So I said to the American people, here’s our narrow mission. We have carried out that narrow mission in exemplary fashion. And throughout this process we consulted with Congress.

NATO was today urgently reviewing the conduct of its military campaign in Libya after France admitted arming rebel fighters in apparent defiance of the UN mandate.

Jean-Francois Bureau is echoing U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates’ warning that NATO’s survival is at risk because of Europe’s military cutbacks.

With a slim 155 in favour and 137 against, the centre-left government of Prime Minister Papandreou managed to pressure all rebel MPs to back the package, shocking his deputies with visions of tanks on the streets of the capital if the bill did not pass.

Former Minnesota governor Tim Pawlenty sought to claim the mantle of Ronald Reagan, delivering a speech at the Council on Foreign Relations that vigorously endorsed a freedom-centered foreign policy for the Republican Party.

French finance minister Christine Lagarde has been appointed as the new chief of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) at a time of unprecedented economic turmoil in the eurozone.

European Union officials are working on a contingency plan for Greece if its parliament rejects an austerity programme and the country cannot receive the next instalment of EU/IMF emergency loans, three euro zone sources said yesterday (27 June).

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao has promised greater co-operation between his country and troubled European nations, including the further purchase of public debt.

Bulgaria is likely to host elements of the US/NATO missile defense system in Europe instead of Turkey if Turkey refuses to host them, according to Bulgarian Deputy Defense Minister Avgustina Tsvetkova.

David Cameron won a battle last night to prevent British taxpayers' money being used to bail out Greece.

The strategic reality is that our nation is now engaged in a fight. It will either end in the demise of a brutal anti-American dictator, or in his victory over us and our allies. The latter would be an extremely harmful outcome for the U.S.

President Obama failed to offer a convincing military or strategic rationale for the troop withdrawals from Afghanistan that he announced Wednesday night. In several ways, they are at odds with the strategy adopted by NATO.

As EU leaders ready themselves to gather in Brussels amid perhaps the EU's worst existential crisis, fresh details of frustration at the new Greek finance minister have emerged.

The confidence vote came just hours after Fitch, one of the big three credit ratings agencies, declared that it will assess Greece as in default if private bondholders agree to even the softest of voluntary participation in any second bail-out.

The Kommersant daily, citing a confidential document outlining cooperation between Ukraine and the military bloc for the current year, said Yanukovych sought closer ties with NATO even more stoutly than his openly pro-Western predecessor Viktor Yushchenko

In a letter sent to EU heads of state and government, European Commission President José Manuel Barroso has laid down his services' red lines regarding to the EU's priorities ahead of a summit on 23-24 June.

The development of the Missile Defence in the NATO framework continues to enjoy a strong support of the Czech Republic that seeks to participate in the project in a meaningful way.

The UK's treasury minister has - during a cut-and-thrust debate in parliament - admitted that London is preparing for a potential break-up of the eurozone.

French foreign minister Alain Juppe has predicted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad will be next to fall in the Arab Spring, even as the EU pinned its hopes on Turkey to help stop violence.

Obama will announce the critical next steps in the war in Afghanistan on Wednesday, outlining both a plan to start bringing thousands of U.S. troops home next month and a broader withdrawal blueprint aimed at giving Afghans control of their own security i

EU finance minsters warned Greece on Tuesday that it must achieve "national unity" on its new austerity package and push through the measures or the latest tranche of bail-out cash would not be handed over.

Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chairwoman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, denounced the deal under which France will transfer sensitive military technology to Russia for the first time since World War II.

NATO's Secretary General has warned that continued disparity in US and European defence spending might lead to a "two-tiered alliance" in which American and European troops would not be able to fight effectively together.

NATO Secretary General, Anders Fogh Rasmussen, met on 15 June with UK Prime Minister David Cameron and Foreign Secretary William Hague in London.

The Czech Republic is withdrawing from U.S. missile defense plans out of frustration at its diminished role, the Czech defense minister told The Associated Press Wednesday.

Europe’s declining interest in paying for global security is becoming a serious anxiety for policymakers in Washington.

"There has been no result," German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble told reporters after talks in Brussels which ended late yesterday. Eurozone finance ministers agreed to meet again on 19 June.

Adm. Mark Stanhope said in a briefing that he was comfortable with NATO's decision to extend the Libya operation to the end of September. Beyond that, he said, the government would need to make "challenging decisions."

Greece, which has been shut out of international markets since a 2009 default, now has a lower credit rating than countries such as Pakistan and Ecuador. The cost of insuring Greek debt is now almost twice as high as the price of insuring Pakistani bonds.

The cables divide EU countries into three groups: countries already opposed to the UN step, undecided countries and resolutely pro-Palestinian countries.

"Today, for yet another time, democracy and the national will have prevailed," Erdogan said from the balcony of his party's headquarters in Ankara during a victory speech to supporters.

“This is no longer a hypothetical worry,” Gates added. “We are there today. And it is unacceptable. . . .”

Ahead of the EU-Russia summit, which opens yesterday in Nizhny Novgorod , Russian Ambassador to the EU Vladimir Chizhov said the issue of what he termed 'EU coli' would "not pass without attention".

Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, criticised five European Nato members on Wednesday for not doing enough in the air war over Libya, a rare diplomatic breach that underlines the growing tensions within the alliance over who is bearing the burden.

Today, NATO Defence Ministers met with the Defence Ministers of the partner countries that are contributing to Operation Unified Protector to protect civilians in Libya.

The President of the Republic of Croatia, Mr. Ivo Josipovic visited NATO Headquarters on Tuesday 7 June 2011 and discussed with the NATO Secretary General a range of issues of interest to the Alliance, including the NATO-led Operation Unified Protector.

Georgia said Monday it had foiled an attempt to bomb a NATO office in the capital Tbilisi ordered by the ex-Soviet state's foe Russia in what it said was the second thwarted attack in the past week.

NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said Monday he will ask some of the more reluctant allies to step up their participation in the military campaign against Libyan strongman Moammar Gadhafi.

Portugal's centre-right Social Democrats (PSD) recorded a convincing win over the Socialists in a general election yesterday (5 June). European Commission President José Manuel Barroso said these were the country's "most important elections" since 19

The election commission said on its website that, with 81% of the vote counted, the VMRO-DPMNE had won 39%, and its main opponents, the Social Democrats (SDSM), 32%.

Using his trademark colourful language, Putin told press in Sochi on Friday (3 June) that he will not lift Russia's E-Coli-related import ban on EU vegetables.

The targets included command and control centers, a number of military support facilities and anti-aircraft weapon sites.

British Apache and French attack helicopters struck targets for the first time in NATO's campaign in Libya, hitting Moammar Gadhafi's troops early Saturday near a key coastal oil city, the alliance said.

“Once military forces are committed, such actions by the Congress can have significant consequences,” Morrell said. “It sends an unhelpful message of disunity and uncertainty to our troops, our allies and, most importantly, the Qadhafi regime.”

House Speaker John Boehner has introduced a resolution on Libya that bars the use of any American ground troops in Libya and notes that President Barack Obama did not ask Congress for authorization to engage in a bombing campaign with NATO.

The EU's next long-term budget for 2014-2020 will be at the centre of Poland's EU Presidency during the second half of the year, with Warsaw eyeing a bigger share of EU spending, it emerges from the country's programme, unveiled on 31 May.

NATO allies should concentrate on taking fresh steps on three fronts: strengthening European defense, enhancing the transatlantic relationship, and engaging with emerging powers on common challenges.

The policy brief, called 'The Scramble for Europe', will be published by the European Council on Foreign Relations in July and claims that a lack of European cohesion has invited China to deal bilaterally with individual member states to exploit their div

Not since the 1930s has an American president struck such an isolationist theme in a speech to the American people, however.

The lack of willingness to “make the tough decisions together” arises from more than lack of political will; it strikes directly at diverging views about the role and purpose of the alliance.

With a "dim, if not dismal future," as outgoing U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates put it in a valedictory address before his NATO opposite numbers, NATO is "facing the very real possibility of collective military irrelevance."

President Obama’s new national security team faces a wide range of major challenges, some inherited from its predecessors and some shaped by forces outside its control.

Obviously, the ENP Review is not a tool for integration; it will serve as a tool for cooperation, development and support. A key task for Ukraine and the EU will be to create a strong synergy between the ‘new ENP’ and the existing mechanisms for cooperati

But reluctance of some European nations to expand defense budgets and take on direct combat has created what amounts to a two-tier alliance. Gates said this could spell the demise of NATO.

Poland, an ambitious Central European state with aspirations to play an increasingly important role on the European stage, has reliably joined US-led coalitions of the willing even when faced with strong opposition. Until the Libya crisis.

“This could mean the end of NATO—if NATO cannot defeat a third-rate military power, then NATO is probably going to go out of business,” said McCain said.

President Barack Obama announced Tuesday that Chicago will host the NATO and G-8 summits in May 2012. The summits will bring leaders from 28 NATO states and members of the G-8 to the city at a critical moment for world politics.

According to well placed sources, the Chicago Summit will take place in May and occur in tandem with a G-8 Summit that will include global partners.

Eurozone economy chiefs are in Luxembourg for another emergency meeting to attempt to patch together a solution to the Greek crisis that, in the words of Finland's finance minister, does not cause "total disaster".

Amid a day of fresh riots, blockades of government buildings throughout the country and a general strike, Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou announced he is to shuffle his cabinet and hold a vote of confidence in parliament on Thursday (16 June).

Poland hopes that its upcoming EU presidency will complete its transformation from a prickly newcomer to an established member of the EU elite.

By this reform, agencies will be organized along 3 major programmatic themes: Procurement, Support and Communications and Information.

The centre-right's march across Europe in the wake of the crisis advanced still further afield on Sunday, with Portuguese voters pushing aside the governing Socialists in favour of their conservative rivals, the Social Democrats.