Defense: Letter to NATO: Germany offers Baltic Sea headquarters

Germany has reported to NATO the ability to command naval forces in a regional maritime headquarters for the Baltic Sea. The staff designated for this purpose is already leading the large-scale “Northern Coasts” maneuver that will begin next week, as the inspector of the German Navy, Vice Admiral Jan Christian Kaack, told the German Press Agency in Berlin.

“There is currently a letter from the inspector general to NATO’s deputy supreme commander for Europe indicating that we can provide the capability to establish a regional headquarters for the Baltic Sea,” he said.

After the Russian attack on Ukraine, the alliance increased its troop presence on its eastern flank and in the Baltics. Through the Kaliningrad enclave, Russia is one of the neighbors of the Baltic Sea, which is an important supply line for several NATO states and also contains lines for energy transport and telecommunications.

“The Baltic Sea is such a complex body of water with such narrow places and so many neighbors that it is essential, even in times of peace, to build up expertise here and to coordinate who is doing what,” said the inspector. In peacetime, this is one of the main tasks for such a headquarters. One task is to move from the peace situation to the leadership of larger naval units in the Baltic Sea. The Navy’s experts for this task are based in Rostock.

More than 3,000 soldiers from 14 countries are taking part in the “Northern Coasts” exercise for two weeks, including Italy, France, Canada and the USA in addition to those bordering the Baltic Sea.