Faced With Anti-NATO Protests, Small Contingent Of U.S. Military Troops Fails To Gain NATO Toehold In Crimean Autonomous Republic Of Ukraine
"Ukraine officials say some 200 U.S. Marine reservists today began leaving Ukraine after a stay marked by anti-NATO demonstrations.
The reservists arrived in Crimea by ship on May 27, with plans to repair a local training base.
But their presence provoked protests by communists and pro-Russian parties, who said NATO was trying to gain a foothold in Ukraine.
The Defense Ministry in Kyiv said on June 11 that the reservists were leaving because their contract had ended. Associated Press reports, however, that no repair work was done at the base.
Ukraine's military cooperation with the West suffered an apparent setback when, on June 8, Ukraine and Britain postponed planned joint military exercises less than a week before they were due to start. Whether the exercises eventually take place will depend on parliament.
It will also be parliament that decides whether multinational military exercises, held annually under the name Sea Breeze, can go ahead, the head of the National Security and Defense Council, Volodymyr Horbulin, said on June 11.
President Viktor Yushchenko has invited 12 nations to join."
Associated Press and Agence France Presse "U.S. Marines Leave Ukraine" via Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty June 11, 2006
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/6/
F3F0B345-FC15-47FF-9D02-42FE43AA72DE.html
NATO military equipment disembarking at the Crimean port of Feodosiya in late May. NATO had hoped to build up militarily the port city of Feodosiya in order to by-pass the Russian Black Sea naval presence at the Russian leased port of Sebastopol, the Crimean Autonomous Republic of Ukraine.
Central Sebastopol was rebuilt from Nazi destruction, and features some of the finest architecture of the Stalinist period. It was a closed naval garrison city from 1917 to 1996; but is expected to join the former Russian Imperial Summer Resort city of Yalta, Crimea as a major international tourist destination in the Crimean Autonomous Republic of Ukraine.
Photo credit: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. With thanks.
The reservists arrived in Crimea by ship on May 27, with plans to repair a local training base.
But their presence provoked protests by communists and pro-Russian parties, who said NATO was trying to gain a foothold in Ukraine.
The Defense Ministry in Kyiv said on June 11 that the reservists were leaving because their contract had ended. Associated Press reports, however, that no repair work was done at the base.
Ukraine's military cooperation with the West suffered an apparent setback when, on June 8, Ukraine and Britain postponed planned joint military exercises less than a week before they were due to start. Whether the exercises eventually take place will depend on parliament.
It will also be parliament that decides whether multinational military exercises, held annually under the name Sea Breeze, can go ahead, the head of the National Security and Defense Council, Volodymyr Horbulin, said on June 11.
President Viktor Yushchenko has invited 12 nations to join."
Associated Press and Agence France Presse "U.S. Marines Leave Ukraine" via Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty June 11, 2006
http://www.rferl.org/featuresarticle/2006/6/
F3F0B345-FC15-47FF-9D02-42FE43AA72DE.html
NATO military equipment disembarking at the Crimean port of Feodosiya in late May. NATO had hoped to build up militarily the port city of Feodosiya in order to by-pass the Russian Black Sea naval presence at the Russian leased port of Sebastopol, the Crimean Autonomous Republic of Ukraine.
Central Sebastopol was rebuilt from Nazi destruction, and features some of the finest architecture of the Stalinist period. It was a closed naval garrison city from 1917 to 1996; but is expected to join the former Russian Imperial Summer Resort city of Yalta, Crimea as a major international tourist destination in the Crimean Autonomous Republic of Ukraine.
Photo credit: Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. With thanks.
posted by Garth Trinkl at 7:37 AM
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