‘Resurgent Russia’: New hardline NATO Europe commander raises hackles in Moscow

Thursday, May 5, 2016
By Paul Martin

RT.com
5 May, 2016

NATO’s new chief military commander in Europe, Curtis Scaparrotti, vowed to continue his predecessor’s policy of opposing Russia. In Moscow he is seen as an even bigger warmonger by some officials.

US Army General Scaparrotti assumed command of the NATO Allied Command Operations from Air Force General Philip M. Breedlove, who is retiring after a 39-year military career.

Speaking at a ceremony at NATO’s HQ in Brussels, Scaparrotti praised his predecessor’s vision and leadership for the alliance.

NATO is facing a “resurgent Russia striving to project itself as a world power,” Scaparrotti said, as cited by the Pentagon. Other concerns for NATO are terrorism, as well as a refugee crisis “being driven by instability in North Africa and the Middle East,” he said.

“To address these challenges, we must continue to maintain and enhance our levels of readiness and our agility in the spirit of being able to fight tonight if deterrence fails,” he said.

During his NATO tenure, Breedlove was a vocal advocate of putting greater military pressure on Russia, which he called an “existential threat” for the West. At various points he called for reviving Cold War spy missions by U2 planes against Russia, suggested arming Ukraine, claiming that it was being invaded by Russian troops, and accused Moscow of “weaponizing” the inflow of refugees to Europe from the Middle East, among other controversial statements.

Breedlove’s rhetoric was welcomed in countries like Poland, the Baltic States and Ukraine, where anti-Russian sentiment is popular in nationalist circles. Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko even awarded the retiring NATO general the country’s highest order that can be awarded to a foreigner.

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