The fear of an escalation, again and again. NATO countries have placed forces on standby and sent combat ships and planes to various countries in Eastern Europe.
NATO countries have placed standby forces and sent ships and fighter jets to bolster their defenses in Eastern Europe against Russian military activities on Ukraine’s borders, NATO said on Monday. Alliance in a press release.
“NATO will continue to take all necessary measures to protect and defend all Allies, including by strengthening the eastern part of the Alliance. We will always respond to any deterioration in our security environment, including by strengthening our collective defence” , explained NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg.
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“Denmark is sending a frigate to the Baltic Sea and is preparing to deploy four F-16 fighter jets to Lithuania to support NATO’s longstanding air policing mission in the region,” the statement said. “Spain sends ships to join NATO naval forces and plans to send combat aircraft to Bulgaria,” the statement added.
“France has declared its readiness to send troops to Romania under NATO command. The Netherlands is sending two F-35 fighter jets to Bulgaria from April to support the air policing activities of the NATO in the region, and put a ship and land units on standby for the NATO Response Force,” the statement said.
“The United States has also clearly indicated that it plans to increase its military presence in the eastern part of the Alliance,” NATO said.
Combat ready units
“Since the illegal annexation of Crimea by Russia in 2014, NATO has strengthened its presence in the eastern part of the alliance, notably with four multinational battle groups in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland”, reminds NATO.
“These units, led by the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and the United States respectively, are multinational and combat-ready,” the Alliance said.
“Their presence clearly indicates that an attack against an Ally will be considered an attack against the whole Alliance”, warns NATO. There were no NATO forces in the eastern part of the Alliance before 2014, the statement said.
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