In the fall of 2019, large joint exercises of the armed forces of the Baltic Republic and units of several other NATO countries should be held in Latvia. This was reported by the Latvian media with reference to the Ministry of Defense of the country.

First, from September 23 to October 6, Silver Arrow maneuvers (“Silver Arrow”) will be held, which will bring together troops from Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia, as well as a North Atlantic Alliance combat group deployed in the republic Of Canada.

According to the plan, the military will develop the skills of command, planning and leadership of defense operations.

A few weeks after the completion of the Silver Arrow, from October 28 to November 10, Latvia will host the Furious Ax tactical field exercises (“The Furious Ax”) with the participation of Latvian units and a NATO-led NATO battle group stationed in Estonia under the leadership of the United Kingdom.

It is reported that approximately 500 non-Latvian soldiers will take part in both Silver Arrow and Furious Ax.

At the same time, the conduct of maneuvers must still be approved by the government of the Baltic Republic.

In recent years, NATO has increasingly carried out maneuvers near Russian borders. So, in April, Estonia became the venue for large-scale cyber security exercises Locked Shields 2019. From April 12 to May 5, the Furious Hammer (“Furious Hammer”) international maneuvers were held in the Baltic States, involving troops from Estonia, Latvia and soldiers of the NATO international battalion. Since the end of April, large-scale Spring Storm exercises have also been held in Estonia, in which about 10 thousand military personnel were involved, and in May the NATO Summer Shield XVI exercises were held in Latvia in Latvia.

In June 2019, Poland hosted the large Dragon-2019 exercises, in which 18 thousand military personnel and 2.5 thousand armored vehicles took part, during which interaction on water, land and in the air was worked out. In the same month, the Baltops-2019 maneuvers took place in the Baltic Sea, in which ships and aircraft from 16 NATO countries and their partners were involved.

NATO exercises are regularly held on the southern borders of Russia - in Georgia, which is a member of the so-called accelerated dialogue with the alliance. The last of them, Agile Spirit 2019 ended on August 9th.

In July, the North Atlantic Alliance also conducted maneuvers in the Black Sea Sea Breeze with the involvement of the military from 19 countries, including Ukraine.

  • Latvian army soldiers
  • AFP
  • © Ilmars Znotins

It should be noted that in addition to regular exercises in the Baltic states, the authorities of these countries regularly talk about the possible strengthening of the military presence in the NATO and US regions. Thus, the Minister of Defense of Lithuania Raimundas Karoblis in July 2019 noted that in Vilnius they were in favor of deploying a US permanent contingent in the country and suggested that every American battalion deployed in the country should be equipped with short-range air defense units.

“The USA is the most powerful ally, and their deterrent influence cannot be compared with the role of other allies. I’m sure that Russia will not dare to test NATO for strength if the US military units are located in the three Baltic states on an ongoing basis, ”the minister said.

“Forcing Russophobia and Propaganda”

Experts interviewed by RT are convinced that the exercises of the North Atlantic Alliance held in the Baltic countries are primarily directed against Moscow. So, according to military expert Alexei Leonkov, these maneuvers usually work out the first actions of the NATO armed forces “for a while, until help comes from overseas.” At the same time, in an interview with RT, he emphasized that the “Russian threat” is a product of the information war, which has no foundation.

“This is an escalation of Russophobia and propaganda. They themselves raised a cry about what does not exist, they themselves were frightened of this and now confront these “threats”. The result was a closed system, ”said the analyst.

According to him, such an escalation of fear benefits the military-industrial complex of NATO countries and, above all, the United States, which benefit most from this state of affairs.

According to the head of the department of political science and sociology G.V. Plekhanov Andrei Koshkin, one of the goals of such maneuvers is to demonstrate to the Allies their readiness to repel a possible "threat".

“The Baltic countries show that the forces called upon to defend Europe are at a certain degree of readiness. On the other hand, they demonstrate that they have someone to defend themselves against. That Russia, being an "aggressor", needs to be constantly restrained by such teachings. Of course, this is more of a military-political step than a real military necessity, ”he said.

At the same time, Koshkin emphasized that NATO is well aware that no war is expected with Russia.

“All this is a kind of props, a game. The alliance realizes that they will not fight with Moscow. This was repeatedly stated publicly by NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, ”the analyst said.

Experts believe that the active participation of the Baltic countries in NATO military exercises is also partly due to their economic dependence on the European Union and the United States. Because all they can give them in return is territory.

“The Baltic states are awaiting grants from the European Union. They would like to cooperate with the United States as successfully as Poland does, which is ready to even deploy a US Armed Forces brigade at its own expense, ”said Koshkin.

According to him, the Baltic countries seek to provide their territory for the exercises, as well as actively use Russophobia technology in the information space, thus drawing attention to themselves and showing their allegiance to NATO and the United States. As noted by Koshkin, such zeal in Washington is highly valued in conditions when Euro-Atlantic unity has cracked.

“The active desire of the Baltic countries to throw themselves in American arms is appreciated in the USA, because they have difficult relations with France and Germany today. Many European states do not want to follow the instructions coming from the American capital, ”he said.

In this regard, Koshkin recalled the idea of ​​creating a pan-European army that the United States does not like - President Donald Trump has repeatedly said this.

“Against this background, the Baltic countries show their readiness to serve Washington faithfully. They, as well as Poland and Ukraine, will until the last stand on the side of America. This is a kind of springboard that will allow the United States to put pressure on more independent states of the European continent, ”the expert believes.

  • Lithuanian Minister of Defense Raimundas Karoblis
  • Reuters
  • © Ints Kalnins

"Emphasize your presence"

In the current realities, the North Atlantic Alliance will continue to actively conduct exercises at the Russian borders, experts say. In particular, this is due to the need to indicate its presence in the region.

“This trend continues from year to year. They increase the number of violations of air and sea borders, increase the frequency of exercises, and develop the infrastructure of NATO near our borders. This is due to the need to constantly emphasize their presence, ”said Andrei Koshkin.

In turn, Alexei Leonkov pointed out that the scale of maneuvers may vary each time, but their ultimate goal is to force Russia to change its policy.

“Teachings vary in purpose and scope every year. It depends on the budgets allocated for these purposes. NATO countries think that sooner or later Russia will be scared and will go knocking on their door to ask for an agreement. But this will not happen, ”he said.

According to Koshkin, Moscow against this background does not take any aggressive actions, but is ready to repel any threat.

“We are not aggressors, we are not striving to deploy missiles. But we must be ready to mirror and localize any threat that today forms on our western borders, ”he said.

Leonkov, for his part, drew attention to the fact that Moscow needs to closely monitor such maneuvers, since any mistake by the NATO military on the border with Russia can lead to unforeseen consequences.

“The Russian Federation is closely following these exercises to prevent any excesses, as in Estonia, where Spanish pilots mistakenly launched a military missile. Therefore, during maneuvers, our forces and assets in the Kaliningrad region, the Baltic Fleet and the Western Military District are on high alert, ”said the analyst.

This is a case that happened in Estonia in August 2018. Then the Spanish Air Force fighter Eurofighter Typhoon 2000, which participated in the mission to protect the airspace over the Baltic countries, mistakenly launched an air-to-air missile during a flight over the southern part of Estonia. The radius of the launched AIM-120 AMRAAM missile is 100 km, so theoretically it could fall in Russia.