Germany does not exclude NATO’s consultations on expanding its military mission in the Baltic countries in connection with the termination of the Treaty on the Elimination of Intermediate and Short-Range Missiles.
This was stated by German Minister of Defense Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer during a visit to the German military in the Lithuanian Rukle, DW reports.
According to the German minister, the alliance, in particular, can give strength to the air defense in the region.
The Minister of Defense of Lithuania, Raimundas Karoblis, also visited Rukla and called on NATO to deploy air defense forces in the country, noting that it was air defense to protect combat groups stationed in the Baltic countries.
In the first half of 2017, NATO forces were deployed to the Baltic countries and Poland as a guarantee of their security against the background of Russia’s actions in Ukraine.
Germany took command of the NATO Allied International Battalion in Lithuania, with a total strength of about 1,200.
Recall, representatives of the governing body of NATO – the North Atlantic Council plan to visit Ukraine, in particular Odessa and Kiev, October 30-31.