Around thirty warships and submarines, up to 19 aircraft and 3,200 soldiers from 14 NATO countries for a routine exercise in the Baltic Sea, which is “for the first time” about “high-level warfare and collective defense”. With this formation, the Atlantic Alliance’s exercise “Northern Coasts 23” began today under the command of Germany to send “a clear message” to Moscow. “Seven, soon to be eight, allies border the Baltic Sea, so the area is critically important to us,” interim NATO spokesman Dylan White said in a statement, noting that “Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine is radically changing the security situation in Ukraine The Baltic Sea and NATO have significantly increased their defensive presence in the region on sea, land and in the air. Exercises like these send a clear signal that NATO is ready to defend every inch of allied territory.” The statement said: “Allies will participate in amphibious operations, air defense, maritime strikes and the U.S. over the next two weeks In addition to Germany, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, the USA and Sweden are also taking part in “Northern Coasts 23”.
