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Friday, September 30, 2016

Electoral battles

Commentary: What the candidates didn’t say about nukes

Republican U.S. presidential nominee Donald Trump and Democratic U.S. presidential nominee Hillary Clinton speak during their first presidential debate, September 26, 2016.    REUTERS/Adrees Latif
This year's presidential campaign has featured relatively little detailed discussion of nuclear policy. That changed—a little—in Monday night's debate.

The final segment of the Hillary Clinton-Donald Trump debate, vaguely titled "Securing America," focused in significant part on the nuclear threat. The discussion--directed largely by the candidates themselves--was substantive. And because both candidates have political reasons to continue to address the existential threat of nuclear weapons, the debate could serve as a much-needed starting point for elaborating on the topic during the remaining two presidential debates.

Monday’s nuclear discussion grew out of a question about cyber security that gradually morphed into arguments about the best ways to combat Islamic State. Clinton suggested that to protect the American people from terrorism, the United States needed an "intelligence surge" that required cooperation with U.S. allies. "We're working with NATO, the longest (lived) military alliance in the history of the world, to really turn our attention to terrorism. We're working with our friends in the Middle East, many of which, as you know, are Muslim-majority nations," Clinton said. "Donald has consistently insulted Muslims abroad, Muslims at home, when we need to be cooperating with Muslim nations and the American Muslim community."
Radiation safety

Request for Proposals: Heading off Nuclear Catastrophe

ips_Re_Nuclear-CCNYwithMacArther_570px.jpgDespite progress through the Nuclear Security Summit, risks persist. There are enough fissile materials to fuel tens of thousands of weapons, and these global stocks are growing. With no further Summits scheduled, and no clear roadmap for future progress, the role of civil society becomes all the more important.
As the Corporation and MacArthur indicated in their Civil Society Gift Basket, there are many impediments to progress and no simple solutions. How can secrecy and national security be balanced with transparency and accountability? How might access to the benefits of civilian nuclear technology be balanced with corresponding security considerations? How can we ensure that solutions take into account the constraints and incentives of existing stakeholders?

Thursday, September 29, 2016

Freedom of information

FBI wanted Tesla’s ‘death ray’ invention for War Dept, documents show

Nikola Tesla. © Wikipedia
The FBI has finally published its cache of files relating to Nikola Tesla, 73 years after “two truckloads” of his property were seized by the US government following the renowned inventor’s death.
The declassified documents have been released under the Freedom of Information Act and revealed the FBI and government’s serious interest in the death ray - a particle beam weapon which Tesla claimed to have invented.
The long-awaited release also contains information on Tesla’s ball lightning experiments and an FBI plot to arrest a family member who they believed was trying to get his hands on Tesla’s treasure trove of documents.
Serbian-born Tesla is most famous for designing the AC electricity supply system. He was also known for his foresight, predicting the smartphone and video calling.

Nuclear security

Nuclear Poker: Why the US Can't Trick Russia Into Changing Its Nuclear Doctrine

Russian soldiers stand near a Topol-M ICBM while participating in a rehearsal for the nation's Victory Day parade outside Moscow in Alabino on April 22, 2008On Tuesday, Senator Edward Markey and Representative Ted Lieu introduced legislation which would bar the president from conducting a nuclear first strike absent a Congressional declaration of war. Russian military analysts comment on the bill, and the prospects it has for changing Russian strategic doctrine.

In the press release for the bill, Senator Markey explained that "by maintaining the option of using nuclear weapons first in a conflict, US policy increases the risk of unintended nuclear escalation." According to the senator, "the President should not use nuclear weapons except in response to a nuclear attack." The proposed "legislation enshrines this simple principle into law."

Biosecurity

Zika Might Spread in Sweat and Tears, Doctors Warn


The Zika virus may spread in sweat and tears in some cases, doctors cautioned Thursday.
The case of a Utah man who infected his adult son before he died leaves no other alternatives, the team at the University of Utah School of Medicine said.
And — more bad news — the 73-year-old patient who died really was not very sick before he caught Zika, which suggests that the virus can occasionally kill people who are not frail and ill.
Dr. Sankar Swaminathan and colleagues describe the case in the New England Journal of Medicine.
The patient, who died in July, was thefirst in the 50 U.S. states to be killed by Zika. He'd been treated for prostate cancer but wasn't especially ill from that, the team wrote in their report.
Cybersecurity

U.S. set to hand over Internet address book

Computer_server
The United States doesn’t own the Internet, but it’s held the oversight contract for the organization that runs its address book for many years. That’s set to change Friday.

The U.S. contract with the non-profit organization in charge of all Internet domain names expires then, and the non-profit running the database will become autonomous and be accountable to international stakeholders in the Internet community. These include a governmental advisory committee, a technical committee, industry committee, internet users and telecommunications experts.

The move has been opposed by some officials and lawmakers like Sen. Ted Cruz who say America is “giving away the Internet.”
Far East

North Korea Brings Japan and China Closer Together -- For a Moment


North Korea Brings Japan and China Closer Together -- For a Moment
Recent North Korean misbehavior – such as the August 24 submarine-launched ballistic missile test, the September 9 nuclear test, and the September 20 long-range rocket engine test (widely considered a cover for developing intercontinental ballistic missile technology) – has produced much of the same old, same old international reaction. That includes moves toward greater Sino-Japanese cooperation to deal with the greatest source of instability in Northeast Asia.
Shortly after the nuclear test, on September 15, Japanese Foreign Minister Fumio Kishida had a phone conversation with Wang Yi, his Chinese counterpart, in which Kishida called on China to help deal with North Korea. After the call, Kishida told reporters, “Both countries bear great responsibility in the international community. So, it was very meaningful that we reconfirmed cooperation.”


Navy

One of Russia's Most Advanced Nuclear Missiles Self-Destructed During a Test Flight


Russia’s R-30 Bulava submarine launched ballistic missile (SLBM) continues to be plagued with problems as a recent test failure shows.
On Sept. 27, K-535 Yuri Dolgoruky, the lead vessel in the Project 955 Borei-class of ballistic missile submarines (SSBNs), launched two Bulava SLBMs from the White Sea at the Kura testing range on the Kamchatka peninsula. While one of the missiles hit its targets successfully, the other self-destructed in flight. “The second rocket self-destructed after the first stage of the mission,” reads a statement from the Russian Ministry of Defense as quoted by the Moscow-based TASS News agency.
The Bulava missile—which is eventually expected to form the backbone of the sea-based portion of Russia’s nuclear deterrence triad—has been plagued with reliability problems. The Bulava had suffered from a string of failures before the weapon was finally declared operational on Oct. 15, 2015, after quality control issues during the production process were allegedly resolved. However, since November 2015, the Bulava has suffered at least three failures out of a total of four launches.
Military

McMaster: Army Must Prioritize Close-Combat Capability

While equipping the soldier doesn’t give Congress and the American public a sexy vehicle, aircraft or weapon to admire, McMaster said modernization dollars need to be focused to the soldier at the squad level. 

His reasoning is that the Army will operate in what it calls “Anti-Access Area Denial” – or A2/AD – environments and, in the future, all domains in which the US military fights will be contested. 

The Army, he said, is focused on establishing the squad-level unit as a foundation of the “decisive force,” which means “the ability to give our infantry and small units the mobility, protection and lethality they need.” 

That could mean equipping the Army with the revolutionary XM25 precision-guided grenade launcher and other advanced weapons like the Lethal Miniature Aerial Munition System (LMAMS), McMaster said. But it could also mean giving soldiers the ability to target, locate and get fires into the fight quickly, he added. 
Innovations & technologies

Carter Meets with Google CEO During Los Alamos Visit

Ash Carter Los AlamosIn July, Carter described the group’s job as “keeping DoD imbued with a culture of innovation in people, organizations, operations, and technology, to support people who innovate, those creative figures in our department who are willing to try new things, fail fast, and iterate; and also to ensure that we’re always doing everything we can to stay ahead of potential adversaries.” 

The board previously announced that it would meet in October to develop suggestions for Carter, and the Pentagon official said Schmidt took time out of his schedule to spend the two days learning about the department to help direct those conversations. 

Los Alamos is home to Plutonium Facility 4, the US government’s science, technology and manufacturing center for plutonium. Press were not invited to visit the lab, but a Los Alamos press release said Carter visited the pit casting area, “where molten plutonium is shaped into a pit, the plutonium core of a nuclear weapon.” 
9/11 investigation

Senators already eyeing changes to 9/11 bill after veto override


With Congress overriding President Obama for the first time, lawmakers in both parties are already eyeing changes to the law at the heart of the showdown.  
The Senate voted 97-1 to override the president's veto of the Justice Against Sponsors of Terrorism Act (JASTA), but a bipartisan group of senators indicated Wednesday that they remain concerned about potential retaliation against Americans.  
Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said lawmakers need to make sure they didn't open "Pandora's box" and reassure Saudi Arabia that Congress isn't "finding them guilty of 9/11." 
"I think the things we can do that would preserve the right to sue here in America ... but also minimize the exposure we have overseas," he added. "We need to think hard about how to modify this bill." 
Graham, who supported the veto override, estimated that approximately 20 senators currently support changing the bill, something he thinks could happen as soon as the end-of-year lame-duck session.
Innovations & technologies

New Security Scanning Method under Development

Researchers from North Carolina State University have used computer models to demonstrate the possibility of a low-cost security imaging device that makes use of inexpensive radio components. Functional prototypes are under development and would be orders of magnitude less expensive than existing imaging devices.
Currently, scanning devices that detect hidden weapons or contraband in airports rely on millimeter-wave cameras, which can cost more than $175,000. The cost of the technology is a significant limiting factor in determining where, and whether, to use these scanners.
Brian Floyd, an associate professor of electrical and computer engineering at NC State and lead researcher on the effort: “Our goal is to develop imaging technology that would be functional and affordable, making use of multi-antenna systems”.
Before developing a prototype, Floyd wanted to be sure that the idea would work. So, he and a team of students developed both a computer model and algorithms to simulate how – and whether – the new method would produce useful images, it did.

Wednesday, September 28, 2016

Electronic surveillance

Eavesdropping Norway Rolls Out Two New Spy Ships

Norwegian surveillance vessel MarjataRussia's refurbishing of military bases and civil infrastructure along the Northern Sea Route from Murmansk to the Far East has prompted the Norwegian Intelligence Service to believe it needs more monitoring capacity; Norway claims the two spy ships it has are insufficient. Both of Norway's intelligence collection ships will be sent into the high Arctic to gather data on Russia's military maneuvers.

In a few months, the FS Marjata will therefore keep company with the ship it was originally supposed to replace, which has been renamed the FS Eger after receiving a full overhaul and becoming modernized. Both reconnaissance ships are heading to neutral waters in the Norwegian Sea and the Barents Sea, but will be tasked with monitoring Russian activity exclusively.



Organ trafficking

Ukraine-Born Volfman Arrested in Tirana on Suspicion of Human Organ Trafficking

Human traffickingBoris Igor Volfman, born in Ukraine in 1984, could be involved in the work of an illegal network that is engaged in human organ trafficking from Costa Rica to Kosovo, Kossev news said on Wednesday.

European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX Kosovo) data shows that the network includes several doctors who perform illegal organ transplants and Volfman is one of them, Kossev said. The man, who holds both Russian and Israeli citizenship, has already been arrested over illegal human organ trafficking three times. According to law enforcement, he has been involved in the illegal trade since 2008.


Public security

Homegrown terrorists to target concerts, sporting events, Homeland Security warns


First responders work near the scene of an explosion in Manhattan's Chelsea neighborhood on Sept. 17 in New York. Although the pressure cooker bomb that wounded over two dozen people on the street went off in front of an apartment building for the blind, none of the building's residents were hurt in the blast. (Associated Press)
The nation’s top counterterrorism official testified Tuesday that the world’s army of terrorists is “broader, wider and deeper than any point since 9/11,” the day al Qaeda attacked America.
Nicholas Rasmussen, who directs the National Counterterrorism Center, said the Islamic State may be losing ground in Iraq and Syria but its ability to strike abroad, including in the U.S., “has not thus far been significantly diminished.”
The nation is facing a phase in which people quickly radicalize and launch simple but deadly attacks before authorities have time to detect them, he said.
His testimony to the Senate Homeland Security Committee conflicts with upbeat reports from the White House, which has focused on territorial losses in Syria and Iraq as signs that the Islamic State is being defeated.
“Even ISIL’s leaders know they’re going to keep losing,” President Obama said in August. “In their message to followers, they’re increasingly acknowledging that they may lose Mosul and Raqqa, and ISIL is right … they will lose them. And we’ll keep hitting them and pushing them back and driving them out until they do.”
Penitentiary

Coalition Petitions Homeland Security to End Privatization of Detention Centers


Peter Macdiarmid/GettyLast Month, the U.S. Department of Justice announced that it will phase out the use of privately operated prisons, citing data that shows for-profit institutions are not as safe or effective as those run directly by the government.

Today (September 28), a coalition of 350 legal rights and progressive organizations—including Color Of Change, Presente,Black Alliance for Just Immigration, Mijente and the American Civil Liberties Union—delivered a petition demanding that the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) follow suit and dump its contracts with private corporations.

The petition, signed by more than 250,000 people, was delivered to the DHS office in Washington, D.C. in conjunction with a press conference where former detainees shared their experiences of being in privately-run detention centers.
Military

Sweden Proposes Reintroduction of Compulsory Military Service

A squad from the Swedish army's Skaraborg Regiment patrols outside Visby on the island of Gotland.Sweden’s government on Wednesday proposed the reintroduction of compulsory military service, as the country continues to rebuild its national defenses amid rising tension around the Baltic Sea.

The proposal, which was generated by a government inquiry, would see the recruitment process for military service begin in July of next year, with the training of new entrants to start in early 2018.

The inquiry recommended Swedes born in 1999 and 2000 form the first intake. It proposes 4,000 new recruits be trained in 2018.

The move is the latest step in a ramp up of the Swedish military, which has seen defense budgets rise and troops deployed to the strategic Baltic Sea island of Gotland for the first time in a decade.
Drills

Russia, Pakistan conduct first-ever joint military drills (PHOTOS)

© Ministry of defence of the Russian Federation
Russian and Pakistani servicemen conducted their first joint military exercises in Pakistan in a historic moment of cooperation between the former Cold War rivals.

A series of war games known as Friendship 2016 kicked off Monday, opening at a special forces academy in Cherat. During the ceremony, Russian forces showed the Pakistanis their weaponry, including the VSS Vintorez sniper rifle and the NRS-2 combat knife.

On Tuesday, over 40 soldiers from the two countries took part in a mountain training exercise. Carrying equipment weighing around 15kg, representatives from the Southern Military District’s mountain infantry brigade based in Karachay-Cherkessiya demonstrated how to make a safety mechanism using a station knot.

Their Pakistani colleagues returned the favor, showing them another safety mechanism using a special rope with three knots. Both systems would come in useful under extreme circumstances, where access to resources is limited.
9|11 investigation

CIA Director Warns US Congress Not to Allow 9/11 Lawsuits Against Saudi Arabia

CIA Director John BrennanThe measure targets participation by Saudi nationals in the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks on New York and Washington, as well as possible complicity by some officials in the Saudi government.

"The most damaging consequence would be for those US government officials who dutifully work overseas on behalf of our country," Brennan said. The statement explained that the law would be especially risky for CIA employees because the measure would undermine sovereign immunity, a legal principle rooted in reciprocity. "If we fail to uphold this standard for other countries, we place our own nation’s officials in danger," Brennan stated. Earlier on Wednesday, the US Senate voted to override the president’s veto and the House of Representatives is expected to follow suit within hours.





Human trafficking

Anti-sex-trafficking summit hopes to find global solution

Prosecutors are calling the scourge of sex trafficking a form of modern-day slavery that touches every state in the nation, and they’re working to draw connections between active investigations around the globe at a summit in Waikiki. 

Representatives from eight countries and a dozen states met to share details about cases of victims forced into the sex industry, hoping to collaborate on strategies to bring traffickers to justice. 

“Sex trafficking internationally is somewhere between a $7 billion and $23 billion business,” said Cyrus Vance Jr., district attorney for New York County. “It’s second to international arms sales in terms of the scope of the crime and the money that’s involved with it. So it’s huge. And it’s in every community in America - whether we like to acknowledge it or not - and every country around the world.”
Tortures

Bodies of evidence: psychologists and the CIA torture scandal

Cracked photograph of man's back during torture/interrogationIn the summer of 1975, in the weeks before President Gerald Ford dodged the first of two assassination attempts, the Rockefeller Commission issued a report into the Central Intelligence Agency’s illegal surveillance of home-grown subversives. Prompted by The New York Times’ reporting of the agency’s involvement in opening the mail and tapping the phones of anti-Vietnam War protesters and civil rights activists, the 300-page report uncovered little new information. However, it did find something equally worrying: a paper trail cataloguing the large number of American psychologists whose research had been secretly funded by the CIA.
Cybersecurity

Russian Firm King Servers to Ask FBI to Conduct Probe Into Cyberattacks in US

'Enter' keyEarlier, US experts said, that King Servers owned six out of eight IP addresses that FBI made public during the investigation. This was called one of the reasons, why the US accused the Russian firm of being involvement in the crime.

"We are outraged that someone used our servers to conduct criminal actions… Our lawyers are considering the possibility of addressing the FBI or other intelligence services to offer starting a joint investigation," the firm’s owner Vladimir Fomenko told RIA Novosti.



Criminology

Murders up 10.8% in biggest percentage increase since 1971, FBI data shows

Police investigate the scene of a homicide in Fredericksburg, Virginia, in April 2015.
Murders in the US rose 10.8% last year, the biggest single-year percentage jump since 1971, according to data released Monday by the FBI.
The rising violence was driven by an increase in the murders of black men, and by an increase in the number of gun murders. At least 900 more black men were killed in 2015 than in 2014, according to FBI data.
There were roughly 1,500 additional firearm murders in 2015. No other type of weapon saw a comparable increase. The number of knife murders dropped slightly.
The percentage of murders committed with guns increased to 71.5%.
Forensics

White House Advisory Council Report Is Critical of Forensics Used in Criminal Trials


The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology’s final report on forensics concluded that much of the bite-mark, hair, footwear, firearm and tool-mark analysis used as evidence in trials doesn’t meet scientific standards.The President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology released a final report Tuesday on forensics, concluding that much of the most common analysis used in criminal trials doesn’t meet scientific standards.

The final document nearly mirrored a draft report reviewed by The Wall Street Journal that raised questions about the use of bite-mark, hair, footwear, firearm and tool-mark analysis as evidence in thousands of trials annually in state and federal courts.

It sets the stage for criminal-defense challenges of long-held evidentiary methods and promises increased courtroom battles with prosecutors over the use of expert witnesses.
Law enforcement

Women in Combat: Female Battalion in Iran Joins Law Enforcement

Iranian female police officers wearing chadors parade during a female police graduation ceremony at the Police Academy in Tehran, Iran. (File)The commander of the Islamic Republic of Iran’s special forces division, General Hassan Karami, has announced the establishment of a women's special forces battalion in Iran.

According to the commander of the special forces, General Hassan Karami, the battalion is a volunteer unit that receives special military training and ensures that the tasks are performed on time. Women who are interested in serving in the battalion, can apply at any branch of Iran's voluntary police. 


Terror threat

‘Terrorists need to be lucky once, intelligence has to be lucky always’


© Charles Platiau
Despite the great deal of work intelligence and security agencies are doing to counter terrorism, luck is also a big factor when it comes to providing the safety of our countries, says Chris Hunter, a retired British Army bomb disposal officer.
A leading EU security official has warned Islamic State could be about to change its style of terror in Europe, possibly involving chemical weapons.
RT: Does ISIS really have the ability to carry out a chemical attack in Europe?
Chris Hunter: Yes, I think first and foremost, what we are seeing is a changing modus operandi. Any terror group, there sole intention is to spread fear and terror to achieve their objectives. And in the theaters in which they operate, they will identify certain tactics, techniques and procedures which are successful at installing that widespread fear.
Poll results

CNN said Hillary won the debate. Why do so many polls seem to say otherwise?


Take a look for example, at the polls shared  by conservative news aggregation site, The Drudge Report. At the top of their list was a seemingly scientific post-debate poll claiming to come from ABC News. According to ABC News, Drudge claimed, 54% of respondents would now be voting for Trump, followed by 21% for Jill Stein, 15% for Gary Johnson, and just 10% for Hillary Clinton, despite the fact that Stein and Johnson didn't even compete in the debate.
The poll, which Drudge linked to and which was shared by some #TrumpWon supporters on Twitter, actually came from a fake ABC News site with the address "abcnewsgo.co," not the outlet's real site, "abcnews.go.com."

Other polls weren't so conclusive. Slate, TimeBreitbart, and CNBC online polls all gave the debate to Trump. Even though Slate and Time warned their readers that their site's polls were mostly fun and unscientific ("Online reader polls like this one are not statistically representative of likely voters, and are not predictive of the debate outcome will effect the election," Timewrote), the numbers and the subsequent viral screenshots sharply contrasted with the dominant ("mainstream") narrative that Hillary had won.
Electoral battles

Tuesday, September 27, 2016

Nuclear security

US Congress Bill Bans President From Launching ‘First Use’ Nuclear Strike

Newly-introduced legislation would ban the US commander-in-chief from authorizing a nuclear attack without approval from the legislative branch, Congressman Ted Lieu and Senator Ed Markey said in a press release on Tuesday.The release claimed that the issue of "nuclear first use" is even more critical in light of the fact that a majority of Americans do not trust Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump with the US nuclear arsenal.

"This legislation would prohibit the [US] President from launching a nuclear first strike without a declaration of war by Congress," the release stated. On Monday, US Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton during the campaign’s first debate argued that Trump’s position on nuclear weapons runs contrary to longstanding US policy given he has repeatedly said he did not care if other countries possessed them.
Spy story

World War Two spy's row with wife 'almost ruined D-Day'


Agent Garbo with his wife, Araceli
A row between a spy and his wife almost compromised World War Two D-Day operations, secret MI5 files show.
Juan Pujol, who was codenamed Agent Garbo, had helped to convince the Nazis the landings would not take place in Normandy but in the Pas-de-Calais.
But after being confined to their London house to protect his identity, his wife threatened to go to the Spanish embassy in a row in June 1943.
She said she would tell all unless she was allowed to visit her mother.

Homesick

The family was based in Harrow, north-west London, where Agent Garbo had a network of sub-agents sending false intelligence reports to his German spymasters.
His feedback of false information to the Nazis diverted them away from the scene of the actual D-Day landings on 6 June 1944.

Extremism

Homegrown attacks are an increasing threat, Homeland Security chief says

Картинки по запросу senateBombings in New York and New Jersey — and a stabbing attack in Minnesota the same day — underscore that homegrown attacks inspired by violent extremists are as much a threat to the United States as those directed by terrorists, the nation's Homeland Security chief says. 

While all attacks are difficult to detect and prevent, Homeland Security Secretary Jeh Johnson said the United States and its allies continue to "take the fight militarily to terrorist organizations overseas" 15 years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on New York and Washington.

In prepared testimony before a Senate committee Tuesday, Johnson said airstrikes and special operations against the so-called Islamic State terror group have led to the deaths of a number of its leaders. While it remains a threat, the Islamic State has lost nearly half the populated areas it once controlled in Iraq and thousands of square miles in Syria, Johnson said.
Homeland security

This Plan for Streamlining Oversight Would Enhance Homeland Security


Key government officials are ready to reform congressional oversight of the Department of Homeland Security, something that is long overdue.
Rep. Michael McCaul, R-Texas, chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, has suggested in recent days that he would like to streamline that oversight.
While it may sound strange, the homeland security committees in the House and the Senate aren’t primarily responsible for oversight of the Department of Homeland Security.
When Congress, during the George W. Bush administration, created the new department in the wake of the 9/11 terrorist attacks by pulling together agencies from 22 other departments, each congressional committee kept its oversight authority of those agencies.
European security

EU Defense Ministers Discuss Deeper Military Cooperation


The European Union’s foreign policy chief, Federica Mogherini, left, and NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg answer questions from the media as they arrive for a meeting of EU defense ministers in Bratislava, Slovakia, on Tuesday.
European Union defense ministers on Tuesday discussed proposals for increased military cooperation while Britain and some Eastern European governments expressed concern that such collaboration could undermine the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and duplicate the alliance’s work.
The proposals debated by the ministers, who met in the Slovak capital Bratislava, are part of a push by European officials and diplomats to strengthen European ties after Britain’s vote in June to leave the EU.
Europe is also under pressure from the U.S. to step up its military spending. Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump echoed those calls on Monday evening, as he pressed Europe to shoulder more of the burden of its own defense.