego, CA receives a $29.7 million cost-plus-fixed-fee contract to provide operations and maintenance services for the U.S. Navy’s Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration.

Work will be performed outside the U.S. (50%); and in Patuxent River, MD (30%); and San Diego, CA (20%), and is expected to be complete in August 2010. All contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/10. This contract was not competitively procured pursuant to FAR 6.302-1.

July 15/10: A $5.5 million contract modification for software development to test maritime surveillance and maritime imaging modes for the MP-RTIP radar. At this time, all funds have been committed by the Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom Air Force Base, MA (F-19628-00-C-0100; P00209).

The Northrop Grumman/Raytheon MP-RTIP is a 1.5 x 4 foot active, electronically scanned array (AESA) radar designed to provide better resolution than current ground-viewing systems. It will equip new Global Hawk Block 40s, but at the moment, it’s experiencing software challenges with “concurrent” mode, where the radar tracks moving targets (GTMI) while maintaining a high-resolution synthetic aperture radar (SAR) mapping scan. See also Aviation Week.

Oct 1/09: Deployment. One of the U.S. Navy’s 2 RQ-4 GHMD/ BAMS-D UAVs returns from service with Task Force 57, which operates in the Persian Gulf, Red Sea, Gulf of Oman and North Arabian Sea. The UAV conducted operational “field tests” that included over 60 flights over land and sea areas, and over 1,000 hours in the air, providing images to Task Force 57 in near real-time. The BAMS-D UAV was operated by navy personnel back in the United States at Patuxent River Naval Air Station, MD.

A team from Commander Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 2, Commander Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing 5, NAVAIR, and Northrop Grumman Corporation conducted the deployment. A forward-deployed contingent of Northrop Grumman personnel, under oversight of Patrol Wings 2 and 5, provided maintenance for the aircraft, while working closely with counterparts on the USAF’s Global Hawk maintenance team.

The Navy’s 2nd BAMS-D UAV has now been sent overseas to continue field testing, while the returning aircraft returning aircraft undergoes depot-level maintenance and conducts other tests closer to home. US Navy NAVAIR, Oct 20/09 | StrategyPage.

Aug 17/09: Inside the Navy reports that the US Navy plans to use the GHMD in support of anti-piracy operations near Somalia, but satellite communication and control issues will need to be resolved first.

July 15/09: FY 2009. A $26.6 million modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00019-05-C-0057) for additional operations and maintenance support for the Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration (GHMD) Program.

Work will be performed in San Diego, CA, and is expected to be complete in August 2010. All contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year, on Sept 30/09.

April 23/09: FY 2009. An $8.7 million modification to a previously awarded cost plus fixed fee contract (N00019-05-C-0057) to provide additional operations and maintenance support for the Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration (GHMD).

Work will be performed in Patuxent River, MD (90%) and San Diego, CA (10%), and is expected to be complete in November 2009. All contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

March 24/09: Deployment. The Navy’s 1st unmanned Broad Area Maritime Surveillance Demonstrator “Global Hawk” Unmanned Aerial Vehicle lands in the 5th Fleet’s Area of Responsibility, completing its 17th successful operational mission. The UAV was flown by Commander, Patrol and Reconnaissance Wing FIVE and other P-3 aviators via a satellite link from a mission control station located at Naval Air Station Patuxent River, MD. Source [PDF].

Feb 4/09: Deployment. Reports indicate that one of the Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration UAVs has deployed to CENTCOM’s theater of operations by the US Navy. Information Dissemination believes that its future will include pirate tracking off of Africa’s eastern coast. GHMD is a limited program that is both a predecessor to BAMS, and a way to experiment and learn how an advanced maritime patrol UAV can be used in real world operations (CONOPS).

Dec 23/08: Recognition. Northrop Grumman announces that US Navy’s Air Test and Evaluation Squadron (VX-20) gave the RQ-4 Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration (GHMD) team its Q2 2008 Test Team of the Quarter award. To date, the 2 GHMD demonstrator aircraft have flown more than 1,350 hours.

The team’s accomplishments included performing more than 1,000 hours of flight operations over an 18-month period, troubleshooting issues with the communications system, integrating the automatic identification system into the aircraft so it can be used in civilian air space, conducting tests with the ocean surveillance initiative, and developing tactics and guidelines for unmanned patrol systems. From January to June 2008, the team also supported various operational activities, including the Southeastern Anti-Submarine Warfare Initiative 08-2, the USS Iwo Jima Group Sail, and the Commander Carrier Strike Group 8. The team’s successes during this period culminated with the Trident Warrior exercise in June 2008, when the team flew more than 113 hours over a 5-week period, including an unplanned 23-hour humanitarian mission in which a GHMD was re-tasked to assist in the Northern California wildfires. July saw the UAVs participate in the Rim of the Pacific 2008 fleet exercise, which saw the team finish 4 missions totaling more than 92 hours.

Nov 10/08: Training. The USAF discusses some of the logistics involved. A cadre of USAF RQ-4 pilots from the 1st Reconnaissance Squadron at Beale AFB, CA are teaching a class of 3 active-duty P-3 Orion pilots and one civilian contractor how to fly the Global Hawk. Navy officials are looking to the Air Force to assist in expediting their pending RQ-4 Global Hawk deployment, one reason the normally 5-month course is being condensed to 4.

FY 2003 – 2008

GHM-D EMD . BAMS victory. P-8A MMA Concept
(click to view full)

Sept 18/08: FY 2008. A $12.6 million modification to a previously awarded cost-plus fixed fee contract (N00019-05-C-0057) for operations and maintenance support for the Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration (GHMD), including operation and sustainment, logistics support and sustaining engineering throughout the demonstration.

Work will be performed in Patuxent River, MD (90%) and San Diego, CA (10%), and is expected to be complete in September 2009. All contract funds will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

April 22/08: BAMS. Northrop Grumman Corp. Integrated Systems in Bethpage, NY wins a cost-plus-award-fee contract with an estimated value of $1.16 billion for the BAMS System Development and Demonstration (SDD) phase, which will create the MQ-4N Triton UAV companion to the P-8A Poseidon. The award later prevails over protests from the losing coalition of Lockheed Martin and General Atomics.

See DID’s BAMS FOCUS article for more.

RQ-4 wins BAMS

Dec 19/07: FY 2008. A $12.1 million modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00019-05-C-0057) for operations and maintenance support for the Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration (GHMD), including operation and sustainment, logistics support and sustaining engineering throughout the demonstration.

Work will be performed in Patuxent River, MD (90%) and San Diego, CA (10%), and is expected to be complete in December 2008. Contract funds in the amount of $4.6 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

April 30/07: FY 2007. A $7.7 million modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00019-05-C-0057) for operations and maintenance support for the Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration (GHMD), including operation and sustainment, logistics support and sustaining engineering throughout the demonstration.

Work will be performed in Patuxent River, MD (90%) and San Diego, CA (10%), and is expected to be complete in December 2007. Contract funds in the amount of $4.1 million will expire at the end of the current fiscal year.

Nov 30/05: FY 2006. $10.5 million ceiling-priced modification to a previously awarded cost-plus-fixed-fee contract (N00019-05-C-0057). It exercises an option for operations and maintenance support of the Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration (GHMD), including operation and sustainment, logistics support and sustaining engineering throughout the demonstration. Work will be performed in San Diego, CA (79%) and Patuxent River, MD (21%), and is expected to be complete in November 2006.

Sept 20/05: Support. $27.1 million not-to-exceed delivery order against a previously issued basic ordering agreement (N00019-05-G-0009) for the procurement of initial spares in support of the Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration Program. Work on this contract will be performed in San Diego, CA (46%); El Segundo, CA (28%); Salt Lake City, UT (19%); Indianapolis, IN (4%); and Falls Church, VA (3%); and is expected to be complete in September 2007.

Oct 6/05: 1st flight. The first RQ-4A Global Hawk UAV slated for the Navy’s GHMD program made its first flight from Palmdale, CA, to Edward’s Air Force Base, CA. US Navy.

May 2/03: R&D. Raytheon Co. in Falls Church, VA receives a $5 million not-to-exceed order against a previously awarded basic ordering agreement N00019-02-G-0350 for requirements development and initial design of the Block 3 Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration (GHMD) data control processor, data link controls and payload processing. The contract also includes preparation of an engineering plan to integrate this system into existing ships. The TCS will provide a single unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) mission planning, command and control, data processing and dissemination system for operation of a whole range of UAV types. Work will be performed in Falls Church, VA (80%), and Rancho Bernardo, CA (20%), and is expected to be complete in December 2003.

Feb 5/03: EMD. $185.2 million cost-plus-award-fee using an undefinitized-contract-action contract modification. Provides for engineering and manufacturing development activities in support of the Global Hawk Maritime Demonstration.

Further funds will be obligated as individual delivery orders are issued, and work will be complete by September 2006 (F33657-01-C-4600, P00020).

GHM-D EMD contract

Additional Readings

• Northrop Grumman – Global Hawk Logistics Services.

• DII FOCUS – Kicking it Up a Notch: Poseidon’s Unmanned BAMS Companion.

• DII FOCUS – P-8 Poseidon MMA: Long-Range Maritime Patrol, and More. A Boeing 737 derivative.

• DID – UAV Data Management.

• DID (Aug 24/05) – Follow-Up: Rear Adm. Michael L. Holmes on The USA’s P-3C Force. Indicated that a significant portion of the P-3 Orion and EP-3 Aries’ roles would fall to the BAMS UAV.

• DID (June 13/05) – $230.5M in Contracts to Keep P-3 Fleet Flying. Stopgap replacements could be required sooner, rather than later.

President Barack Obama promised Thursday to stand by Gulf allies against any “external attack,” capping the end of a one-day summit at Camp David that ended without a formal defense pact.

“The United States is prepared to work jointly with [Gulf Cooperation Council] member states to deter and confront an external threat to any GCC state’s territorial integrity,” he said at a press conference.

The word “external,” repeated six times in the joint statement released by the White House, is widely understood to allude to Iran, which has expanded its influence in Yemen, Lebanon, and Iraq to the alarm of the six GCC countries: Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, Qatar, and Oman.

But the word is also significant in that it unburdens the White House from committing itself to lending military assistance to Gulf allies in the event of an internal uprising in the authoritarian countries — an issue the White Houses agonized over during the Arab Spring protests of 2010 that upended governments in Egypt, Tunisia, and beyond.

The issue, a sensitive one given that the Gulf states are monarchies with widely varying degrees of freedom and inclusiveness, resurfaced controversially last month, when the president gave an interview to the New York Times  highlighting the risk of internal uprisings by disenfranchised citizens.

“I think the biggest threats that they face may not be coming from Iran invading,” Obama told columnist Thomas Friedman. “It’s going to be from dissatisfaction inside their own countries. … That’s a tough conversation to have, but it’s one that we have to have.”

That remark reverberated across the Arab world and angered a number of Gulf allies who consider such public criticisms meddling in the internal affairs of their countries.

When asked about the comment during an Atlantic Council event last week, the ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the U.S. suggested the remark was not suitable for public consumption.  “It’s a conversation we welcome in private,” said Yousef Al Otaiba.

He emphasized that the UAE had assisted the U.S. in six military conflicts, including in the current war against Islamic State extremists in Iraq and Syria.

“A country that doesn’t share your values fought with you six times,” he said. “We still don’t share your democratic values, but we are great partners.”

In the joint statement released at the end of the summit, the nations also committed to working more closely on missile defense, military exercises and training, counterterrorism and maritime security.

The White House would not commit to the formal defense pact that some Gulf nations, particularly Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, had wanted.

The U.S. hopes to win the GCC’s diplomatic backing for an Iran nuclear deal currently being negotiated with Tehran and five other world powers. Just prior to the summit, the monarch of Saudi Arabia, King Salman, announced his plans to skip the high-level meeting, a move widely perceived as a snub to Obama.

Getty Images

 

BUJUMBURA, Burundi — Thousands of people stormed the streets, blowing whistles and screaming into megaphones, as the news spread across Burundi’s capital city of Bujumbura. Just hours after President Pierre Nkurunziza left the country to attend a meeting of East African leaders in Tanzania on May 13, Maj. Gen. Godefroid Niyombare announced that the president’s time in office had come to an abrupt end.

“President Nkurunziza is dismissed,” General Niyombare said around lunchtime on Wednesday, surrounded by several senior police and army officials, including a former defense minister. “His government is dismissed too.”

For many, the announcement was a welcomed response to sustained anti-government demonstrations. Protests have paralyzed the capital for nearly three weeks, after Nkurunziza announced his intention to run for a third term in the presidential elections on June 26 — a move which opponents say is illegal. Yet, on Thursday, it was clear that the celebrations were premature as a security force with divided loyalties fought violently for control of the capital.

Burundi has a long history of political unrest. Between 1993 and 2005, the country fissured during a 13-year civil war that pitted Tutsis against Hutus, and left some 300,000 dead. The ethnic loyalties that sparked the war have largely dissolved today (in accordance with the peace agreement, the army cannot comprise more than 50 percent of any one ethnic group). In fact, those opposed to Nkurunziza’s third term come from all ethnicities. Yet the president, who is Hutu, still has his supporters — primarily the police, and some within the military — who are unwilling to stand on the sidelines as their elected leader is toppled. It is as yet unclear whether the attempted sacking of Nkurunziza by General Niyombare marks the end of a protest movement, or the beginning of a more enduring conflict.

The protests began on April 26, a day after Nkurunziza announced he’d run for a third term. Since then, anti-government protesters have amassed each morning in the streets — many awaking after snatching just a few hours of sleep. During the demonstrations, protesters had feared being beaten, arrested, or even killed by police and militant young loyalists. At night, they took turns standing guard — armed with whistles and mobile phones to warn neighbors of impending attacks. Each day, crowds of energetic young men, wearing makeshift masks and carrying fake guns, then gathered in small pockets throughout the city and began to march.

The army was deployed to the streets on the second day of protests. Much-respected by civilians, it sought to play a valuable mediation role. Yet the protests turned violent and unpredictable, particularly after Burundi’s constitutional court backed the president’s bid for re-election last week. On Monday, three people were killed and dozens more wounded in clashes between police and demonstrators. In all, at least 20 people have died since the demonstrations began.

“Because the police had been attacking the demonstrators for a while, people in those neighborhoods were very anxious, very tired,” said Ketty Nivyabandi, a 36-year-old mother of two, after the announcement of the coup. She attended her first march on Sunday, a peaceful, female-only march that managed to reach the center of town.

“We needed to put peace back into the protest,” she said. “What we did was revolutionary.”

For Burundians like Ketty, General Niyombare’s actions on Wednesday were simply a response to Nkurunziza’s defiance of the constitution — and the culmination of a justified popular movement. Though many jubilant protestors return to their homes, it remains unclear who is in charge of the country.

The military is divided, and many still back the president. The army’s chief of staff, Maj. Gen. Prime Niyongabo, for example, said on state radio late on Wednesday that he is “against Maj. Gen. Niyombare.”

“This coup attempt has been foiled,” said a statement yesterday from Nkurunziza posted on the president’s Twitter and Facebook accounts. “These people, who read the coup announcement on the radio, are being hunted by defence and security forces so that they can be brought to justice.”

On Thursday, rival troops clashed in the capital. According to the most recent reports, Nkurunziza returned to Burundi today (though his location remains uncertain) and soldiers loyal to him control much of the capital.

In the vacuum of security, some analysts fear reprisal attacks by loyalist members of the police force and the Imbonerakure, the ruling party’s much-feared youth wing, against those perceived to be anti-government. Late Wednesday, men in police uniforms attacked and set fire to the influential, independent African Public Radio station, which in the past had reported on government efforts to silence critics. On Thursday, another independent radio station, Bonesha, was attacked and set alight by uniformed men with Kalashnikovs and grenades. At the time of writing, all national independent radio stations were off air.

Tutsis outside the capital may be particularly vulnerable to attacks. “The Imbonerakure would go for easy targets,” said one political analyst in the capital, who asked not to be named. “Tutsi opposition are isolated and need to be protected,” he said of those living in the countryside.

Though fighting calmed on Thursday evening, control of the capital remains very much uncertain. As civilians prepare for potentially another day of clashes between rival security forces, some have begun constructing barricades on the streets to protect themselves.

For Moustang Habimana, one of the demonstrators camped out on the streets, the prospect for a stable political transition in the short term is all but dead.

“Only the people,” he said, “control the country right now.”

Jennifer Huxta/AFP/Getty Images

Jóváhagyta az orosz kormány a gázvezetékrendszer megújított fejlesztési tervét, amelybe bekapcsolták a Török Áramlatot is. A vonatkozó utasítás csütörtökön jelent meg a kabinet honlapján. Az orosz gázt Törökország felé szállító csőrendszer mellett a Kína ellátására épülő Szibéria Ereje és az Altáj nevű, illetve a dél-oroszországi Krasznodari határvidéket és a Krím félszigetet összekötő vezetékek is szerepelnek az új kormányzati tervben.

Last June, in order to fulfill a promise to make his daughter a real life princess, Jeremiah Heaton planted a flag in a trapezoidal stretch of unoccupied territory between Egypt and Sudan and claimed it as his own.

The move was a birthday gift to his seven-year-old daughter, Emily. Heaton called the territory, which is claimed by neither Egypt nor Sudan and is known as Bir Tawil, the Kingdom of North Sudan. The move prompted outrage in the Twitterverse, where users derided it as “foolishness” and “colonization.”

Heaton told Foreign Policy that much of the criticism has come from what he scornfully calls “academics” quick to label his project modern-day colonialism. The purported country is named on no official maps and recognized by no nations on earth, including Heaton’s native United States.

Less than a year later, Heaton looks he’ll have the last laugh: Disney now plans to make The Princess of North Sudan, a movie based on his family’s story, and Morgan Spurlock of Super Size Me is producing it.

It’s a strange new phase of an exceedingly strange story. Heaton’s plan to lay claim to this unchartered territory first went viral after he posted a photo of himself next to the flag last June. The story was soon picked up by the Bristol Herald Courier, and then by the Associated Press.

The story was brought back into the limelight this fall with news of the Disney deal. On Wednesday, the Hollywood Reporter said the movie would be written by Stephany Folsom, whose previous works include 1969: A Space Odyssey or How Kubrick Learned to Stop Worrying and Land on the Moon, sparking new anger over the fact that the first African Disney princess would be a white girl from Virginia named Emily.

But in a conversation with FP Thursday, Heaton, a Virginia farmer who runs a mining-safety company, said anyone calling this project colonialist is “living through the lens of racism.”

“Academics at universities saying this is modern day colonialism, really that’s a euphemism for racism,” he told FP. “I can’t help any more that I was born in America as a white man than an Asian person born in Asia can [help that].”

His establishment of the Kingdom of North Sudan was legal, he said, because the territory belonged to no one.

“The definition of colonialism is the invasion of one country by another country for exploitation of resources and goods,” he said. “I don’t represent the U.S.A. and that area was abandoned.”

Today, the family is mainly just concerned about getting all the plans they have for their kingdom up and running.

A self-described group of science lovers, the Heatons want to use the land to create a sustainable opportunity for food production, an idea that originated with Princess Emily.

“Once she understood it was in Africa and correlated that information with the fact that her elementary school teacher does missions work in Africa…and we were in the same neighborhood as children who didn’t have a lot to eat, in her very simple terms said she wanted to grow a garden big enough to feed everyone,” he said.

Heaton, whose wife is a middle school science teacher, admitted the area, which is one of the driest in the world, is not the most ideal location to start a garden.

“There’s a reason people don’t live there,” he said with a laugh.

For now, they’re proceeding slowly. The first step, Heaton said, was declaring his borders and proving the area doesn’t have a history of being controlled by any other government. The second, which he says he did when he planted his flag last June, was to announce to the world his intention to govern the region. The third and fourth steps are where it gets trickier: It will need to be occupied and have trade relations set up with its neighbors. Considering even Heaton describes it as “inhabitable,” and neither Sudan nor Egypt have legally recognized the country as a state, that might be difficult.

Although Heaton acknowledges it’s “nothing but a barren desert” that is currently “no good to anyone,” he dreams of building a large energy production facility there to supply surplus energy to both Egypt and Sudan, who he says are both in the midst energy crises. In his conversation with FP, he didn’t specify what kind of energy would be produced there, but did say it would be renewable.

According to Heaton, Egypt is making a push for foreign investment right now, and he thinks his faux-country is “really on the same path.” He also wants to use funds to set up what he’s called the “Agricultural Research Center” to house scientists, including water purification specialists and climatologists, who will use their time to find solutions to food insecurity in the region.

This week, the family launched an IndieGoGo fundraiser to help fund the project. For a donation of $15 you get a bumper sticker, for $25 an honorary title of nobility. But if you want to name the capital city, that’s going to run you $1.75 million.

Heaton said that while they’ve only raised $4,100 so far, he thinks he will raise more than $15 million by the time the fundraiser ends in 42 days.

“I might be the sovereign king, but I see myself more as the fundraiser-in-chief,” he said.

In fact, Heaton isn’t all that thrilled he had to make the country a monarchy in the first place, but the family is already working out those political kinks.

“The only reason there’s a monarchy is that’s what I had to establish to make Emily a princess,” he said. “We’re gonna go to a constitutional form of monarchy where we are just figureheads for the state and the people who actually live there will run things so our titles will be strictly ceremonial. As king I just rule over my kids.”

As for the Disney movie? A spokesperson for Disney confirmed plans were in the works, although there isn’t a script yet.

Heaton’s family feels “blessed” to have a “neat” relationship with Disney, but the movie project is only a tiny smidgen of what they have planned for the Kingdom of North Sudan.

“For us the movie deal is five percent of what we have going on,” he told FP. “If our life was a circus, it’s the tent at the farthest end of the midway, and that’s the truth.”

“In this process we have been able to make Emily a real princess,” he said. “She’s also a Disney princess.”

Photo Courtesy of Jeremiah Heaton’s Facebook

Ce jeudi 14 mai 2015 a été marqué par deux événements d'une grave signification. La Cour suprême de Belgrade a réhabilité Draža Mihailovic, le chef des tchétniks de la Seconde Guerre mondiale, tandis que la Présidente croate, Kolinda Grabar Kitarović, rendait hommage aux oustachis à Bleiburg.
La Cour suprême de Belgrade a donné l'épilogue d'un procès ouvert voici cinq ans. Le juge Aleksandar Tresnjev a déclaré que la cour avait accepté la demande de réhabilitation, déposée en 2006 par le petit-fils de Draža (...)

/ Histoire, Politique intérieure, Croatie, Serbie