North Atlantic Treaty Organization

Turkey continues to block NATO defense plans for Poland and Baltic states despite a deal in London last year between Turkey's president and allied leaders, three allied diplomats and a French defense official said on Wednesday.

Diplomats said while Ankara has approved the plan, known as Eagle Defender, it has not allowed NATO military chiefs to put it into action.

Turkey angrily accused France on Tuesday of exacerbating the crisis in Libya and violating UN and NATO decisions by supporting the forces of Khalifa Haftar against the internationally recognised Government of National Accord (GNA).

The Romanian Naval Forces have released, on Monday, command of the Standing NATO Mine Counter Measures Group 2 (SNMCMG-2), informs, on Tuesday, a press release sent by the Naval Forces General Staff. According to the quoted source, the event took place, as a first, through videoconference, as a preventive measure in the international epidemiological context given by the COVID-19 pandemic.

President Donald Trump said on June 15 he is ordering a major reduction in U.S. troop strength in Germany, a move widely criticized by members of his own party as a gift to Russia and a threat to U.S. national security.

"We're putting the number down to 25,000 soldiers,'' Trump said at the White House.

France wants talks with NATO allies to discuss Turkey's increasingly "aggressive" and "unacceptable" role in Libya, a French presidential official said on Monday, underscoring increased tensions between Ankara and Paris.

The Strategic Partnership with the USA offers a lasting guarantee for national security and prosperity, along with membership in NATO and the European Union, Prime minister Ludovic Orban said on Sunday in a message addressed on the occasion of the 140th anniversary years of diplomatic relations between Romania and the United States of America. "Today [ed.n.

Diplomatic relations between Romania and the United States of America are, 140 years since their establishment, stronger "than ever," President Klaus Iohannis said in a message sent on Sunday.

The Turkish defense minister and NATO secretary-general discussed Syria, Libya and regional issues in a phone call, the Turkish National Defense Ministry said in a statement on June 12.

Hulusi Akar and Jens Stoltenberg also exchanged views on NATO issues, said the statement.

Turkey's presidential spokesman İbrahim Kalın on June 12 said Ankara is in favor of a political solution in Libya.

Speaking to reporters after his official visit to Berlin, Kalın said Libyan warlord Khalifa Haftar violated the Berlin agreement like many others before it.

Kalın said the Libyan government has recently regained strategic locations and cities from Haftar.

Bulgaria had the opportunity to veto the talks between North Macedonia and the EU if it wanted to do so. However, this country did not do it. Moreover, it is working towards our EU accession, North Macedonia's former Premier and leader of the Social Democratic Union Zoran Zaev said in a TV interview.