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NATO begins encirclement of Russia
Eric
Zuesse.
13 June, 2016
NATO
begins encirclement of Russia: German troops to Lithuania
German
Economic News | Published:13:06:16
17:21 Clock (Translation by Eric Zuesse)
NATO
prepares a veritable military buildup in Eastern Europe: German
soldiers are operating in Lithuania, the British take over Estonia,
and US soldiers move in to protect Latvia. The Canadians will be
in Poland. Also in the Mediterranean, combat units are being
increased. Russia perceives the activity as a threat, but hasn’t
yet announced any countermeasures.
At
the NATO summit during July 8th-9th in Warsaw, the Alliance will
adopt a massive military presence along Russia’s border. Russia
is classified by NATO as a threat. NATO Secretary General Jens
Stoltenberg recently said in Washington that the
US and the EU have the right in the form of NATO to defend its
territories on foreign soil. Critics
of this strategy believe that it’s possible this upgrade will
increase significantly the danger of a conflict between the
superpowers.
Wednesday in Brussels, the defense ministers want the military
alliance to take decisions which will then be sealed by the leaders
in Poland.
NATO wants to strengthen its military presence on its
eastern borders significantly, and to position foreign combat troops
battalions in Poland and the three Baltic states. Germany
is the core of the Association in Lithuania, the British in Estonia,
and the United States is expected to be that in Latvia. What
remains unclear, however, is who will be sending troops to Poland.
Maybe
Canada will take on this task, it was last reported ifrom Polish
diplomatic sources as
quoted by Reuters. “’The
summit in Warsaw will be President Obama’s last (NATO summit) and
the U.S. wants it to be a success. It will ensure that the fourth
framework country is found, possibly by leaning on Canada,’ the
source said. ‘Washington will bend over backwards here.’”
Germany
wants to send at least 600 soldiers to Lithuania, which will
constitute the core of the local battalion there with about 1,200
soldiers.
The
battalions are to include around 1,000 soldiers each, and are not
permanently stationed in the eastern countries, but replaced
regularly. By means of this rotation, the military alliance
wants to avoid a formal breach of the NATO-Russia Founding
Act 1997, which prohibits the permanent stationing of a
“substantial” number of combat troops in the east. What
specifically “substantial” means, however, is controversial. [In
other words: Obama wants to be more aggressive than the NATO-Russia
Founding Act of 1997 might allow; he wants to violate the treaty in
such a way that he’ll be able to say he’s not really breaking the
treaty.]
Poland
and the Baltic countries want to push NATO to be even more
aggressive. They demand among other things, increased aerial
surveillance by fighter jets of the alliance partners on the
Baltic. Poland had in the past also repeatedly demanded the
permanent stationing of NATO combat troops [which would clearly
violate the NATO-Russia Founding Act]. The Baltic States and
Poland have been feeling threatened since Russia’s March 2014
annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea.
NATO
defense ministers will also discuss a new mission in the
Mediterranean. What exactly is planned there, is difficult
to judge. Officially the rise of extremist ISIS militias and the
refugee crisis are given as reasons for that expansion of NATO. ISIS
is financed and otherwise supported by Saudi Arabia, the closest ally
of the West in the Middle East. A good reason why NATO, the most
powerful fighting force in all of the world’s military, have not
coped with that group of more or less random ragtag mercenaries, is
not known. Russia is fighting on the side of Syria against ISIS
and against previously officially the US-backed al-Nusra Front [Al
Qaeda in Syria — the Syrian affiliate of the group that did 9/11].
The
NATO alliance is looking for a new combat mission in the
Mediterranean, as the 11 September 2001 NATO response “Active
Endeavor” patrolling
the Mediterranean to stop terrorists there, has actually become
obsolete. The ministers therefore want to consider whether the
mission should be transformed into a more general one to strengthen
security in the Mediterranean. Also being considered is to
transform that mission to a closer cooperation with the European
Union, which maintains its own naval deployment off the Libyan coast
against human traffickers and the rescue of refugees in distress
under the name “Sophia”. At dinner on Tuesday therefore also
the EU foreign policy chief Federica Mogherini and government
representatives from the non-NATO countries Finland and Sweden will
also be in NATO headquarters.
The
agenda on Wednesday also includes the future of the NATO mission in
Afghanistan. According to current plans, the US wants to
reduce the number of its troops in Afghanistan from its current 9800
to 5500. Whether Obama will hold to that objective despite the
poor security situation in Afghanistan isn’t yet clear.
Deutsche Soldaten nach Litauen: Nato beginnt Einkreisung von Russland
Die
Nato bereitet einen veritablen Truppenaufmarsch in Osteuropa vor:
Deutsche Soldaten werden in Litauen tätig, die Briten übernehmen
Estland und die US-Soldaten sollen Lettland schützen. Die Kanadier
sollen in Polen antreten. Auch im Mittelmeer werden die Kampfverbände
verstärkt. Russland empfindet die Aktivitäten als Bedrohung, hat
bisher jedoch noch keine Gegenmaßnahmen angekündigt
