Germany mulls bolstering NATO in east
Germany says it is looking into the potential deployment of troops in Lithuania as means of reinforcing the eastern front of the NATO military alliance.
“We are currently reviewing how we can continue our engagement and perhaps even bolster it... in order to ensure the security of all (NATO) states, particularly in the east,” said German Chancellor Angela Merkel on Friday.
The comments came amid continued strain in relations between Russia and NATO, which have been at odds since Ukraine’s Crimea region integrated into the Russian Federation following a referendum last March.
On April 1, 2014, the military alliance ended all practical cooperation with Russia over the ensuing crisis in Ukraine.
Last November, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the alliance might station permanent military units in member states against what it calls threats from Russia.
His remarks signaled a transition from the policy the alliance has been maintaining vis-à-vis Moscow since 1997, when the two sides inked an agreement called the Founding Act on Mutual Relations, Cooperation, and Security.
Under the deal, NATO agreed to refrain from any “additional permanent stationing of substantial combat forces” that might alarm the Kremlin.
Merkel, however, said, “I personally always stress that it is very important to us that we act within the framework of the NATO-Russia act.”
The heightened tension between the two, billed by some as a resurgent Cold War, has seen NATO resorting to military buildup in Russia’s backyard and the latter staging domestic military maneuvers and flying its aircraft close to US destroyers in the Baltic Sea.
The standoff has been exacerbated by Poland’s recently asking for a permanent NATO presence on its soil, Sweden considering potential membership, and the alliance welcoming the prospect of accession by Finland.
Most recently, Russia's foreign minister said the NATO military alliance was moving closer to Russia’s borders, warning that Moscow will take necessary measures to protect its security.
“NATO military infrastructure is inching closer and closer to Russia’s borders. But when Russia takes action to ensure its security, we are told that Russia is engaging in dangerous maneuvers near NATO borders,” Sergei Lavrov said in an interview with the Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter.
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