NATO Calls On Allies To Help Boost Defense On Eastern Flank

NATO prepares for a long-drawn-out dispute with Moscow and will urge its allies on Wednesday to support the alliance’s most extensive military build-up on Russia’s borders since the Cold War.

Russia’s aircraft carrier is heading towards Syria in a show of force along Europe’s shores. This development raised concern among NATO leaders. Hence, the alliance plans to follow on their promise in July to deploy forces to eastern Poland and the Baltic states from early next year.

Hoping for binding assurances from Europe, the United States expects to fill four battle groups of about 4,000 troops. This is part of NATO’s response to the occupation of Crimea by Russia in 2014.

The United States, Britain, Canada and Germany’s four battle groups expects France, Italy, Denmark and other allies to join them. The allies are heading to Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia with forces consisting of armored infantry to drones.

Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s Secretary-General, said that the commitments would send a strong message about the alliance’s transatlantic bond. Further, it would also send a similar message to US presidential candidate Donald Trump. The Republican contender has criticized European allies about not paying their way in the alliance.

The battle group would be supported by NATO’s 40,000-strong rapid reaction force. In addition, for any potential conflict, more follow-on forces could deploy into Poland and Baltic states on rotation if needed.

The US-led alliance’s plans, for Moscow, are already “overkill” in view of Russia’s tribulations at NATO’s expansion eastwards.

But Stoltenberg denied going too far. “This is a credible deterrence, not to provoke a conflict but to prevent conflict,” he told reporters on Tuesday.

Russia’s withdrawal from several nuclear disarmament agreements the past two months while sending nuclear-capable missiles to its Baltic territory in Kaliningrad have given next year’s deployments greater significance.

NATO officials refused to disclose if Russia had moved nuclear warheads to Kaliningrad. Nevertheless, the so-called Iskander-M cruise missiles can strike targets across Poland and the Baltics.

Relationship between the East and the West has been deteriorating since Crimea and the West’s resolution to carry out retaliatory sanctions. However, recent US accusations that Russia has utilized cyber attacks to unsettle the presidential elections preceded by the breakdown of a US-Russia brokered ceasefire in Syria have marked a severe decline of East-West relations.

 

 

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