Russia’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has summoned the German ambassador to express its disapproval of the opening of a new headquarters of Germany’s naval forces, which aims to increase NATO‘s defense readiness in the Baltic Sea region, DPA reported.
The agency said the opening of the headquarters violates the “Two Plus Four” treaty, signed when the German Democratic Republic (GDR) and the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) were united, which prohibits the deployment of NATO troops in East Germany.
The headquarters, called Task Force Command Baltic, was opened yesterday in the German port city of Rostock, in the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern. It is responsible for planning naval operations and exercises, and will also have the capacity to direct NATO naval operations in wartime.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius specified that, as a national headquarters where no NATO troops are deployed, the commanding task force in the Baltic Sea region does not violate the “Two Plus Four” Treaty.
A statement from the Russian Foreign Ministry said the move “continues the creeping revision of the results of the Second World War and the militarization of the country”, and demanded that the German government immediately explain its actions. The text also says that “Washington, Brussels and Berlin must be aware that the expansion of NATO’s military infrastructure on the territory of the former East Germany will have extremely negative consequences and will not remain without a corresponding response from the Russian side.”
German Ambassador to Russia Alexander Graf Lambsdorff confirmed in a statement that he had been summoned to the Russian Foreign Ministry.
Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine has heightened fears of Russian aggression. The Baltic Sea is an important supply route for NATO and is of key economic importance for the neighboring allied countries of the alliance, DPA notes.
NATO recently warned of systematic spying on the alliance’s infrastructure and other potential threats in the region by Russia, which has ports on the Baltic Sea – the exclave of Kaliningrad and around St. Petersburg. As a result, the alliance is strengthening its defense capabilities in the Baltic Sea.
#Threat #Kremlin #Germanys #actions #Baltic #Sea
