Military

At their meeting in Brussels on Thursday, the defence ministers of NATO member countries agreed to set up two Force Integration Units in Hungary and Slovakia.

In September, NATO established such units in six countries on the eastern flank of the Alliance - Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania.

NATO troops may need to stay in Afghanistan for a longer period and any decision should be based on the situation on the ground, Germany?s defence minister said on Oct. 8 in an implicit criticism of U.S. withdrawal plans. 

Turkey appealed to its NATO allies on Oct. 8 to shore up missile defences in the country aimed at shooting down Syrian rockets, as Germany said again that it will withdraw its Patriot batteries and the United States was set to do the same. 

NATO is now waiting for other nations to plug those gaps. 

The defence ministers of the NATO member countries are meeting in Brussels on Thursday over the situation in Syria and Afghanistan.

In a doorstep statement, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg highlighted the many challenges the Alliance is facing at present - conflict, instability, insecurity and a refugee crisis.

NATO has said it was prepared to send troops to Turkey to defend its ally after violations of Turkish airspace by Russian jets bombing Syria and Britain scolded Moscow for escalating a civil war that has already killed 250,000 people. 

U.S. Air Forces Central Command has started deploying search and rescue helicopters and airmen at Turkey?s southeastern Diyarbak?r Air Base in order to help with recovery operations in neighboring Iraq and Syria, it has announced.

Turkey?s border with Syria and its airspace has turned into a new stage for NATO and Russia to flex their muscles.

NATO?s chief accused Russia on Oct. 6 of deliberately violating Turkey?s airspace during bombing raids on Syria, amid fresh reports of confrontations in the region.

NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Oct. 6 that Russian violations of Turkish airspace were "not an accident" after Turkey complained of two incursions by Moscow's jets.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warned Russia on Oct. 5 to avoid escalating tensions with the transatlantic alliance through "unacceptable" violations of Turkish airspace, while the U.S. also voiced its concern.

Stoltenberg convened an emergency meeting of NATO member countries after Turkey said its jets intercepted a Russian fighter plane near the Syrian border.

Russia must not escalate tension in Syria after Russian airplanes violated Turkish airspace, Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davuto?lu has said, hours before NATO was set to hold a meeting to discuss developments in Syria.