Russians Drink Sangria as Ukraine Burns*

BY FDBETANCOR

Cease fire violations are a part of the daily routine in the no man’s land of Eastern Ukraine. Rifle fire, automatic weapons and exchange of mortar rounds between Ukrainian government forces and rebel militias is a matter of course, with up to 100 violations in a day[1]. For the moment, that is all there is: both sides have mostly observed the requirement to withdraw heavy weapons, so there is no field artillery or tanks. Yet the situation remains tense as the summer drags on. For the moment, the tense balance holds. The Ukrainian government realizes that it lacks the strength for a military solution, while Russia has the military strength to beat Ukraine but not to hold a rebellious population of 40 million.

So there is no war, but there is no peace either. Ukraine burns, and citizens of the new borderland suffer acute shortages of everything: food, medicines, gasoline, money. They, like their nation, are pawns in a power game between Russia and the West. Neither side truly wants war; but neither side is yet willing to negotiate. The Russians believe that “losing Ukraine” to Europe and the US would be a mortal threat to their own security; while Europe and the US are convinced that “losing Ukraine” to Russia would be tantamount to a second Munich Agreement. It would only convince Vladimir Putin of Western weakness and encourage him to test NATO in a more sensitive area, like the Baltic States.

NATO has responded as much as its limited means allow: air patrols over the Baltic allies have been intensified and interceptions of Russian aircraft by Western fighters are now too routine to report. Military training and exercises have been intensified, with US forces very publicly visiting key Eastern European states like Poland and Romania. Even non-NATO nations like Sweden have been disturbed enough by the rumblings of the Russian bear to begin quiet coordination of their military staffs with NATO counterparts. Even the normallaissez faire and independent French, who are perfectly happy to sell nuclear components to Iraq and advanced weaponry to anyone with a sufficiently large bank account, have been convinced to first suspend and finally cancel the delivery of two Mistral-class amphibious assault ships. These vessels would have given the Russian Navy a significant boost in their power projection capabilities, especially in the highly sensitive Black Sea, where the RFS Sevastopol was destined to be stationed. This will cost the French a significant amount of money, approximately 1.2 billion dollars – at least until they can find another buyer[2].

Far from dividing the normally fractious nations of Europe, Russian actions have enhanced their cooperation and reinvigorated a moribund North Atlantic alliance. From Cape Svalbard to Cape Matapan, Vladimir Putin is faced by a determined and united front opposed to Russia’s unilateral annexation of Crimea and barely concealed invasion of Donestk and Lugansk. Well…almost united. While Ukrainians die in defense of their lands – on both sides of the front lines – and Europeans suddenly remember what their militaries are for, there are Russian sailors stuffing their gobs full of paella and sangría in the Spanish port of Ceuta.

The RFS Novorossiysk, a Russian Kilo-class diesel attack submarine, arrived at the Spanish North African port this morning along with its tender[3]. Both Russian vessels are taking on water, fuel and victuals while their crews enjoy a week of shore leave. Besides seamen, the Kilo carries the SS-N-27 “Sizzler” a supersonic anti-ship missile as well as SA-N-10 Gimlet missiles for air defense. This lethal package is docked next to one of the busiest shipping choke points in the world and an hour’s easy steam from the Royal Naval base at Gibraltar and US Naval Station Rota.

The submarine visit is not an isolated incident: this year alone there have been 13 port calls by Russian naval vessels to Ceuta and over 50 since 2010. In April it was the Udaloy-class ASW destroyer, the Severomorsk and in February another ASW frigate, the Yaroslav Mudry.The city fathers are happy to have 2,000 lonely sailors spending their rubles on “shore leave” and local businesses benefit too. Nothing to comment on in normal times; except that we’re not living in normal times. NATO aircraft aren’t intercepting Russians over allied airspace because relations are warm and fuzzy.

Spain is not alone in welcoming Russian ships, it is in good company: the Russian Navy regular makes port calls in Cuba, Venezuela, Syria, and Iran too. Cam Ranh Bay in Vietnam is still a welcome destination for the Pacific Fleet, but in Europe only Cyprus[4] make Ivan feel as home as often as the Spanish do. Russian sailors are no longer a common sight even in Saint-Nazaire where they were training to take possession of the two Mistral-class vessels the French were constructing. Meanwhile, the Spanish sharpen their military skills by having their Coast Guard vessels fire at Gibraltar-flagged pleasure boats[5]; all part of the “successful foreign policy” being promulgated out of Madrid[6], one of harassment, illegality and disregard for the democratic rights and unanimous wishes of the actual inhabitants of the Rock.

The harassment has become far worse since the investiture of the current Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy Brey, in December 2011. The current government is acting in a fashion more in keeping with the various stand-offs instigated by the fascist Franco regime during the 1970’s than as a NATO ally and European partner. Spain routinely refuses to allow NATO vessels and aircraft traveling to or from Gibraltar to also visit a Spanish port or airfield while in transit. Yet the Spanish government is happy to welcome large numbers of warships from the Russian Navy. With friends like this…

The State Department and Pentagon should not remain indifferent to the sight of the Russian Navy growing old within shouting (and shooting) distance of RAF Gibraltar and an easy sail from Rota. The United Nations estimates[7] that the 14-kilometers of the Straits handle 3,000 vessels per day, 25% of sea-transported oil shipments, and 30% of all tonnage entering or leaving the Mediterranean. It is not only a critical military and economic choke point; it borders critical states in North Africa and the Sahel. For this reason the United States maintains, with Spain’s permission, both a naval presence in Rota (near Cádiz) and the 3,500-man Special-Purpose Marine Air-Ground Task Force Crisis Response-Africa at Morón de la Frontera[8].

Thus it is not irrelevant that Marine V-22 Ospreys flying out of Morón would not be able to land at Gibraltar outbound or inbound while executing vital missions; the Crisis Response force is not there to take pictures of the Andalusian countryside. This is not an idle scenario: given the close cooperation between our military and that of the United Kingdom, a mission involving US and Royal Marines could be easily imagined. Which ally has shed blood with the United States in every one of our wars of last 100 years? It is high time we demand an end to the stupid and damaging policies that are pitting two NATO nations against each other and complicating US interests in the region.

Sources and Notes

[1] “Cease-fire violations in eastern Ukraine cause concern,” Associated Press, 14 August 2015
[2] Pierre Tran, “Mistral Dispute With Russia Settled, France Eyes Exports,” Defense News, 09 August 2015
[3] Antonio Sempere, “El submarino ruso ‘Novorossiysk’ atraca en el muelle España, donde permanecerá hasta el Viernes,” Ceuta Actualidad, 26 August 2015
[4] Damien Sharkov, “Cyprus Agrees Deal to Let Russian Navy Use Ports,” Newsweek, 26 February 2015
[5] Alistair Dawber, “Tensions rise as Spanish customs boat fires shots at pleasure craft in Gibraltar’s waters,” The Independent, 27 August 2015
[6] “Spain’s Action On Gib is ‘Bearing Fruit’ – Margallo,” The Gibraltar Chronicle, 25 August 2015
[7] United Nations Environment Programme, Mediterranean Action Plan for the Barcelona Convention
[8] Sam LaGrone, “Spain and U.S. Sign Permanent Basing Agreement for up to 3,500 U.S. Marines,” USNI News, 18 June 2015

* Article publicat al web "Common Sense" de Fernando Betancor. Una visió nordamericana sobre el capteniment espanyol vers Gibraltar i la connivència amb la Marina russa. Caldria anar pensant en quines contrapartides té Espanya perquè les naus russes atraquin reiteradament a Ceuta. Alhora, recomanem vivament el bloc de Fernando Betancor. Bona feina!

Britain's super-sub: Navy unveils James Bond-style mini submarine carried on board HMS Astute which can launch from under water *

The Royal Navy's newest submarine - a miniature sub which can launch underwater that James Bond would be proud of, has been spotted moored off of Gibraltar.

The submarine is intended to launch underwater in order to carry commandos to their destinations covertly so they can perform attacks or infiltration near the water.

Attached to a large nuclear sub, the mini pod can carry up to around eight elite commandos in heavy assault gear and is designed to be as stealthy as possible.

The pod can be seen attached to the topside of the nuclear submarine, the HMS Astute, currently off the coast of Gibraltar.

n a covert attack, the secret submarine pod will detach from the HMS Astute and head to its destination, absorbing sonar on the way to evade detection.

The pod will be in use by Special Boat Service commandos in their covert operations, and the miniature submarine will likely make their activities hard to predict or anticipate.

Before it was mounted to the top of the HMS Astute, the miniature submarine had to be airlifted by helicopter to seas near its destination, before being picked up later.

Now the submarine will move closer to the destination, and plans for deployment and support for the commandos will be more readily available.

The miniature submarine, codenamed 'Project Chalfont', has been tested since it was installed in 2012, but this is the first time it will reach active service.

The HMS Astute is the largest attack submarine the Royal Navy has at its disposal, and is the lead ship of its class.
Thanks to air recycling it could theoretically circumnavigate the planet without having to resurface, and its nuclear power system means it will never have to refuel again during its 25-year-service.
However, its limit is that it is only able to carry three months worth of food for the 98 crew needed to man it.
The miniature submarine's main duties are for counter intelligence, as it allows for incredibly covert ops from discreet locations, and will now be able to deploy while hidden underwater, rather than having to travel by helicopter, which runs the risk of revealing its position.

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2587116/Britains-super-sub-Navy-unveils-James-Bond-style-mini-submarine-carried-board-HMS-Astute-launch-water.html#ixzz2xIxeKcWE

*Notícia publicada al Daily Mail. La Royal Navy continua les seves activitats, sense que aparentment, li molestin gaire les provocacions espanyoles.

Guardia Civil incursion near concrete blocks*

Author: GBC
Date: 23 August 2013 at 08:50

There’s been an incursion by Guardia Civil divers this afternoon, who have measured the concrete blocks sunk by the runway. The incident has been reported to London and Madrid for consideration of the appropriate follow-up action.

Video evidence of the incident has been posted on the Europa Press website with experts confirming that the blocks do appear to be those in British Gibraltar Territorial Waters.

The Royal Gibraltar Police, which later on this afternoon sent its own divers down to investigate, says the Guardia Civil launches left when asked to do so. The Gibraltar Squadron was also in the area with officers seemingly

The Convent has pointed out the reef, which it calls the North/West Artificial Reef System, was created by the Gibraltar Government in compliance with EU Legislation and International Conventions.

The Governor says the act of diving itself constitutes a serious violation of British Sovereignty but that the apparent interference with the Reef is a new and worrying aspect. Sir Adrian Johns says this is a blatant attempt to exercise jurisdiction inside British Gibraltar Territorial Waters and, in the light of the conciliatory position taken by the Gibraltar Government, a particularly unhelpful development at a time when all parties should be seeking to ease the current tensions.

The Convent says the incident was reported immediately to London and Madrid.

* Notícia publicada a GBC. Lluny d'aturar-se, continuen les provocacions contra Gibraltar.

http://www.gbc.gi/news/2294/guardia-civil-incursion-near-concrete-blocks

British navy warships to visit Gibraltar amid diplomatic row*

Exclusive: Britain has said a rapid reaction force of warships will visit Gibraltar on its way to naval exercises in the Mediterranean, even as the fierce diplomatic row over the disputed territory looked set to continue.

The Navy’s force led by HMS Illustrious and including two frigates will sail for the Mediterranean on Monday at the start of a four-month deployment.

Three ships including the frigate HMS Westminster are due to stop later this month in the port amid a standoff with Madrid over punitive border checks for visitors to Gibraltar.

The visit was announced two days after Gibraltar’s chief minister demanded that warships be sent to stop Spanish incursions into the Rock's territorial waters. On Thursday, Fabian Picardo told The Telegraph the territory would be delighted to welcome the Royal Navy.

Naval chiefs stressed the visit by the nine-vessel Response Force Task Group was part of a long-planned exercise, and not in response to the diplomatic row.

But it was announced as the dispute over the territory continued despite attempts by the nations’ leaders to de-escalate the situation.

The force of four Royal Navy warships supported by five ships of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary is led by the helicopter carrier HMS Illustrious. It will consist of thousands of sailors and Royal Marines.

The deployment, called Cougar 13, will see the force sail through the Mediterranean and on to The Gulf and Horn of Africa, holding joint exercises with navies along the way.

David Cameron earlier this week said he was “seriously concerned” about escalating tensions over the border between Spain and Gibraltar.

Spain has warned it is ready to impose a border tax, close its airspace to planes using the British overseas territory's airport, and investigate the affairs of Gibraltarians with Spanish economic interests.

The escalation between Spain and the British territory began last month after Gibraltar began building an artificial reef it said would improve fish stocks depleted by incursions by Spanish fishermen.

Downing Street’s claims that Spain had agreed to ease punitive border delays after a call between David Cameron and Mariano Rajoy, the Spanish Prime Minister, appeared premature after Spanish police quickly re-imposed them.

Those entering the Rock quickly found themselves in queues of up to four hours in the hottest part of the day.

Gibraltar’s chief minister, who earlier in the week likened Spain’s stance to “that of North Korea”, said the latest behaviour was just another example of Spanish “duplicity”.

“It’s about time the UK government saw the face of Spain that we see constantly. In Gibraltar we are not so surprised that there was an element of duplicity in the way Spain is going about this,” Mr Picardo said on Thursday.

Following the call between Prime Ministers, Downing Street briefed that Spain had conceded to reduce measures at the border while agreeing the Gibraltar issue should “not become an obstacle in bilateral relations” and that there was a “need to find a way to de-escalate”

However, the Spanish government issued a statement in which it made no reference to any concessions to reduce delays at the border and claimed instead that Mr Rajoy had held his ground over the matter.

“From the two such diametrically opposed briefings from two capitals, it seemed that two entirely different conversations were held,” commented Gibraltar’s Chief Minister.

The front pages of Spanish newspapers on Thursday carried headlines on the “stand-off”.

“There is an obvious defiance displayed on front pages of all the Spanish newspapers today,” said Mr Picardo. “It remains to be seen whether we are going to see that defiance played out on the ground or whether in fact they will talk tough but deliver on de-escalation that the prime minister has sought.”

He commented that perhaps it suited Spain’s ruling Popular Party to keep Gibraltar in the headlines for a few more days yet.

“There is certainly a smoke screen element to all this and the best way for Spanish government to play out August is to have Gibraltar on the front pages and not the scandals that are afflicting them.”

A spokesman for the Ministry of Defence said the annual Cougar deployment was “long-planned and well-established”.

He said: “Gibraltar is a strategic base for UK Defence and as such Royal Navy ships visit its waters throughout the year as part of a range of regular and routine deployments.

“Elements of last year’s Cougar ’12 deployment visited Gibraltar and the forthcoming visit by ships making up Cougar ’13, including HMS Westminster and the Royal Fleet Auxiliary ships Lyme Bay and Mounts Bay, are business as usual. At the same time, other elements of the Task Force will be visiting Spanish ports as part of the exercises.

“The same phase of the deployment will also see port visits in Portugal and throughout the Mediterranean to Spain, Turkey and Malta before onward transit to the Middle East.”

* Notícia publicada a The Telegraph. Com dèiem fa poc, Espanya hauria de saber a què juga.

Send us gunboats*

BRITAIN must send Royal Navy warships to Gibraltar or risk the “consequences” of an increasingly aggressive Spain, the Rock’s chief minister warned last night.

 

Fabian Picardo told the Sunday Express: “We all recall how Argentina took the absence of the right sort of Royal Navy vessels in the South Atlantic in the Eighties as encouragement to invade.

“I don’t believe Spain will invade, but I am seeing Spain becoming much more assertive in these waters as a result of the absence of the right size of naval presence. This could have consequences to British sovereignty which we are all careful to avoid.”

“I believe we need a much greater Royal Naval presence in our waters,”

His plea comes just days after the Rock celebrated the 300th anniversary of the Treaty of Utrecht, which established Gibraltar as a British territory.

Spanish aggression has increased sharply since the country’s Popular Party headed by prime minster Mariano Rajoywas elected in 2011 on a manifesto that included ending talks between Spain, Gibraltar and the UK. Like Argentine president Cristina Kirchner, Mr Rajoy is thought to have deliberately inflamed tensions as a way of distracting voters from the nation’s economic woes.

While Spain has 40 per cent unemployment, Gibraltar’s economy grew by eight per cent last year, bolstered by its buoyant financial services industry and online gaming. About 10,000 Spaniards rely on Gibraltar for their livelihoods and the Rock is home to the world’s top 26 online betting companies.

In February a Royal Navy patrol boat found itself in a standoff with a Spanish warship after repeated requests to leave British waters were ignored and Minister for Europe David Lidington was forced to protest again after a Spanish police boat sailed into British waters and fired at a British jet-skier. Spanish fishermen are frequently defended during their illegal fishing of British waters by Spanish police boats.

In 2011 Madrid laid claim to an area of British waters as a nature reserve. Gibraltar lost its appeal to the European Court of Justice, and subsequently discovered one of the court’s judges was formerly Spain’s chief legal officer.

 

Prince Charles meets the Royal Navy Cadets: Navy's presence is needed

Two weeks ago Gibraltar’s parliament voted to ask Britain for a greater Royal Navy presence and Mr Picardo said the two small, lightly armed patrol boats based in Gibraltar were not enough to deter Spanish aggression.

He added: “Spain wants to assert that these are Spanish waters. It is causing huge concern. Somebody needs to wake up and realise that we should assert British sovereignty.

“We need to drive the message home that these are very clearly British Gibraltar territorial waters.

“The Royal Navy uses Gibraltar as a rest and recreational base, and as a forward mounting base. Now we are saying please don’t just use us, come to our aid at this difficult time.”

Last night Commander John Muxworthy, of the armed forces pressure group UK National Defence Association, said: “This situation is becoming more aggressive by the day, and yet we have only two small patrol boats to stand up for Gibraltar and the UK.”

A Defence Ministry spokesman said: “The Royal Navy currently has sufficient assets to challenge unlawful incursions into British Gibraltar territorial waters by Spanish state vessels and remains committed to challenging any actions by Spanish state vessels which are unlawful.”

One of the Royal Navy’s nuclear powered submarines, HMS Tireless, is currently in Gibraltar for a short visit on its way to operations east of Suez.

* Notícia publicada a The Express. L'assetjament de l'Estat espanyol a Gibraltar continua, quelcom que li pot acabar passant factura. Només cal conèixer mínimament el Regne Unit per imaginar com acabarà aquest afer.

 

Spanish fishing boat enters Catalan Bay*

A Spanish fishing vessel entered Catalan Bay at midday on Thursday, coming inside the confines of the buoys.
The beach police confirmed that the boat, of the type known as a “conchero”, entered from the south and put down its nets before crossing northwards and leaving the beach.
The RGP was called but was engaged in the incident off the runway.
The boat entered at around 5 to 12 and left after only five or ten minutes, but caused outrage among beachgoers due to how close it came to the shoreline.
Photo courtesy of Troy Jeffries.
* Notícia publicada a GBC news. No deixa de ser simptomàtica l'actitud de l'Estat espanyol vers Gibraltar. El menyspreu constant cap al Regne Unit tindrà conseqüències.