As of: February 23, 2024, 12:22 p.m
By: Peter Sieben
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Press
Split
Another Russian attack is no longer an abstract idea, experts say.
The Union's defense policy spokesman is now criticizing the federal government.
Berlin – And suddenly a specter is haunting Europe again: the fear of another Russian attack is growing.
NATO experts have been talking for some time about the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin already has NATO's eastern border in mind as a target.
If everything goes wrong, events could turn around quickly this time.
Is Putin planning to attack the Baltics?
Russia has replenished reserves faster than expected
“An attack on the Baltics is an absolutely realistic scenario,” said Florian Hahn, the distribution policy spokesman for the Union parliamentary group, at a press conference in Berlin.
What no one had expected for a long time: Russia is apparently not only able to reproduce and compensate for the consumption of material from the Ukrainian war, but can now also replenish depots.
“This means that the period after a Ukraine war in which Russia is able to attack the Baltics has been significantly reduced,” said Hahn.
Serious concerns on NATO’s eastern flank: Warning of “Pearl Harbor moment”
There, on NATO's eastern flank, there are serious concerns.
Lithuania's Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis warned in an interview a few days ago of a “Pearl Harbor moment” for NATO.
Lithuania could be among the first NATO states that Putin would attack.
Meanwhile, Ukraine is missing important support from the USA: The US House of Representatives is blocking US aid to Ukraine worth around $60 million.
Republican MPs from the right-wing fringe in particular are opposing further US aid.
Europe must quickly stand on its own two feet when it comes to defense within NATO, said Landsbergis, otherwise it could soon be too late.
Meanwhile, NATO partners Germany and Lithuania want to achieve full operational readiness of a new German combat brigade in the Baltic Republic by 2027.
A permanent presence of at least 4,800 soldiers and 200 civilian supporters is planned.
For this purpose, extensive infrastructure is to be built in Rudninkai near the capital Vilnius and in Rukla near Kaunas.
Lithuania Brigade of the Bundeswehr: “From a NATO perspective, rapid deployment would make more sense”
Ingo Gädechens, chairman of the Union on the Defense Committee, considers this to be very ambitious: “I have looked at the infrastructure, there is still a lot to do.
I would be extremely cautious about making a binding promise to build a brigade.” Especially since from NATO’s point of view, a rapid deployment of troops makes more sense than a permanent presence of armed forces.
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Florian Hahn thinks it is “pretty casual to say: we will have a Lithuania brigade by 2027.” By then it could already be too late and it is not clear how this should be financed.
Hahn complained that Parliament currently does not know exactly what the Bundeswehr's operational readiness is.
“The report on material operational readiness for 2023 has so far been withheld from the plenary session, despite repeated requests.” The Ministry of Defense usually publishes this report at the beginning of the year.
This time, information was only announced for the second quarter, said Hahn.