NATO to bolster presence in Eastern Europe

  • 2016-02-11
  • BNS/TBT Staff/RIGA

NATO’s Secretary General, Jens Stoltenberg, has confirmed that NATO defence ministers have agreed to bolster its presence in its eastern regions. 

NATO has previously taken steps to reassure its eastern members, who feel threatened by Russia. Its latest plan aims to increase security by combining flexible ground forces with rapidly deployable reinforcements to deter any potential aggressor.

The aim is to create a "multinational" force presence that will send a "very strong signal" of NATO's unity, Stoltenberg said.

"An attack against one ally is an attack against all allies," he said following the decision, and added that that all NATO members would would respond accordingly to any act of aggression.

The details - including troop numbers - are to be worked out by military planners over the coming months, ahead of NATO's Warsaw summit in July.

The initiative could see several thousand troops positioned on a rotational basis across countries such as Poland and the Baltic states.