British forces are to play a leading role in the recently announced NATO deployment to Poland and the Baltic States.
Defence Secretary Michael Fallon said:
“I confirm today that Britain will be leading one of four framework battalions to offer more Enhanced Forward Presence on the Eastern flank. We are sending a strong signal of unity and our determination to defend the Baltic states and Poland in the face of continued Russian aggression.”
NATO is to deploy four battalions to Poland and the Baltic states as part of a push back against Russia’s intervention in Ukraine, alliance head Jens Stoltenberg said Monday.
“We will agree to deploy by rotation four robust, multinational battalions in the Baltic states and Poland. This will send a clear signal that NATO stands ready to defend any ally.”
Russia’s annexation of the Crimea in 2014 and its support for ethnic Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine has made Poland, Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia increasingly anxious about their own security.
Asked about the possibility of an Russian attack, Lithuania’s Defence Minister Juozas Olekas told Reuters:
“We cannot exclude it. They might exercise on the borders and then switch to invasion in hours.”
Britain already undertakes the Baltic air-policing mission, this takes the form of air defence ‘Quick Reaction Alert’ in order to guard the airspace over the three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
NATO stressed that the deployment, to be made on a rotational basis is not permanent so as not to infringe existing treaties with Russia, was part of a much wider response to the Ukraine crisis which includes tripling the NATO Response Force to 40,000 men ready to move at short notice, creating a Spearhead Force of about 5,000 on a just few days’ standby.
Luke Harris Daniel Wyeth
I don’t like this one bit. What have Russia done to us the UK? The existence of NATO gives America influence in Europe there lies problem number 1 Problem number 2, tensions are rising and not descelating and as I’ve mentioned on this site before Europe is weak politically and militarily. We are bullied over the Middle East, we are bullied into thinking China is a threat and we are bullied into thinking that Russia is a threat. I reckon we ought to be reevaluating our alliance with America. After all we don’t have a $17 Trillion economy. Why are… Read more »
Putin is a major threat to world peace right now. Irrespective of what you think of the Americans; most of the world trusts the Americans much more than the Russians and thats not going to change. If you think that annexing part of another country, threatening Europe (especially the eastern part of Europe), supporting war in Ukraine is not a threat then maybe we should move our troops away from eastern Europe and trust Putin won’t destabilise more ex soviet states?
David Southern can’t you see most of the issues effecting our way of life are self inflicted. I’m not bashing America either but please don’t get me started on trust. That’s a peach. The whole militarization of Asia is due to US presence. The UK is not in the same league as the Americans nor are the Russians. What is happening in the Mid East and Europe and China is all self inflicted as stated and we don’t have a military to cope. Believe what you will. There is a cost to spreading this so called freedom that we preech… Read more »
“can’t you see most of the issues effecting our way of life are self inflicted” – yes! we in the west make mistakes but i’d rather live in the UK than almost all of the counties in the world. “The whole militarization of Asia is due to US presence” – yes! But before them the evil British did the same thing and the next superpower (maybe China) will do the same. From my point of view the world is the school playground. There are bullies, shy and quiet kids, gobshites etc. and theres the 90% who just want to get… Read more »
I respect your opinion but if Putin has the patrol can then it can be said that NATO, the EU and Americans are carrying lighters that would ignite any trouble. I genuinely feel for the Eastern bloc as it seems they are dammed if they do and dammed if they don’t. If they side with EU they piss off the Russians, if they side with Russia it would mean they reject EU and NATO co-op. They can’t even be neutral. Using Sweden as an example. Geo politics is in a mess. Putin is not daft but the boy who runs… Read more »
Totally agree about the eastern bloc, they’re in a difficult position but I guess its their right to choose Russia or the West. The difference between Putin and Un is Putin has the capability to wipe out most of the planet before Russia becomes a smoking ruin. I think Russia is going through the same state of denial that Britain went through after the war. We were no longer a superpower but kept trying to convince ourselves we were. It took Suez to put us in our place and Russia has yet to learn that lesson thats its just a… Read more »
“Stand Up” the Royal Observer Corps!