Photographer, Getty Images
The frigate Blas de Lezo sails to the Black Sea from the Spanish city of Ferrol
The alliance is suspending its forces and strengthening its presence in Eastern Europe.
It came in statment January 24 Alliance. They say the deployment is aimed at strengthening allies’ deterrence and defense as Russia continues to build up its forces along Ukraine’s borders.
In recent days, several coalition members have announced current or future deployments.
Denmark is sending a frigate to the Baltic Sea and plans to send four F-16 fighters to Lithuania to support the NATO air defense mission in the region.
Spain sends ships to join the NATO fleet and is considering sending fighters to Bulgaria.
France expressed its willingness to send troops to Romania under the command of NATO.
The Netherlands has been sending two F-35 fighters to Bulgaria since April to support NATO air surveillance in the region. They are also stopping ships and ground forces for the NATO Response Force.
The United States has also indicated that it is considering increasing its military presence in the eastern part of the coalition.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said that “NATO will continue to take all necessary measures to protect all allies, including strengthening the eastern part of the alliance.”
“We will always respond to any deterioration in the security situation in the region,” he said.
In response to Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, NATO has strengthened its presence in the eastern part of the alliance, including four multinational battle groups in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
The units are headed by the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and the United States, respectively.
Their presence makes it clear that an attack on an ally would be considered an attack on the entire alliance.
Until 2014, there were no NATO forces in the eastern part of the alliance.
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