U.S. Vice President Mike Pence on July 30 raised the possibility of deploying the Patriot antimissile defense system in Estonia, the country’s prime minister said. Pence was scheduled to meet in Talinn on July 31 with the presidents of Latvia and Lithuania, then he will visit Georgia and Montenegro. Source: RadioFreeEurope
Eight Turkish military aircraft on Tuesday carried out 34 violations of Greek national airspace in the northeastern, central and southeastern Aegean, according to defense sources who reported one mock dogfight between Greek and Turkish aircraft. Source: Ekathimerini
An Islamic State offshoot has amassed around 5,000 militants in northern Afghanistan on the border of post-Soviet republics of Central Asia, the director of Russia’s FSB has warned, adding that many of them have fought in Syria. “Especially worrying is re-deployment of terrorist groups into northern provinces of Afghanistan,” Alexander Bortnikov told chiefs of ex-Soviet intelligence services in Dushanbe. He warned that ‘Wilayat Khorasan’, a local Islamic State (IS, formerly ISIS) affiliate, had managed to gather 5,000 fighters in the area. Source: RT
Junior justice minister Mark Harbers has indicated he expects to resign, following the publication of police figures which ‘hid’ the number of asylum seekers suspected of serious crimes. Harbers said in a written statement to MPs that the mistake was his responsibility and that he wishes to debate the issue in parliament before ‘drawing his own conclusions’ – a euphemism for stepping down. It is unclear when the debate will take place. Source: Dutch News
