The weekly SITREP (Situational Report) brings relevant events that happened in the Baltic region during the week that were either too small to be implemented in a full analysis or could not be published in full due to time restrictions. They provide however important background information concerning the Baltic Region.
General
- NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) is reported to be too vulnerable when deployed in Eastern Europe according to the Financial Times. The newspaper states that the risk will be highest during its initial deployment phase when the VJTF is establishing their positions in the area of operations.
- Former British General Sir Richard Shirreff told the Independent newspaper that NATO might risk a nuclear war with Russia over the Baltic States.
- Flemish Minister-President Geert Bourgeois visited the Baltic States seeking closer cooperation between Flanders and the Baltic States.
Denmark
- Denmark will contribute 150 soldiers in a British-led coalition of about 6.000 NATO forces. These troops will be stationed in Estonia. The Danish defence minister Peter Christensen undermined that the security of Denmark’s eastern allies was important.
- Denmark is reported to be interested in the Baltic Pipeline project. The project is aimed to transport natural gas from Norway to Poland over Denmark, making Poland less dependent on Russian natural gas imports. The results of a feasibility study on this project are to be expected by the end of 2016.
Estonia
- On Friday 23 May the news was announced that a stateless resident of Estonia got arrested in Saint Petersburg on charges of gathering classified military information. The Estonian resident and non-citizen in question is Arsen Mardaleishvili, born in 1969. FSB sources told Interfax that Arsen Mardaleishvili was under orders from the Estonian Interior Ministry’s Security Police Office. Estonia denied all charges.
- Standing NATO Maritime Group One (SNMG1) visited Tallinn during the weekend.
- On Tuesday 17 may the RAF detachment participating in NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission intercepted five Russian aircraft flying near the Estonian border.
Lithuania
- Gas imports from Russia have been decreased by 63.2 % in the period from January through March 2016. This is result of Lithuania seeking to diversify its energy imports and become les depended on Russian gas. All major Lithuanian gas importers began purchasing gas from the Norwegian company Statoil since the beginning of this year.
- NATO finished Exercise Hunter on 19 May. Troops from different NATO members trained their interoperability with local armed forces. The NATO exercise also focused on training on anti-tank platforms like the Javelin, Spike and Carl Gustav anti-tank weapons.
Latvia
- Latvia and Belarus have agreed to cooperate closer in order to strengthen border control. Especially the smuggling of illegal cigarettes from Belarus and the crossing of illegal immigrants across the mutual border will be further addressed.
Russia
- The Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs has launched a tender for new machineguns. The new machinegun will be called Tokar-2 and will be used for urban close quarter battles and for support of Special Forces’ assault groups. The tender is planned to be conducted in June.
- Russian airborne troops will begin to form six tank companies in the second half of 2016. These will grow to battalion sized units by 2018. All these units will be equipped with modernized T72B3M tanks.
Sweden
- Oil prices are expected to continue to rise, making Sweden increase its trade relations with Iran.