Fear of a Russian deployment on the Ukrainian border: NATO is considering increasing troops in Romania and Bulgaria
Created: 12/18/2021, 6:56 PM
Lithuania, Rukla: NATO has already strengthened its troops in the Baltic states - Romania and Bulgaria could follow in 2022.
© dpa / Carsten Hoffmann
According to media reports, NATO is considering strengthening troops in Romania and Bulgaria.
The proposal is to be discussed at the next meeting of NATO defense ministers.
Brussels - NATO has been present in the three Baltic states and in Poland since the beginning of 2017, because they saw their security threatened since the Russian annexation of Crimea.
Now they are evidently considering strengthening the troops in the east of the alliance area.
As
Spiegel
reported on Saturday, the top NATO commander recently proposed a video switch, similar to the one in the Baltic States and Poland, in the course of the Enhanced Forward Presence mission, the NATO presence in Romania and Bulgaria strengthen.
However, there is no official confirmation.
NATO summit in Madrid in June could decide on troop reinforcements
The US General Tod Wolters demanded that NATO should set up its own contingents of around 1500 men in Bulgaria and Romania, as in the Baltic States, in order to practice with the armies there and, in an emergency, to serve as a "bridgehead" for further reinforcement. According to
Spiegel
,
several NATO diplomats said
the proposal would be discussed at the next meeting of NATO defense ministers and, if an agreement was reached, it could be decided at the NATO summit in Madrid at the end of June
Officially, NATO
did not want to confirm
the internal considerations in
response
to
Spiegel's
request.
The spokeswoman for NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, Oana Longescu, said only that NATO would remain "vigilant" and will take "all necessary steps" to protect NATO partners from any threat.
Bundeswehr with 500 soldiers with NATO in the Baltic states
At the beginning of 2017, NATO began relocating soldiers to the three Baltic states and Poland.
The creation of the Enhanced Forward Presence was justified as a sign of solidarity with the four NATO states, which, after the annexation of the Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea by Russia, also saw their own security threatened by Moscow.
The NATO units in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland each consist of around a thousand soldiers; deployments are carried out on a rotating basis.
The Bundeswehr is currently participating in the association in Lithuania with around 500 soldiers and has taken over its leadership.
The new Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) is expected there on Sunday for her first troop visit abroad.
(dpa / kat)
