Germany inaugurates Baltic Sea naval HQ amid rising tensions with Moscow 

Berlin — 

Germany inaugurated connected Monday a caller multinational naval office for the Baltic Sea susceptible of starring operations for NATO during a conflict, arsenic the subject confederation increases absorption connected the country amid rising tensions with Russia.

"Our connection to our partners and to those who endanger our bid is simple: Germany stands firmly by its commitments," Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said, according to a draught of his code astatine a ceremonial astatine the country's naval bid successful the coastal metropolis of Rostock, wherever the office is located.

"The office volition play a important relation successful the mentation of subject concern reports and successful responding to determination challenges, including the extortion of NATO subordinate states' interests against assertive actions, peculiarly fixed the proximity of Russia."

The constitution of the installation highlights the important value of the Baltic Sea for NATO aft relations with Russia deteriorated pursuing the Ukraine war, with Moscow's Baltic Fleet based adjacent Kaliningrad.

Securing unfastened oversea routes done the Baltic Sea has go captious to the confederation since its eastbound enlargement aft the extremity of the Cold War that saw Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and lately Finland and Sweden to the north, articulation NATO.

In the past, NATO's main relation would person been to artifact the occidental entranceway to the Baltic Sea to forestall the Soviet Union's Baltic Fleet from reaching the North Sea, wherever its warships could onslaught U.S. proviso convoys important to Europe's defense.

Today, NATO indispensable guarantee the oversea routes stay unfastened since they mightiness represent the lone proviso enactment to the Baltic states should the constrictive overland corridor linking them to Poland, and frankincense the remainder of NATO territory successful Europe, beryllium blocked successful immoderate struggle with Russia.

Only 2 roads and 1 railroad enactment tally done the 65 km wide corridor — the Suwalki Gap — that is squeezed betwixt the heavy equipped Russian exclave of Kaliningrad to the westbound and Belarus to the east.

Owning the biggest navy successful the region, Germany has been acrophobic by Moscow's beingness successful the Baltic Sea for a while. After Russia's annexation of Crimea successful 2014, Berlin forged an confederation of the occidental navies bordering the Baltic Sea.

The caller headquarters, with astir 120 German and up to 60 planetary unit successful peacetime, volition beryllium led by a German admiral with a Polish lawman and a Swedish main of staff.

Eleven nations person deployed unit determination — Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Britain, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden.