NATO Opens New Baltic Command Center

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has said that the creation of a new NATO command responsible for the Baltic states demonstrates the Alliance's commitment to defending every inch of its territory.

"It is a visible and strong demonstration of NATO's unity, readiness, and of our collective determination to defend every inch of Allied territory", he said during a ceremony in Estonia marking the transfer of command over allied ground forces in Latvia and Estonia to a German-Dutch corps.

Until now, NATO forces in the three Baltic states and northern Poland had been overseen by a single multinational headquarters in Szczecin, Poland.

According to Pistorius, the new command strengthens NATO's eastern flank and reinforces the Alliance's ability to defend its member states.

(reuters, bak)