{"id":1555684,"date":"2022-07-15T06:30:13","date_gmt":"2022-07-15T10:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1555684"},"modified":"2022-07-15T07:04:41","modified_gmt":"2022-07-15T11:04:41","slug":"europe-already-worried-about-nato-arms-being-trafficked-out-of-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/europe-already-worried-about-nato-arms-being-trafficked-out-of-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Europe Already Worried About NATO Arms Being Trafficked Out of Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">22<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Feurope-already-worried-about-nato-arms-being-trafficked-out-of-ukraine%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1555684&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div><\/div>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">NATO and E.U. partners are sounding alarms over the lack of accountability and tracking of military-grade weapons sent to Ukraine. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The risk of black market arms smuggling during and especially after a conflict like the one in Ukraine will always be high due to the natural chaos that ensues during and especially after the sound of gunfire dies down.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">However, the probability that arms dealers are salivating over the cache of western military weaponry is virtually guaranteed, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbs.org\/frontlineworld\/stories\/sierraleone\/context.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">given the history<\/a> of arms trafficking within and through Ukraine and how the weapons are being handled.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>The situation even went Hollywood back in 2005 with <em>Lord of War<\/em>; the Nicolas Cage film depicting a Ukrainian arms smuggler.<\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">While the Pentagon has provided vague assurances that weapons transfers are being handled appropriately, the E.U. is opting to deter the flow of underground weapon sales by <a href=\"https:\/\/euobserver.com\/ukraine\/155495\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">standing up a security hub<\/a> in Moldova. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The question is, will it do any good?<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\u26a1\ufe0f EU creates hub in Moldova to fight illegal arms smuggling, human trafficking from Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>EU Home Affairs Commissioner Ylva Johansson said the hub was aiming to prevent a post-Balkan war situation, from which crime gangs in Europe profited to build up their arsenal.<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/KyivIndependent\/status\/1546497095456145408?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 11, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">An Arms Smuggler\u2019s Dream Come True<\/span><\/h3>\n<div id=\"subscribe\" class=\"email-signup inarticle\">\n<h4>Support Conservative Voices!<\/h4>\n<h5><strong>Sign up to receive the latest<\/strong> political news, insight, and commentary delivered directly to your inbox.<\/h5>\n<\/div>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Over <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/world\/interactive\/2022\/biden-ukraine-military-aid-us\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">$20 billion worth of military support<\/a> has been sent to Ukraine since the start of the Russian invasion. While there appears to be overwhelming <a href=\"https:\/\/www.voanews.com\/a\/what-s-behind-american-support-for-ukraine-\/6551539.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">support for assisting Ukraine<\/a>, the fear of some, if not the majority, of those weapons ending up in the wrong hands is well founded.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Eastern Europe has been a hotbed for arms smuggling since the fall of the Soviet Union. <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/surprise-experts-worried-weapons-sent-to-ukraine-might-end-up-in-enemy-hands\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">For example<\/a>, it is estimated that 7.1 million of the small arms stock held in Ukraine in 1992 was \u201cdiverted to conflict areas.\u201d Conflict areas are generally a nice way of referring to unstable countries and terrorist organizations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">In more <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/surprise-experts-worried-weapons-sent-to-ukraine-might-end-up-in-enemy-hands\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">recent history<\/a>, Ukraine was involved in three ships with massive weapons headed to various conflict areas in 2001, 2007, and 2010. And between 2006 and 2011, approximately $117 million worth of firearms were exported from Ukraine.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">For a country that has historically been able to move large amounts of weapons to other locations illegally, it is a safe bet that the same thing will happen when this conflict with Russia dies down, if it hasn\u2019t already.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\"><a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Ukraine?src=hash&#038;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Ukraine<\/a>: Who could\u2019ve predicted that the most corrupt country in Europe would all of a sudden become a black market paradise for smuggling Western arms and weaponry? \ud83e\udd14\ud83e\udd14\ud83e\udd14 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/tBYMpDUjkX\">pic.twitter.com\/tBYMpDUjkX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Denis Rogatyuk (@DenisRogatyuk) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/DenisRogatyuk\/status\/1546924738773131264?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 12, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/cia-has-been-operating-secretly-in-ukraine-say-current-and-former-officials\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">CIA Has Been Operating Secretly In Ukraine, Say \u2018Current And Former Officials\u2019<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Europe Preparing For Massive Black Market Operations<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The <a href=\"https:\/\/tol.org\/client\/article\/eu-approves-croatias-adoption-of-the-euro.html\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">E.U. has set up<\/a> what they call a Hub for Internal Security and Border Management in Moldova to catch at least some of the illicit arms trade that is estimated to take place in the region. However, there isn\u2019t a lot of optimism when it comes to the efficacy of this \u2018hub.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><a href=\"https:\/\/euobserver.com\/ukraine\/155495\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">An E.U. official<\/a> said:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cIt is hard to avoid weapons-smuggling. We try to keep track of them, but I would be lying if I said we will succeed. We failed after the war in Yugoslavia, and we can\u2019t prevent it now.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">So what is it that makes it so difficult to track and prevent this sort of illegal activity? The very nature of how the weapons are getting to Ukraine certainly plays a part.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/bce78c78-b899-4dd2-b3a0-69d789b8aee8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">one western official<\/a> put it:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cAll these weapons land in southern Poland, get shipped to the border and then are just divided up into vehicles to cross: trucks, vans, sometimes private cars.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">He went on to explain:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cAnd from that moment we go blank on their locations and we have no idea where they go, where they are used or even if they stay in the country.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">That\u2019s a hard reality when considering the massive amounts of western weaponry sent to Ukraine.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Europe is concerned about the possible increase in arms smuggling from Ukraine.<\/p>\n<p>This was told by the European Commissioner for Internal Affairs, Ylva Johansson. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/fHVUDlimxp\">pic.twitter.com\/fHVUDlimxp<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Spriteer (@spriteer_774400) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/spriteer_774400\/status\/1546461846571556865?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 11, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/celebrities-to-host-prime-time-fundraiser-for-ukraine-while-americans-suffer-financially\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Celebrities To Host Prime-Time Fundraiser For Ukraine While Americans Suffer Financially<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Empty Assurances<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The U.S. undersecretary for arms control and international security, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/bce78c78-b899-4dd2-b3a0-69d789b8aee8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Bonnie Jenkins<\/a>, commented on the risk of weapons proliferation:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cThe U.S. very seriously takes our responsibility to protect American origin defense technologies and prevent their diversion or illicit proliferation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">That statement doesn\u2019t provide a lot of confidence when the Department of Defense can only monitor <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cato.org\/commentary\/sending-weapons-ukraine-could-have-unintended-consequences\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">three types of weapons<\/a> physically, thanks to what is known as \u201cEnhanced End Use Monitoring.\u201d Think like a black box for weapons. The three weapons with this technology are the Javelin missiles, Javelin launch units, and night vision goggles.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Furthermore, we don\u2019t have the best track record for keeping tabs on American military assets. Besides the equipment left behind from our hasty withdrawal from Afghanistan, it is reported that the <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/surprise-experts-worried-weapons-sent-to-ukraine-might-end-up-in-enemy-hands\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Pentagon lost track of 52%<\/a> of the weapons given to Afghanistan during the 20-year war.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.state.gov\/online-press-briefing-with-ambassador-bonnie-denise-jenkins-under-secretary-for-arms-control-and-international-security\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ms. Jenkins<\/a> goes on to state:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cWe are confident in the Ukrainian government\u2019s commitment to appropriately safeguard and account for U.S. weapons.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">However, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/bce78c78-b899-4dd2-b3a0-69d789b8aee8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Europol<\/a>, which is the E.U.\u2019s law enforcement arm, recently put out the following:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cInitially, Ukrainian officials maintained registers of firearms handed out to civilians, but this practice was abandoned as the war progressed and firearms have been distributed without records since then.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">Naturally, Ukraine disputes this argument. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/bce78c78-b899-4dd2-b3a0-69d789b8aee8\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Yuriy Sak<\/a>, who is an advisor to Ukraine\u2019s defense minister, has said of these sorts of accusations:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cInformation that Ukraine is becoming a major hub for arms smuggling does not correspond to reality.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">The undertone of that message is that this rhetoric may be a part of a Russian disinformation campaign to weaken support for Ukraine. But it\u2019s hard to know what to believe when Ukraine has also participated in disinformation, as witnessed with the <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/the-ghost-of-kyiv-fairytale-was-deliberate-dangerous-disinformation\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ghost of Kyiv<\/a> fable.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Russia launched an intensive disinformation campaign against Ukraine, the EU and NATO, claiming &#8220;arms smuggling&#8221; supplied by allies. Said the EU foreign and security policy spokesman Peter Stano<\/p>\n<p>\u2014 Iuliia Mendel (@IuliiaMendel) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/IuliiaMendel\/status\/1547547975085395969?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 14, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><strong>RELATED: <a href=\"https:\/\/thepoliticalinsider.com\/surprise-experts-worried-weapons-sent-to-ukraine-might-end-up-in-enemy-hands\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Surprise! Experts Worried Weapons Sent To Ukraine Might End Up In Enemy Hands<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<h3><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">There May Be Only One Winner in The Ukraine-Russia Conflict<\/span><\/h3>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As this war has expanded from the poorly-predicted 72 hours to a protracted war, it\u2019s hard to believe there will be a clear winner between Ukraine and Russia. However, a group may come out on top; the defense contractor industry.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">With inflation hurting everyone and every industry, two companies have fared very well with their <a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/congress-war-profiteers-stock-lockheed-martin-raytheon-investment-2022-3\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">stock rising<\/a>: Raytheon and Lockheed Martin. However, the record amount of military support flowing to Ukraine has caused western stockpiles to dwindle.<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"500\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">More WELFARE for US defense contractors and merchants of death\u2026. as Ukraine hammered, its country leveled, for East-West proxy war. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/WO15U4hWFR\">pic.twitter.com\/WO15U4hWFR<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 J.M. Hamilton (@jmhamiltonblog) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jmhamiltonblog\/status\/1544860992697339904?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">July 7, 2022<\/a><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">As former NATO Director of policy and planning <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ft.com\/content\/d413576c-c4d5-4ca6-9050-58f3f8dc3c00\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Jamie Shea<\/a> put it:<\/span><\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">\u201cUkraine has been a lesson in how war is still often won through the classic elements of artillery, ground troops and occupation.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">This is a hard lesson for the western world, which focused a lot of defense purchasing on large weapons systems steering away from the brass tacks required for all war campaigns.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span data-preserver-spaces=\"true\">So while western defense contractors cash in on the war in Ukraine, the question remains, how long will it be until American and European soldiers find themselves looking down the barrel of their own weapons in an inevitable future conflict?<\/span><\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Now is the time to support and share the sources you trust.<\/strong><br \/>The Political Insider ranks #3 on <a href=\"https:\/\/blog.feedspot.com\/political_blogs\/\">Feedspot\u2019s<\/a> \u201c100 Best Political Blogs and Websites.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NATO and E.U. partners are sounding alarms over the lack of accountability and tracking of military-grade weapons sent to Ukraine. The risk of black market arms smuggling<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1573789,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1555684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1555684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1555684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1555684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1573789"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1555684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1555684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1555684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}