Background
The Patria case has a European and NATO horizon, and it cannot be understood outside this horizon. First, the rush to modernize the infantry armored vehicles for most Western armies since 2002. Second, the consolidation of the European armored vehicles suppliers through General Dynamics acquisitions. Third, the commercial war between General Dynamics and Patria in this field. Last, the peculiar status of arms deals that implies state secret protection on arms trade and on their collateral agreements. However, the abuse of secrecy to conceal unlawful practices such as fake offset agreement, (equivalent to bribery) is not a Slovenian issue, but a real European problem. The Patria case is a chance to look at what happens in the most politically sensitive and covered areas of Western democracies: arms and state security.
Read more about this topic: Patria Case
Famous quotes containing the word background:
“I had many problems in my conduct of the office being contrasted with President Kennedy’s conduct in the office, with my manner of dealing with things and his manner, with my accent and his accent, with my background and his background. He was a great public hero, and anything I did that someone didn’t approve of, they would always feel that President Kennedy wouldn’t have done that.”
—Lyndon Baines Johnson (1908–1973)
“They were more than hostile. In the first place, I was a south Georgian and I was looked upon as a fiscal conservative, and the Atlanta newspapers quite erroneously, because they didn’t know anything about me or my background here in Plains, decided that I was also a racial conservative.”
—Jimmy Carter (James Earl Carter, Jr.)
“... every experience in life enriches one’s background and should teach valuable lessons.”
—Mary Barnett Gilson (1877–?)