Lockheed Martin, which manufactures American military aircraft, including the F-16, said yesterday that if approved, it is ready to supply its aircraft to countries that, in turn, might transfer them to Ukraine.

An einem geheimen Ort in der Ostschweiz hat die Schweizer Armee 96 Leopard-2-Panzer eingemottet.
Geradenoch galtensie als Alteisen, eigentlich hätten sie schon verschrottet werden sollen.

New Czech President Pavel to end international isolation

Retired army general and former NATO military committee Chief Petr Pavel won the Czech presidential election, promising to return the country back to the international stage after years of isolation.

In his campaign before the elections, Pavel supported the pro-European course of the country. As a former top NATO official, he emphasised the importance of the defence alliance, particularly in the context of the war in Ukraine.

“President Pavel’s firm Euro-Atlantic orientation towards the EU and NATO and his understanding of Russia’s war and the need to support Ukraine will represent a new approach in Czech behaviour, which will no longer be diluted by the revisionist attitudes of (outgoing) President Miloš Zeman,” Havlíček said.

Zeman was well known for his pro-Russian and pro-Chinese views, preferring investments while turning a blind eye to the problems associated with these countries. According to Havlíček, Zeman even “isolated the Czech Republic in the international arena.”

Miloš Zeman, the Czech president, has a habit of going against mainstream thinking. Despite most Czechs holding unfavourable views of Moscow and Beijing, Zeman has arguably done more than any politician to foster friendships with both countries’ regimes.......After Russia invaded Crimea in 2014, Zeman advised against blaming Vladimir Putin, the Russian president. He called it “a civil war between two groups of Ukrainian citizens”, and then attended Russian Victory Day celebrations in Moscow the following year.

Most controversially, he appeared to defend Russia against his own country’s intelligence agencies. Last year, the Czech government said there was “unequivocal evidence” that Russian military agents were behind the explosion of a huge ammunition depot in the eastern Czech Republic town of Vrbětice in 2014 that left two people dead. Zeman sparked outrage -- including from cabinet ministers -- when he spoke of the “hysteria” and “speculation” about Russia’s involvement.

But Zeman made a resounding volte-face after the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine in late February. On the day of the invasion, he called for Russia to be banned from SWIFT, the international payments scheme, and dubbed the assault “a crime against peace”.

He’s also described Putin as a “madman”. As he put it: “Lunatics need to be isolated, and we must protect against them not only by words but by concrete measures.”

And he has been contrite. Hours after Russia attacked he admitted he had been wrong to previously downplay the possibility of an invasion.