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Euractiv
28-07-2025
- Politics
- Euractiv
Patriotism or PR? Slovakia's new military training draws mixed reactions
Slovakia has wrapped up the first round of its new voluntary military training course, but as defence experts praise the drills, critics accusing politicians like President Peter Pellegrini of turning it into a PR stunt. Launched in July, the new 14-day National Defence Forces (NDF) programme is part of Slovakia's effort to rebuild its long-neglected military reserves. Open to participants aged 18–55, the programme offers participants €1,500 and potential paths to further training or emergency response roles. To promote the scheme, Pellegrini and Defence Minister Robert Kaliňák joined the first round on 10 July. But images of the pair in camouflage and combat poses quickly drew ridicule online. Far-right coalition leader Andrej Danko mocked Pellegrini and urged him to 'stop clowning around and go home already.' Despite the optics, defence experts support the programme. "Although it looks more like a celebrity show than real, meaningful military training right now, it's good that it brought attention to the issue of military reserves," retired general Pavel Macko told Denník N , noting that Slovakia currently has just 100-150 active reservists – well short of the needed 'tens of thousands'. Lucia Yar, Slovak defence expert and MEP for the liberal Renew group, welcomed the programme, pointing out that Slovakia was one of the last NATO countries on the eastern flank without a voluntary training scheme. Still, she criticised the participation of government officials who had previously undermined defence initiatives , describing it as the programme's most serious flaw. Pacifists turned soldiers? Pellegrini and Kaliňák both avoided mandatory military service before it was abolished in 2006 and have long held reputations as pacifists. During the 2024 election, Pellegrini styled himself as a 'president of peace,' and sought to portray his liberal rival Ivan Korčok as a warmonger who would send Slovak troops to Ukraine. For his part, Kaliňák has previously argued that resistance to invasion is futile, referencing the 1968 Soviet occupation. 'If our parents had resisted, many of us wouldn't be here today,' he said, adding that 'the Russians always leave eventually.' Even Richard Glück, chair of the parliamentary defence committee and fellow training participant, once signed a declaration refusing to defend Slovakia with a weapon in hand. 'Unfortunate and counterproductive' Yar and others also questioned whether it was appropriate for top officials to train alongside regular recruits. "Government politicians – who either helped create the programme or are now taking part in it – are damaging its reputation and discouraging potential applicants. It's unfortunate and counterproductive," Yar told Euractiv Slovakia . Other experts also questioned the decision to have the defence minister and president train alongside regular recruits, noting that one oversees the armed forces and the other serves as their commander-in-chief. Meanwhile, the course itself has also come under fire for being too short to offer serious preparation. Follow-up opportunities also remain unclear, with the defence ministry yet to announce a timeline or locations for the next rounds, Yar noted. (de)
The National
03-07-2025
- Politics
- The National
Inside the Syrian government's hunt for Assad military loyalists
Former warlord Ghazwan Al Salmoni carved a niche in the Syrian civil war, commanding an abduction and extortion ring that specialised in ambushing lorry cargo traffic near his home in the centre of the country. He held absolute power as a commander in the National Defence Forces, a key regime-aligned militia, in the Alawite village of Sabburah, strategically located on the main route to a Kurdish militia stronghold in the Badia desert, which maintained business ties with the former government. In July last year, former president Bashar Al Assad appointed Mr Al Salmoni as a parliamentarian, a reward for loyalty that provided immunity from prosecution. The status of both men evaporated when the Alawite-dominated regime was ousted five months later, replaced by Hayat Tahrir Al Sham, a former splinter group of Al Qaeda, and then a new administration. Over the last two weeks, security forces have raided Sabburah almost daily in a hunt for Mr Al Salmoni, part of a new campaign to capture high-level personnel in the former system. 'Every stone is being turned to find Al Salmoni,' said a local lawyer, who did not want to be identified, pointing out the arrest of 40 men in Sabburah on suspicion of having information on his whereabouts. Among them is Mr Al Salmoni's father-in-law. His name is Tamer Al Asaad, and he was a local official in the former ruling Baathist Party. Salman Huneidi, an Alawite sheikh close to the two men, was also captured. 'About the only people they are not arresting are the women,' the lawyer told The National. The campaign gathered momentum only last month, sparked partly by popular anger over perceived negligence of the issue by the government. The new government has been focused on consolidating power and dealing with challenges to its authority in outlying areas, as well as securing financial resources. Since June 21, the authorities have announced the arrest of seven wanted men, who were either security officers or militia leaders. Four of them are Alawites while the rest are Sunnis. Despite mass defections from the regime following the 2011 revolt against the Assad dynasty, many Sunnis remained in the security apparatus, helping Mr Al Assad in his war against their co-religionists. Increased intelligence gathering Thousands of people believed to be wanted for war atrocities remain at large, although the government has not made a list public. Russia, the main backer of Mr Al Assad, flew the former president and his more senior lieutenants to Moscow when the old order collapsed in December, placing them out of reach. However, the capture of the key seven figures reflects an increase in intelligence gathering capabilities by the new central order, insiders said, pointing to the use of surveillance drones, cyber spying and a build-up of local links. 'We have only a fraction of the capacities of the former regime, but we are starting to get to these people,' said one source who has been tracking the fugitives. Managing the campaign is a team of operatives drawn from the core of the HTS intelligence division. They are being helped by Turkish security personnel, although 'the Turks are more concerned about potential insurgency threats' to their new ally in Damascus, rather than individual captures, a regional security official told The National. These operatives had played a main role in eliminating HTS rivals in Idlib, particularly after the group's former chief, current President Ahmad Al Shara, broke off from Al Qaeda in 2014. Of the seven, the most notorious is Waseem Al Assad, a distant cousin of the former president who ran a major narcotics cartel and the Baath Brigades militia. The Interior Ministry described him as 'one of the top narcotics dealers and criminals in the bygone regime'. But the remaining six are also well known in Syrian. On Wednesday, the Interior Ministry said that Brig Gen Rami Ismail, 'responsible for many violations against civilians' as head of Air Force Intelligence in Latakia and Tartous, was arrested while attempting to flee Syria. Brig Gen Ismail and Waseem Al Assad, both Alawites, have been captured because Sunni informants they once collaborated with have turned against them, the sources said. Mr Al Salmoni could fall the same way, they added. Hiding in cave areas The three men were involved in illicit activity, either directly or by taking cuts from smugglers, who are mostly Sunni: Bedouins in the desert, sailors on the coast where Mr Ismail was stationed, or rural inhabitants of border areas with Lebanon that formed part of Waseem Al Assad's drug empire. A Syrian security official said that information provided to the authorities by smugglers was key to the capture of Waseem Al Assad on June 21, on his way to the border with Lebanon. Smugglers also told the authorities about Brig Gen Ismail's plans to flee Syria by sea. Bedouins helped capture many of Mr Al Salmoni's network in the last two weeks. 'They enriched themselves by working with the Alawites, but their allegiance remained Sunni,' said the official, who did not want to be named. The two remaining Alawite officers were also arrested near the coast, the heartland of the sect. They were Maj Gen Mowaffaq Al Haidar, whose Third Tank Division manned a roadblock between Damascus and Homs that was known as the 'roadblock of death', and Col Thaer Hussein, an assistant head warden at Sednaya Prison. He was captured in a 'precise operation', according to the ministry. The mobile phones of the two men were hacked, the sources said. They were also relatively easy prey because they hid in built-up areas of the coast. The three Sunni ex-officers were also captured quite easily. They had returned to their home regions but were unable to find allies to sustain them, the sources said. Col Ziad Kokash, one of the three, was handed over by two of his cousins in his home village of Termanin in Idlib province, a source said. The Interior Ministry said Col Kokash was 'involved in war crimes' and even volunteered after his retirement from the army in a division that attacked rebel areas. Of the thousands of former Alawite commanders, many had taken refuge in the wooded and cave areas of the mountain overlooking the Mediterranean, known as Jurd. Despite an increased use of drones, the security forces have had little success in Jurd areas, even during a coastal incursion in March in which HTS-allied forces killed at least 1,300 Alawite civilians. The impregnability of the area has prompted the authorities to seek information from a large pool of ex-officers who have returned to their homes and have shown no resistance to the new order. One such case is that of former Air Force Brig Gen Gazi Salman, who has been arrested several times in his home village of Marana. The town is known, even among Alawite circles, for its close ties to the ruling class, with many of its men becoming officers since the 1960s. However, Brig Gen Salman was in charge of maintenance, another former officer said. His repeated arrests have been purely to extract information from him about 'more important officers', such as their phone numbers and possible hiding places.
Roya News
02-06-2025
- Politics
- Roya News
Leaked files confirm Assad regime held missing US journalist Austin Tice
For over a decade, the fate of American journalist Austin Tice remained one of the most enduring mysteries of the Syrian conflict. Now, previously unseen intelligence documents obtained by the BBC provide the first concrete confirmation that Tice was held by Syrian authorities under the leadership of Bashar Al-Assad. The classified materials, verified by both the BBC and law enforcement sources, include internal communications between Syrian intelligence branches. They explicitly name Tice and detail aspects of his imprisonment following his 2012 abduction near Damascus. The findings, along with corroborating testimony from former Syrian officials, offer long-sought clarity about what happened to him in the early days of his disappearance. Tice, a freelance journalist and former US Marine, vanished in August 2012 near Darayya, a suburb of the Syrian capital, just days after turning 31. He had entered the country to report on the escalating civil war. Roughly seven weeks later, a video surfaced online showing Tice blindfolded and reciting an Islamic declaration while surrounded by armed men. Though the clip suggested extremist movements' involvement, US analysts at the time raised doubts about its authenticity, with one official stating the video "may have been staged." Despite years of speculation, no entity ever claimed responsibility for holding Tice. The Syrian government, under Assad, repeatedly denied having any knowledge of his whereabouts. That narrative has now been definitively challenged. One of the documents, stamped 'top secret,' places Tice in a government-run detention facility in Damascus in 2012. Sources familiar with the site identified it as Tahouneh prison. A former high-ranking Syrian intelligence officer confirmed to the BBC that Tice was held there by the National Defence Forces (NDF), a pro-Assad paramilitary group. A Syrian official told the BBC that Tice remained in custody at least until February 2013. During that time, he reportedly suffered from stomach problems and underwent medical treatment, including blood tests that revealed a viral infection. A visitor to the detention center who saw Tice recalled, "He looked sad, and that the joy had gone from his face," though he was said to be treated more humanely than Syrian inmates. In a rare account, a former NDF member with direct knowledge of Tice's detention said that his captors recognized his strategic value, stating that "Austin's value was understood" and that he was viewed as a "card" for potential diplomatic negotiations with the US. Tice allegedly made a brief escape attempt by climbing through a window, but was quickly apprehended. He is believed to have been interrogated at least twice by Syrian intelligence. The BBC's investigation is part of a long-running project that began over a year ago for a Radio 4 podcast. Reporters were granted access to a Syrian intelligence archive while working alongside a Syrian war crimes investigator. The documents they found are the first hard evidence to support long-standing US claims that Tice was in Syrian custody. When Bashar Al-Assad was deposed in December 2024, former US President Joe Biden expressed belief that Tice was still alive. Two days before, his mother Debra Tice shared that a 'significant source' had confirmed her son's survival and claimed he was being 'treated well.' Yet, when prisons across Syria were emptied following the regime's collapse, Tice was not among those released, and his current whereabouts remain unknown. The Tice family, who have led a relentless campaign for answers, are aware of the newly surfaced files, as are US officials and a Syrian group documenting human rights abuses under Assad. Tice, who once served in Iraq and Afghanistan before pursuing a law degree at Georgetown University, is now believed to be one of the longest-held American hostages. According to the Syrian Network for Human Rights, around 100,000 people were forcibly disappeared during Assad's rule. Tice's case, long marked by silence and uncertainty, now stands as a confirmed chapter in that broader tragedy.
