NATO

Albania's and Croatia's defense ministers have sent a letter to NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg concerning "the events in Kosovo."

The letter, penned by Mimi Kodheli and Damir Krsticevic, "condemns the Serbian officials' nationalist rhetoric."

US Defense Secretary James Mattis delivered an ultimatum to NATO allies during a visit to Europe - increase their military spending, or see America "moderate its commitment" to the alliance.

"I owe it to you all to give you clarity on the political reality in the United States, and to state the fair demand from my country's people in concrete terms," Mattis said.

BELGRADE - Members of the Kosovo Parliament adopted with 68 votes "for" and none "against" the draft resolution on the transformation of the Kosovo Security Forces into Kosovo Armed Forces.

A company from the 3rd armed brigade from Fort Carson, Colorado with the US Land Forces will be deployed to the Novo Selo Training Ground.

As of February 15, 120 US military will be deployed there.

Despite it being on the verge of bankruptcy, Greece is one of the 3 countries among the 28 NATO members-states that covered the 2% limit of GDP on military spending in 2016, in accordance to the military alliance’s provisions. The other two countries in the North Atlantic alliance that covered the 2% quota were the US and Estonia.

European member-states and Canada have increased defence expenditures by 3.8%, announced NATO's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.

"This is significantly more than we envisaged initially. Roughly speaking, this is about USD 10 B more for our defence. The amount is considerable but it is vital that we continue at the same pace," stated Stoltenberg.

BELGRADE - Sixty-seven percent of Russians view NATO as a threat, a new survey from Gallup shows. It's the highest number recorded since 2008.

In contrast, back in 2012, only 38 percent of Russians perceived the Western military bloc as a threat.

Serbia and Russia are the only countries in Eastern Europe where a considerable majority of citizens sees NATO as a threat.

This is according to a poll conducted by Gallup.

A group of pro-Russian opposition parties and an anti-NATO organisation in Montenegro are demanding a referendum on NATO membership as the date for when parliament is expected to vote on the issue looms.

Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras traveled to Ukraine for a two-day visit Wednesday.

He was expected to meet with government officials and representatives of the Greek community.