/ world today news/ The Pentagon plans to stockpile tanks, infantry fighting vehicles and other heavy weapons for 5,000 American servicemen in several Baltic and Eastern European countries, reports The New York Times, citing high-ranking US and NATO sources.
The proposal, which must receive the approval of the US defense secretary and the White House and does not include the deployment of US military personnel on a permanent basis in those countries, is intended to prevent possible Russian aggression in Europe. The plans enjoy strong support amid concerns among NATO’s eastern allies that they could face a Russian threat, especially after Moscow’s intervention in Ukraine, the newspaper said. According to the sources, the proposal is expected to be approved before the meeting of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, scheduled for later this month. The equipment is planned to be located in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria, and possibly Hungary, the publication said.
If the move goes ahead, it would be the first time since the end of the Cold War that the US has deployed heavy weapons to NATO member states that were once part of the Soviet Union.
The Pentagon has not yet made any final decision on the deployment of heavy military equipment in Europe, the official representative of the US military department, Colonel Steve Warren, told a TASS correspondent on Saturday.
“Over the past few years, the US military has been expanding the scale of pre-positioning equipment for use in the process of training and conducting exercises with its NATO allies and partner (countries). The US military continues to consider the most appropriate locations to store these materials in consultation with its allies. At this time, no decision has been made on whether and when this equipment should be deployed,” the Russian news agency quoted the American colonel as saying.
This is how the official spokesperson commented on a publication in The New York Times.
Colonel Warren did not specify whether Washington’s plans for the expansion of the military base, which previously referred primarily to Germany, now include the intention to deploy heavy weapons in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Poland, and – possibly – Hungary.
The United States planned to support the Bulgarian army in 2015 with the amount of 7.250 million dollars. This is clear from the data available through a new interactive portal, which provides information on the financial assistance that the United States grants to other countries in support of “global peace, security and their development efforts,” the “Focus” agency reported.
The portal provides information on US foreign aid programs in more than 100 countries around the world through the efforts of 20 different government agencies. It is still under development, but is available at beta.foreignassistance.gov.
The amount that will be allocated this year to the Bulgarian army becomes clear from the reference for our country. Support for the country is motivated by a short text stating that Bulgaria “actively participates in NATO and European Union operations and is a reliable ally of the United States in a region of strategic importance to the United States.” The text also states that “despite political instability and budget cuts, Bulgaria’s Ministry of Defense remains committed to transforming its armed forces from statically focused to capable of cooperating with NATO partners and facing security challenges through 21st century”.
A report on the other Balkan countries shows that financial aid will be given to Romania – 7.1 million dollars, Macedonia – 12.8 million dollars, Serbia – 16.4 million dollars, Albania – nearly 15 million dollars, Montenegro – nearly 4 million dollars, Bosnia and Herzegovina – 36 million dollars, Croatia – 4.45 million dollars, Slovenia – 650,000 dollars, Greece – 100,000 dollars and Turkey – 4.8 million dollars. Significant aid has been allocated to Ukraine – 140 million dollars.
The total amount that the United States planned to invest in 2015 in the form of aid to the countries of the world amounts to 35.4 billion dollars, of which 9 billion will go to improve security, and 8.7 billion will go to medical care.
#Pentagon #stockpiling #heavy #weapons #Bulgaria
