NATO

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg will pay a two-day visit to Ankara on Sept. 8 and 9 to both show the alliance's support and solidarity with Turkey following the defeated coup attempt on July 15 and to discuss developments in Syria, after the Turkish army launched an incursion into its southern neighbor to fight against jihadists. 

The leaders of Greece's armed forces and police are holding emergency meetings in Athens to monitor developments in neighboring Turkey, according to government officials.

Nato countries are taking part in their biggest ever joint military exercises in Poland, amid concerns about a potential threat from Russia.
Some 31,000 Polish, US and other troops are participating in the land, sea and air exercises called Anaconda-16.

BELGRADE - Russia is concerned over bilateral programs of certain NATO countries with Ukraine, Russia's NATO Ambassador Alexander Grushko told Rossiya 24 television on Monday.

BELGRADE - NATO member-countries seek no confrontation with Russia, the North Atlantic Alliance's Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Thursday.

"We do not want confrontation with Russia. On the contrary, we strive for a more constructive relationship with Russia," he told a joint news conference with German Chancellor Angela Merkel.

Actually, the tension is not only between Turkey and Russia but between the NATO alliance and Russia. NATO's Parliamentary Assembly urged its 28 members on May 30, after sessions in Tirana, to stand up to Russia's military "assertiveness" and "to provide reassurance" to those allies who feel their security is under threat, "focusing on the eastern and southern flanks of the alliance."

Admiral Evangelos Apostolakis, Chief of Hellenic National Defence General Staff, arrived on a three-day official visit to Bulgaria at the invitation of the Chief of Defence General Constantin Popov, the Defence Ministry in Sofia announced on Monday.

BELGRADE - The United States apparently has big plans for Kosovo and the Balkans in general, political analyst Petr Iskenderov told Radio Sputnik. These include increasing Washington's political influence and military presence in the territory that was carved out of Serbia following NATO's military intervention.

US Ambassador to Bulgaria Eric Seth Rubin has said his country deploy an additional number of troops and provide more trainings next year.

Answering to questions during his meeting with members of the American Chamber of Commerce, he has added the move will be part of an overall boost in capabilities deployed to the Black Sea region.

Bulgarian Foreign Minister Daniel Mitov has said Bulgaria is exploring options to take part in a joint standing maritime group of NATO in the Black Sea.

Talks are being carried out with Romania and Turkey, he has told journalists while in Brussels.

Options to deploy additional military capabilities to the Black Sea are being discussed, Mitov has made clear.