Bosphorus ship movements – 4 January 2017

On the 4^th of January two Russian Naval ships were spotted heading northbound into the Black Sea. The ships were the Okhtenskiy Class rescue tug SB-5 and the Kazan-50

Bosphorus ship movements – 3 January 2017

On the 3^rd of January the Russian Naval Ropucha class landing ship Alexander Shabalin (110) was sited heading southbound into the Mediterranean.

Bosphorus ship movements – 1 January 2017

On the 1^st of January the Romanian Coast Guard Ship MAI-1102 was spotted heading southbound into the Mediterranean.

Bosphorus ship movements – 4 November 2016

     On 4 November 2016 the brand new guided missile frigate Admiral Grigorovich(484) of the Black Sea Fleet was spotted southbound. The Admiral Grigorovich class (Фрегаты проекта 11356Р/М) is the latest class of frigates ordered by the Russian Navy for the Black Sea Fleet. Six ships (two batches of three ships)[2] have been ordered so far to be built by the "Yantar" shipyard in Kaliningrad.  

Also heading southbound was the minesweeper Professor Nikolai Muru (SB45).

Austria sends troops to Hungary-Serbia border

 

A new fence is being built at the Hungarian-Serbian
border on October 27, 2016 (AFP Photo/Csaba Segesvari)

   Vienna (AFP) --- Austria on Thursday sent 60 troops to Hungary's border with non-EU Serbia as Vienna's defence minister warned that the EU's migrants deal with Turkey was "showing cracks".

     Austria's defence ministry said that the soldiers will not be armed or be involved in intercepting people making it past Hungary's border fence with Serbia.

     Hungary has been criticized by rights groups and others for its alleged mistreatment of refugees and its refusal to take in some of the huge numbers of refugees who arrived in Europe in 2015.

     Based at Hodmezovasarhely near Szeged in south-east Hungary initially for six months, the Austrian soldiers are sappers who will help build roads and erect containers.

     Defence Minister Hans Peter Doskozil said that EU countries needed to do more to protect their borders because the bloc's accord with Turkey risked unravelling.

     "In my opinion the cracks in this accord are starting to show," Doskozil told Oe1 public radio. "We have a time window in Europe in which to organise ourselves" before the deal collapses, he said.

     "Therefore it is right, and high time, that... EU member states recognise this and confront this challenge, deal with the problem themselves and be ready to act themselves."

     Under the EU-Turkey deal in force since March, Ankara agreed to take back migrants who made it to Greece in return for being allowed to send Syrians to the bloc in an orderly redistribution programme.

     However Greece has been slow to send migrants back to Turkey. Athens says this is because many have applied for asylum which means that they cannot be moved until the claims are processed.

In addition Greece complains that the EU has failed to provide additional assistance as promised and to share enough of the thousands of migrants around the bloc.

     Athens wants to transfer some of the nearly 16,000 migrants on its islands to the mainland but faces opposition from EU partners who fear a mass resurgence of migrants heading north, Greek migration minister Yannis Mouzalas said Monday.

Bosphorus ship movements – 30 October 2016

     On the 30^th of October the USS Carney (64) was spotted heading southbound into the Mediterranean. The USS Carney (DDG-64) is the 14th Arleigh Burke-class destroyer in the United States Navy and its home port is in Rota, Spain.

NATO increasing military presence in Eastern Europe to counter Russia

     BRUSSELS, Oct. 27 (UPI) -- NATO countries, including the United States and Britain, on Wednesday pledged to increase their military presence in Eastern Europe to levels rivaling the Cold War to counter Russian aggression.

     Britain said it would send fighter jets to Romania in 2017, also contributing to a 4,000-strong ground force along with Germany, Canada and other allies to be deployed in the Baltic states and Eastern Europe.

     The United States pledged tanks, artillery and more than 900 ground troops to Poland as part of a "battle-ready" task force ordered by President Barack Obama.

     The announcement follows an agreement of a NATO summit in Warsaw in July in which NATO said it would deploy four battalions by early 2017 in the region. NATO defense ministers met on Wednesday and Thursday in Brussels to discuss how to handle NATO's "deterrence and defense, and also on how to project stability beyond our borders."

     "Close to our borders, Russia continues its assertive military posturing. Including with massive, non-notice exercises," NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said during a press conference. "This month alone, Russia has deployed nuclear-capable Iskander missiles to Kaliningrad and suspended a weapons-grade plutonium agreement with the United States. And Russia continues to destabilize eastern Ukraine with military and financial support for the separatists. These moves do not lower tensions or restore predictability to our relations."

     Stoltenberg also criticized Russia's actions in Syria, particularly in Aleppo. In September 2015, Russia began aiding Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, a longtime ally, by carrying out airstrikes against Assad's enemies -- which include the Islamic State and rebel forces, some of which are considered moderate by the United States.

     Stoltenberg said that although NATO is working to deescalate tensions and increase dialogue with Russia to establish a "more cooperative and constructive relationship" -- adding that NATO does not "want a new Cold War" or a "new arms race" -- the alliance must react to Russia's "substantial and significant military buildup."

    "Russia has tripled defense spending. Russia has invested heavily in a modern military equipment," Stoltenberg added. "They are conducting a large scale no notice exercises close to NATO boarders, but perhaps most importantly Russia has been willing to use military force against neighbors. We have seen that in Georgia and we have seen it in Ukraine with illegal annexation of Crimea and the continued destabilization of Eastern Ukraine."