Tallinn. May 30. INTERFAX - More than 30 NATO warships will arrive in Estonia to participate in this year's largest naval exercises in the Baltic Sea, Baltops 23, the main headquarters of the Defense Forces announced on Tuesday.
"The Baltops exercises will be a historic event for us, since Estonia has never hosted so many NATO ships before. The Baltops 23 exercises demonstrate the readiness of the allies to defend the waters of the Baltic Sea, and also show the extreme importance of conducting exercises in our waters," said Commodore Yuri Saska, Commander of the Estonian Naval Forces.
Ships from the USA, Sweden, Poland, Holland, Italy, Germany, Great Britain, France, Denmark, Spain, Lithuania, Latvia, Finland and Norway are arriving to participate in the exercises, which will begin on Saturday in Tallinn.
The largest participating ship is the USS Mount Whitney (LCC 20), the flagship of the US 6th Fleet.
The first ships arrived in Tallinn on Tuesday. The French corvette Commandant Blaison (F793) docked in the port of Beckery-Meerus, and the British amphibious ship HMS Albion (L14) docked in the Old Port of Tallinn.
The ships will leave the ports on June 4, and the first joint exercises in Estonian waters will take place on June 5. During the exercises, the ships will be moored in Tallinn in Minnaya Harbor, Vanasadam, Hundipea, Beckeri-Meerus harbors, as well as in the port of Muuga.
Annual large-scale international exercises Baltops have been held since 1972. Their goal is to work out the flexibility of the participating countries in conducting land, air and sea operations in the Baltic Sea region. The 6th Fleet of the US Navy is responsible for organizing the exercises.