Flynn to ask Trump to expand NATO

[anatta]

President Trump’s national security adviser will suggest he support letting another nation join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), according to a new report.

Michael Flynn “is expected to recommend Montenegro’s ascension into NATO to Trump in the coming days,” a senior administration official told Politico on Monday.

Trump could block Montenegro’s bid, Politico added, as the alliance requires unanimous support from all its members.

Politico reports that allowing Montenegro into NATO would bother Russia, which opposes any eastward expansion of the Western military alliance.

Montenegrin leaders, it said, have also accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of stoking instability in their nation.
Putin has tried eroding support for Montenegro’s inclusion in NATO, Montenegrin leaders say, through alleged plots by pro-Russian movements to attack its parliament and kill its prime minister last year.

Twenty-three of the 28 governments comprising NATO have backed Montenegro’s addition, with Canada, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and the U.S. yet to weigh in. Montenegro’s parliament must ultimately ratify an accord on joining NATO, should the alliance support its addition.

Albania and Croatia joined NATO in 2009, making Montenegro the third Balkan nation to potentially enter the group.

Adding a new NATO member is a treaty measure, requiring support from two-thirds of senators to secure passage.
http://thehill.com/policy/international/europe/318186-flynn-to-ask-trump-to-expand-nato-report

 

[anatta]

No matter the administration, NATO expansion never stops:

White House national security adviser Michael Flynn will recommend that President Donald Trump support allowing the small Balkan nation of Montenegro to join NATO, POLITICO has learned — despite strong opposition from Russia.

Bringing Montenegro into NATO is a pointless move, but it is a relatively harmless one. The alliance gains nothing from making Montenegro a member, and it takes on one more security dependent that we already know won’t pull its weight. Support for another round of expansion suggests that the new administration will be much more conventional in its support for NATO than Trump’s campaign rhetoric sometimes hinted.

Besides the fact that Montenegro adds almost nothing to the alliance, accession does not have broad support in Montenegro:

NATO accession is a highly controversial issue in Montenegro. An opinion poll conducted in December 2016 has only 39.5 percent of Montenegrins in favor of NATO membership and 39.7 against. Other opinion polls have suggested similar margins.

It doesn’t make sense to take in a new alliance member when there is no consensus in that country in favor of belonging to the alliance. NATO shouldn’t be adding new members in any case, but it certainly shouldn’t be taking in a country that doesn’t have a majority behind the idea of joining. At best, that will make Montenegro a half-hearted, grudging member, and at worst it makes it a real liability if there is a shift in public opinion against the alliance. I don’t think letting Montenegro join NATO makes any sense, but it certainly shouldn’t happen if it isn’t what most people in Montenegro want.
https://www.theamericanconservative.com/larison/bringing-montenegro-into-nato-still-makes-no-sense/

 

[Darth Omar]

If Trump is a deal maker he'll defer on it.

It's one more chip he can use to force a concession out of Putin with. Trump wants Putin as an ally against radical Islam.

 

[anatta]

If Trump is a deal maker he'll defer on it.

It's one more chip he can use to force a concession out of Putin with. Trump wants Putin as an ally against radical Islam.

good point..there are a lot of deals to be made with Putin that benefit both the west and Russia

 

[cancel2 2022]

Bloody nice part of the world, the coastline is truly spectacular and the women gorgeous. I'm sure the Mediterranean fleet would be more than happy to dock there.

Sent from my Lenovo K52e78 using Tapatalk

 

[sear]

Flynn to ask Trump to expand NATO

Quote Originally Posted by Darth Omar: "If Trump is a deal maker he'll defer on it."

"It's one more chip he can use to force a concession out of Putin with. Trump wants Putin as an ally against radical Islam.
good point..there are a lot of deals to be made with Putin that benefit both the west and Russia" a #4

a) By and large NATO expansion is an ABSOLUTELY HORRID HORRID HORRID idea !!

It was NATO expansion after The Wall fell that Russia used to leverage their excuse for military adventurism to Russia's West.
They excuse it as necessary measures to protect against an aggressive, expansionist, large and powerful (~28 nation?) NATO antagonist.

It would be a MONUMENTAL blunder to give them this excuse!

b) What nation on Earth is there that we could not protect with entry into NATO that we could not befriend and protect without NATO membership?

c) If NATO wants to expand into Africa or Asia, DANDY!
But encroaching on Russia with NATO expansion is about the most foolish U.S. foreign policy blunder we could make, next to nuking Moscow or St. Petersburg or Tel Aviv.

 

[anatta]

PODGORICA, Montenegro

Montenegro's main opposition party said Monday that it will organize a referendum on the country's membership in NATO — with the support of Russia — if the ruling pro-Western majority keeps insisting the decision should be made in parliament.

The Democratic Front's leader, Andrija Mandic, said that the "people's referendum" received the support of the Kremlin when he visited Moscow earlier this month.

"We consider that the people of Montenegro must be consulted on such an important issue like it is the country's NATO membership," Mandic told The Associated Press. "We haven't set the date of our referendum yet, but I would like it to be on March 24 when NATO started bombing campaign against our country, with tragic consequences, destruction and many victims."

People in Montenegro are evenly split between those supporting NATO and those denouncing the Western military alliance for a nearly three-month-long bombing campaign against mainly Serbia, but also Montenegro, in 1999 that stopped a bloody Serb crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists in Kosovo.

Montenegrin authorities have accused Russian nationalists for an alleged coup attempt in October that included plans to assassinate the pro-Western then-prime minister because of his government's bid to join NATO.

The Kremlin has denied involvement, but has actively supported local groups that oppose having the traditional Slavic ally become the 29th member of the Western military alliance. Montenegro is expected to wrap up the membership process in the spring.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/nation-world/article130967794.html

 

[sear]

#7

And therefore what?

Even if the decision is made politically doesn't mean the threat, real or perceived, would not still be MILITARY.

Just because someone points a loaded gun to your head doesn't mean you'll die from it.

NATO could pretend they're not threatening Russia by expanding toward Russian lands or interests. But who is NATO kidding with that ?!

If the expansion was the other way, you think our military commanders in the West wouldn't care?

How lovely it would be if the entire solar system was a NATO member, and that peace and olive branches were blossoming out of every gun muzzle.

THAT AIN'T IT !!

There is no nation on Earth that I can think of at the moment that would benefit global stability by joining NATO. Case in point: Ukraine, or even Crimea. What do you think Putin would do then?