NATO to deploy more soldiers to Eastern Europe

NATO to deploy more soldiers to Eastern Europe

... Excerpt

The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) has announced its agreement over a package of military measures, saying it will be deploying more air, sea, and land forces to Eastern Europe amid escalating unrest in Ukraine.

 

NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Wednesday that over the next few days, there will be an increase in the alliance's presence in the Baltic region.

 

"We will have more planes in the air, more ships on the water and more readiness on the land," he added.

 

Rasmussen made the remarks as he was addressing reporters following a meeting of NATO ambassadors at the 28-nation alliance’s headquarters in the Belgian capital, Brussels.

 

The head of NATO said the deployment was for “deterrence and de-escalation,” adding that more would be deployed if “needed.”

 

This comes a day after Ukraine’s military launched massive operations against pro-Russia protesters in the country’s eastern cities.

 

According to reports, pro-Moscow protesters have been occupying government, police and other administrative buildings in nearly 10 cities close to the Russian border. They have been demanding local referendums on either independence or integration into Russia.

 

Pro-Russia rallies gained momentum in the eastern and southern parts of Ukraine after the Crimean territory declared independence from the former Soviet state and formally applied to become part of the Russian Federation. Crimea held a referendum on March 16, in which almost 97 percent of the participants voted for rejoining Russia, with a turnout of more than 83 percent.