North Atlantic Treaty Organization

The latest blast in Serbia in the military facility at Kragujevac, which killed four persons, raises further questions about Serbia's ability to control its ageing stocks of ammunition, experts say.

Military analyst Aleksandar Radic told BIRN that speculation about the exact causes of the incident in Kragujevac was premature but the human factor was probably to blame.

Anti-NATO opposition politicians in Montenegro have written to White House chief strategist Steve Bannon, seeking his aid in getting Donald Trump's new US administration to reconsider America's support for Montenegro's membership of NATO.

Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu said on March 2 that Ankara was resolved to march on the Syrian town of Manbij if the U.S. forces do not immediately evacuate the Kurdish militants there to east of the Euphrates. 

Çavuşoğlu made that statement after briefing Parliament's Foreign Affairs Committee on recent developments in Syria.

In recent days there have been crucial developments in the U.S. capital. Some of these will have direct effects and some will have indirect effects on Turkish-American ties. 

US Ambassador to Macedonia (FYROM) Jess Baily on Thursday expressed his concern over the political crisis unfolding in the country.

In a post on Twitter, Baily said that he was in agreement with EU Commissioner Johannes Hahn on this issue.

"Concerned that Macedonia moving away from principles of democracy and rule of law, core NATO values," the diplomat added in his tweet.

The EU and NATO are putting pressure on Skopje to accept the demands of neighboring Tirana and change its constitution, which would have a destabilizing effect on the Republic of Macedonia (FYROM).

Sweden announced March 2 that it will reintroduce compulsory military service starting this summer to respond to global security challenges including from Russia. 

"The government wants a more stable staff supply system and to boost its military capability because the security situation has changed," Swedish Defense Minister Peter Hultqvist told TT news agency.

Athens and Washington are engaged in consultations to set up a telephone conversation between Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras and US President Donald Trump over the next few days, Kathimerini understands.

The government is attaching great significance to the conversation in its bid to get a clearer picture of Trump's position on several issues, not least the Greek bailout program.

U.S. President Donald Trump in his first address to the Congress since taking office on Jan. 20 has vowed to fight against the Islamic State of Iraq and the levant (ISIL) together with U.S.' allies from the Muslim world.
 
"We will work with our allies, including our friends and allies in the Muslim world, to extinguish this vile enemy from our planet," Trump said on Feb. 28. 

Romania's Defence Ministry presented its 2016 activity report under intense scrutiny concerning how it intends to spend its new increased budget.

Defence Minister Daniel Les said Romania's armes forces remained in urgent need of new equipment due to under-funding over several years.

In 2016, Romania bought its first F-16 Fighting Falcon jets, he noted.