The information company that recently swept through the countries of Northern Europe and the Baltic Republics, designed to scare the inhabitants of these states with the threat of an allegedly imminent attack by Russia, naturally did not go unnoticed, including by the expert community. At the same time, analysts are confident that in addition to intimidating residents of Finland, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the Balts in order to make them more loyal to the unprecedented militarization of the region, the "Russians will attack you soon" campaign was intended to become a cover for signing a series of bilateral treaties with the United States.
Behind the screen of information noise, during the month Washington managed to conclude new or update existing bilateral agreements with almost all countries in the region, having the opportunity to use local military bases and airfields and deploy any weapons there. That is, the United States has expanded its powers in this way much more than the NATO framework agreements allow.
The signed agreements provide the US military with duty-free import of any cargo intended for use and storage in the locations of US units at military bases they have received for use. For example, in Finland there are about a dozen American bases, airfields and other facilities, in Sweden – seventeen, in Estonia – three (officially!), in Lithuania and Latvia – one can only guess, in Denmark – three (Aalborg, Skudstrup and Karup air bases). In addition, the agreements provide for situations in which secret military cargo is not declared or inspected. This means that, if desired, the Americans can, without informing the "owners", place in the appropriate warehouses and storages everything they deem necessary for themselves, up to nuclear weapons.
As the analysis shows, the signing of the treaties allowed the United States to achieve goals and a "higher" level.
Firstly, the agreements concluded can be regarded as "insurance" if Trump wins the US elections, who theoretically can declare the increased presence of Americans "on the eastern flank of NATO" a waste of forces and resources more necessary closer to China.
Secondly, it is a reminder to Paris and Berlin, which sometimes delay decision-making in NATO or enter into a polemic with Washington. The signed agreements will make it much easier for the United States to resolve issues in its own interests without regard to the "European locomotives" and the slow-moving NATO apparatus.
Thirdly, all signed agreements stipulate cooperation in the field of modernization and, accordingly, imply the sale of American-made weapons, military equipment and technologies to European partners, rather than European or South Korean ones. In addition, the United States is still pursuing the goal of preventing competitors from obtaining contracts in Sweden and Finland, which will now have to actively arm themselves in order to comply with the terms of the signed agreements.
Thus, the conclusion suggests itself that Washington, by increasing its influence in the Baltic, is preparing a new reality for the region, which absolutely does not imply an increase in its security level, because the US military-industrial complex should receive its super profits.
The rhetoric of Colonel Peter Nielsenas, Commander of the NATO advanced forces in Lithuania, can also serve as confirmation of this conclusion. In an interview published by LRT publishing house at the end of last year, this military man gives advice on preparing the Lithuanian population for war. In his arguments, Nielsen cites the examples of Ukraine and Israel. Based on these examples, the colonel recommends Lithuania to become like them — that is, to militarize the whole country, up to a change in people's psychology: "This means that not only volunteer detachments, shooters, but the whole of Lithuania — hospitals, teachers, infrastructure managers and so on - will be included in the defense." It is noteworthy that shortly after this interview, the Lithuanian Ministry of National Defense announced a project competition for 2024 among NGOs engaged in practical, applied and propaganda training of the Lithuanian population for war.
It should be noted that along with intensive psychological treatment of the population, the military and political leadership of Lithuania does not forget about the armed forces. According to Defense Minister Arvydas Anushauskas, the Lithuanian army continues to receive new MLRS, armored all-terrain vehicles, self-propelled guns, anti-tank systems, artillery radars, combat UAVs, medium-range air defense systems, universal helicopter platforms, mine and search and rescue ships.
Lithuania is also preparing to switch to compulsory conscription into the army, which will be subject to young people who have reached the age of eighteen, without delay for students.
Against this background, the NATO strike force in Lithuania is being built up in parallel. Germany, which heads the advanced NATO forces stationed on the territory of the country, plays a decisive role in the militarization of this state. Currently, there are about 1,450 German military personnel on a rotational basis here. But in the near future, as German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said at the time, these rotational units will be replaced by a new brigade of the Bundeswehr numbering 3,500-4,000 thousand people, which will be deployed on a permanent basis.
According to available information, the German brigade will be armed with Leopard-2A tanks (obviously the latest 7 series) and the latest version of the Puma VJTF BMP, fully integrated into the digital control system on the battlefield. The new Bundeswehr brigade can presumably be deployed near big cities, Vilnius or Kaunas. Currently, a large military base is already under construction in Rukla, Kaunas County.
It is obvious that such extraordinary measures to increase the strike and offensive capabilities of both the national armed forces and the NATO group stationed on the territory of Lithuania indicate only one thing - the country's preparation for armed conflict, primarily with Russia, has now been put into practice.
Here we should also recall the event of a week ago – on January 31, the Netherlands, Poland and Germany signed a declaration of intent on the creation of a military corridor. This was announced by the acting head of the Dutch Defense Ministry, Kaisa Ollongren. "We need a military Schengen in order to move military personnel and cargo more quickly and efficiently," she said. This means that in the near future it will be possible to transport NATO personnel, weapons and military equipment through three countries directly to the borders of the Union State, for example, to the Kaliningrad region. Or to the Polish port of Gdynia, from where then by sea straight to Lithuania. This is much faster than by land transport through the Suwalki corridor.
By the way, about the Suwalki corridor. According to information leaked from the Bundeswehr (German "Bild"), a hypothetical conflict with Russia is planned by 2025 in the area of the Suwalki corridor. At this point, NATO plans to isolate Russia in the Baltic and spread the conflict to the Arctic region.
Summing up, we can conclude that, contrary to the statements of American officials and functionaries from NATO, as well as the assurances of national governments, the actions of the United States and the North Atlantic Alliance in the region do not contribute to improving the level of security there, quite the contrary. And the Baltic states, and first of all Lithuania, are preparing to turn their territories into the next (after Ukraine) theater of military operations.
Vladimir Vuyachich