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Germany inaugurates Baltic Sea naval HQ amidst rising tensions with Moscow

Germany inaugurated on Monday a new international marine headquarters for the Baltic Sea efficient in leading operations for NATO during a conflict, as the military alliance increases focus on the area amid increasing tensions with Russia.

Our message to our partners and to those who threaten our peace is simple: Germany stands strongly by its dedications, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius stated according to a draft of his speech at a ceremony at the country's marine command in the coastal city of Rostock, on whose facilities the head office is situated.

The head office will play a vital function in the preparation of military circumstance reports and in responding to local obstacles, consisting of the protection of NATO member states' interests against aggressive actions, particularly given the proximity of Russia.

The establishment of the center highlights the important significance of the Baltic Sea for NATO after relations with Russia weakened following the Ukraine war, with Moscow's. Baltic Fleet based near Kaliningrad.

Securing ocean blue routes through the Baltic Sea has actually ended up being. vital to the alliance since its eastern growth after completion. of the Cold War that saw Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and. lately Finland and Sweden to the north, sign up with NATO.

In the past, NATO's main function would have been to block the. western entrance to the Baltic Sea to prevent the Soviet Union's. Baltic Fleet from reaching the North Sea, where its warships. could attack U.S. supply convoys vital to Europe's defence.

Today, NATO should guarantee the sea routes stay open since. they may make up the only supply line to the Baltic states. must the narrow overland passage linking them to Poland, and. therefore the rest of NATO area in Europe, be blocked in any. dispute with Russia.

Just two roadways and one railroad line gone through the 65 km. ( 40 miles) wide passage - the Suwalki Gap - that is squeezed. between the heavily armed Russian exclave of Kaliningrad to the. west and Belarus to the east.

Owning the biggest navy in the area, Germany has been. concerned by Moscow's existence in the Baltic Sea for a while. After Russia's addition of Crimea in 2014, Berlin forged an. alliance of the western navies surrounding the Baltic Sea.

The brand-new head office, with around 120 German and as much as 60. worldwide personnel in peacetime, will be led by a German. admiral with a Polish deputy and a Swedish chief of personnel.

Eleven nations have released workers there - Denmark,. Estonia, Finland, France, Britain, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the. Netherlands, Poland and Sweden.

(source: Reuters)