The US and NATO allies will begin what is likely to be a smaller-scale exercise in the Baltic Sea this week as ships are deployed to conflict zones elsewhere in the world, Reuters reports.
The annual US BALTOPS exercise has been taking place since 1971, and this year will involve 20 ships from 15 countries, and 6,000 troops, about half the size of last year. Officials have said the smaller exercises reflect operational realities rather than a broader commitment as Western fleets are busy elsewhere, including in the Middle East and Arctic regions.
US BALTOPS, which will take place from the 4th to the 20th of June and will be a smaller-scale exercise than usual, will still be the largest maneuvers in the Baltic Sea this year. Although US President Donald Trump has sharply criticized NATO and even threatened to leave the alliance, Washington will send the ship Mount Whitney to the exercises.
The US-led exercises are not intended as a direct response to current events, but Rear Admiral Stephan Haisch said they certainly increase German political importance. He believes that holding large exercises at this time is a sign of the alliance’s strength:
“It is a sign of the alliance’s unity and strength, and I am speaking of all allies here.”
Haisch is responsible for the multinational fleet command headquarters in the Baltic Sea, which Germany established in Rostock in 2024 in response to rising tensions with Russia.
BALTOPS will begin with exercises in the western part of the Baltic Sea and then move east, testing supply and ensuring free shipping around the Swedish island of Gotland. This will be a key lesson in the region’s growing strategic importance. Free shipping lanes are considered critical in a crisis, especially in supplying the Baltic states, which are linked to the rest of NATO only by the narrow Suwalki Gap. Haisch, who said that free shipping lanes are central, added that it is important to ensure not only military movement but also the movement of commercial ships.
Asked about previous incidents in the Baltic Sea that Western officials have linked to Russia, Haisch said he did not think Moscow would cross the line that would trigger NATO’s Article 5. He said he expected Russia not to cross the line of Article 5 if it wanted to test NATO.
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