Austria's Defense Ministry stated, 'There have indeed been requests and they were refused from the outset.' The refusal is based on the country's neutrality policy, which has been in effect since 1955.
The January 3rd Operation Absolute Resolve ousted Venezuelan Dictator Nicholas Maduro, marking a significant shift in US policy towards countering adversarial influence in the western hemisphere.
NATO is sending another Patriot missile defence unit to its Incirlik Air Base, after several ballistic missiles Ankara says were fired by Iran were downed heading towards or in Turkish airspace. The ministry announced the new missile battery during a Wednesday briefing at the Incirlik base, located near the southern city of Adana, saying it would complement national-level measures to ensure the security of our airspace and our citizens.
Britain is to develop new air defence weapons alongside the EU's four biggest military powers, deepening ties with the European defence sector. The project will invite manufacturers in the UK, Germany, France, Italy and Poland to submit plans to build low-cost missiles and autonomous drones. The allies are pledging a speedy process to build the weapons together, inspired by Ukraine's development of cheap drones to counter attacks from Russia.
France has offered to 'extend' its nuclear umbrella to other European countries without actually 'sharing' it. How can that work, asks John Lichfield. This will be the subject of a speech by President Emmanuel Macron in the next two weeks which could be one of the most important speeches in European history. Or a damp squib. Macron has promised to update France's nuclear doctrine. In other words, he will revisit the rules which have governed use of France's force de frappe or nuclear deterrent
"I hope that the people of the Kingdom of Denmark do not abandon their faith in the American people," Coons said in Copenhagen, adding that the U.S. has respect for Denmark and NATO "for all we've done together."
Germany's military, the Bundeswehr, is currently on a spending spree: it has more than 108 billion ($129 billion) at its disposal this year a gigantic, unprecedented sum. This is being financed both by the official federal budget and special funds, for which the state is taking out loans. This money is intended to make the Bundeswehr, which has been subject to decades of cutbacks, more powerful and modern. There is also time pressure.
At the beginning of the year, German men aged 18 began to receive a compulsory questionnaire registering their fitness for army service under a law passed last month. Joining the army is voluntary for now, but the law allows the government to introduce mandatory service to meet its goal of building what it says will be the strongest army in Europe for the first time since World War II.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Friday that he was in talks with French President Emmanuel Macron about nuclear deterrence, as worries grow about US security commitments to Europe. "I have held confidential talks with the French president about European nuclear deterrence," Merz said at the opening of the Munich Security Conference. He previously said he was open to France extending its nuclear deterrent in Europe.
