Baltic states between peace and war

NATO Military Chiefs met at the end of September in Warsaw, Poland to discuss future Alliance’ s military strategy.

According to NATO press release, during the meeting, “discussions focused on allied operations, missions and activities, the development of NATO’s military strategy, responsiveness, reinforcement and the NATO Readiness Initiative, as well as the Alliance’s ongoing modernization.”

During the joint press conference with Chief of the Polish General Staff, Lieutenant General Rajmund Andrzejczak, the Chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Air Chief Marshal Sir Stuart Peach concluded by stating, that “NATO is the most successful – and the most valuable – Alliance in history.”

Assessing the scope of NATO military events this year, success is measured not so much by the results but by the number of hold events. And the more so, NATO has transformed the approach to its activity from defensive to offensive. NATO leaders even do not hide the nature of military exercises’ scenarios.

Alliance demonstrates that it is not sleeping, it is preparing for war. The theater of such war is most likely – the Baltic region. This proves the increasing number of military exercises conducted and planned exactly in the Baltic states.

Thus the field training exercise Beowulf in the training area of the Lithuanian armed forces in Pabrade in eastern Lithuania took place at the end of September. It is known that over 600 soldiers from Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic and Luxembourg as well as 250 vehicles, including tanks, infantry fighting vehicles, armoured personnel carriers, recovery trucks and jeeps are participating in the exercise.

The exercise included combat training, where each unit practiced both attacking and defending. Among other things tactics of combat support like river crossing operations, integration of combat service support elements and in-theatre maintenance was practiced.

At the same time Russia continues to flex its muscles either. These days the Air Bridge 2018 CSTO joint exercise is held on the territory of the Central Military District. Russian-Serbian BARS 2018 flight tactical exercise kicks off in Serbia, Search 2018 tactical special exercise kicks off in Kazakhstan. And so on…

Series of exercises prove Russia will not allow NATO to surpass in military sector. In other words situation develops spirally and leads to confrontation. The Baltic states chose to be NATO’s tool in such confrontation. And if Russia can forgive former Soviet republics for preparing to defend themselves, quite evidently, Russia will not accept their preparation to attack.