Rising Russian tensions put lonely
NATO base in Poland on map
12.09.2014 Erik Kirschbaum/ Euronews (from Reuters)/ France
http://www.euronews.com/newswires/2685906-rising-russian-tensions-put-lonely-nato-base-in-poland-onmap/
There are no boots on the ground at NATO’s only headquarters behind the former Iron Curtain
— just some top brass sitting at desks with maps on the walls.
In fact, the alliance’s lonely outpost at Szczecin in western Poland has created such a tiny
footprint over the past 15 years that barely anyone noticed it even existed.
But it is about to get an upgrade in response to what N A T O sees as Russia’s aggression in
Ukraine.
N A T O decided at its summit in Wales last week to raise the combat readiness of the
command post and to double its size from 200 officers – from the United States, Germany and
12 eastern European nations – to about 400.
These might appear to be minor changes unlikely to serve as a significant deterrent to
ambitions Moscow may have to try to unite Russian-speaking enclaves in parts of eastern
Europe whose countries joined N A T O after the Cold War.
However the N A T O moves to bolster the Szczecin base are of considerable symbolic
importance and are having a galvanising effect in former Warsaw Pact countries that are most
alarmed by Russia’s annexation of Crimea and fighting in eastern Ukraine.
“It’s great news for me and for the countries of eastern and central Europe that the political
leaders of the N A T Ocountries took the decision to increase our combat readiness,” said
Lieutenant General Boguslaw Samol, the commander of the base known as the Multinational
Corps Northeast, in an interview.
“The message sent from the summit is very important not only for Poles and Czechs, and the
Baltic countries but also for the rest of Europe: Our countries share a common security policy
in this region and they are ready to stand together in the event of conflict to protect our
territory,” the Polish commander said.
There is also a broader connotation to the move.Szczecin might be a tongue-twister for English
speakers but Winston Churchill mentioned its German name, Stettin, in his famous 1946
speech when he defined an “Iron Curtain” that was dividing Europe “From Stettin in the Baltic
to Trieste in the Adriatic….”
R I G H T S T E P AT RI G H T T I M E
Eastern European N A T O members appealed to the alliance well before the Wales summit to
station forces permanently on their territory to deter any Russian attack. But others were
leery.
In 1997, during a period of better relations, N A T O had reached an agreement with Russia
under which alliance members said they had no intention of deploying nuclear weapons on the
territory of new member states, which began joining in 1999 after the collapse of the Soviet
Union.
Under that agreement, N A T O also committed to defending its members through
reinforcement rather than by permanently stationing additional “substantial combat forces”
there.
“It’s the right time for this now,” Samol told Reuters in his modest office in one of just 12
buildings that make up the N A T O “Baltic Barracks” headquarters.
The N A T O decision to expand its presence was big news in Poland, prompting more than 30
Polish reporters immediately rushed to the base just 15 km (9.5 miles) east of the Germany
border to report on the upgrade.
Poland’s President Bronislaw Komorowski also flew to the base to inspect the troops on his
way back from Wales to Warsaw.
The exact details of upgrading Szczecin and bolstering NATO’s presence in eastern Europe are
still being worked out and analysts have doubts it will impress Moscow’s military planners.
Until now the base has served as a command headquarters for the Multinational Corps
Northeast – coordinating N A T O exercises and 14 different military systems. There are no
tanks here and the campus-like facility has more computers than weapons.
“I’m not convinced with the argument that these moves will make Russia quiver in its
boots,” said Daniel Keohane, head of strategic affairs at the F RI D E think-thank in Brussels.
“But as a political statement to countries in eastern Europe they’re very important whatever
their real military value might be.”
Keohane said N A T O had no choice but to show the flag in eastern Europe, where the fears
of Russia are not theoretical. “These kinds of steps, like upgrading the base in Szczecin, had
to be taken. N A T O had to reassure its allies.”
N AT O S U P P OR T
There is strong pro-N A T O sentiment outside the base on the streets of Szczecin, an industrial
port city of 400,000 that was German until the end of World War Two and Swedish in the 17th
and 18th centuries.
In neighbouring Germany there are tensions at times about the presence of N AT O bases and
fears of those towns being primary targets in any conventional war. But not in Poland.
“I definitely feel a threat from Russia and it’s good that Poland is a member of N A T O ,” said
Kamil Szanter, an 18-year-old student in Szczecin. “All the endangered countries should stick
together. This is a signal to Russia that you shouldn’t mess with Poland because it’s part
of N A T O .”
Physiotherapist Justyna Krol lives across the street from the Szczecin base and said it was fine
with her that N A T O was going to expand. “I think it’s a good move because I’m afraid of what
Russia is doing. N A T O is a very good thing for Poland.”
Poland, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania wanted a larger and permanent N A T O deployment in
eastern Europe to deter Russia – up to two N A T O divisions, or 20,000 to 30,000 troops.
The N A T O summit agreed to set up a new rapid-reaction force with 5,000 troops as a
spearhead to deploy to a conflict zone within days.
But the “spearhead” rapid reaction force will not be based in Poland even though operations
could be coordinated from Szczecin. There has also been talk of possibly pre-positioning
supplies in Szczecin or elsewhere in Poland.
Brigadier General Lutz Niemann, chief of staff at the base, said the details on exactly what
Szczecin will be tasked with still have to be worked out but he assumes its IT and
communications operations will be greatly expanded.
For now, it is just the fact that it is happening that is bringing some comfort to what Niemann
said was a “somewhat under-represented” eastern Europe.