NATO general: Baltic states now much better defended than before

Military security in the Baltic states has improved markedly since NATO developed a clear strategy and action plans, a senior NATO general said.

Lt Gen. John Mead, a British general and deputy commander of NATO's Brunssum Joint Force Command, also highlighted significant progress on logistics in an interview given to LETA.

Lt Gen. Mead cited the alliance's Deterrence and Defense of the Euro-Atlantic Area (DDA) strategy and clear action plans.

He said one of the most notable aspects of the DDA has been aligning NATO's regional plans with national-level planning. Mead added the alliance is developing guidelines for building military capabilities and for jointly defending every meter of territory — a collective and increasingly integrated effort — alongside joint surveillance conducted as part of day-to-day deterrence.

Mead pointed to Operation Baltic Sentry, launched in response to new threats, as proof of the approach, noting that no undersea cables have been cut since it began.

The general also cited the Eastern Sentry air defense operation launched a year ago as a further example, saying NATO is taking decisive steps, has robust plans, and is addressing capability gaps through continuous integration and joint exercises.

He acknowledged that noting short of a revolution is under way with respect to the alliance's armed forces, and that NATO must keep adapting while maintaining deterrence — and must feel uncomfortable about not moving fast enough.

Latvia and Estonia as small countries lack geographical depth, a challenge they must meet strategically. Mead noted NATO is working to neutralize this, stressing "tremendous" progress has been made on logistics, with much greater cohesion among the Baltic states and better alignment between NATO and national plans than had been the case in the past. Exercises in the coming weeks will also test direct communication with national operations centers, he said.

Mead also praised the level of innovation in the Baltic states, saying science, tech and innovation play an important role.

Mead said he sees no need to deploy more foreign troops to the Baltics. Instead, he said, regular exercises are needed to ensure NATO forces that are available can operate according to plan. Next year's Exercise Steadfast Deterrence will test force deployment, Mead added.

While the numbers of forces available is "sufficient," Mead said, their deployment must be validated and demonstrated in order to send a credible deterrence signal.

He referred to the first joint German-Dutch cooperation — leading NATO vigilance and day-to-day deterrence in Latvia and Estonia — as an important step, and said full deployment under some plans will take a couple of years to reach readiness.

Mead highlighted communications, information systems and data use as areas of current focus. He identified identifying an attacker as a challenge, noting the use of unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) as seen in Ukraine is largely revolutionizing military operations and air warfare.

The general closed by stressing unity: NATO is the sum of its member nations' capabilities and threats are constantly changing; the alliance must not give in to fear, he added.

It is important to remember dialogue is among the 32 member states as equals, and not between NATO and each member state on a bilateral basis. This defines the alliance's strength, he concluded.

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