NATO states have agreed to build a command post in the German city of Ulm as a response to Russia's policy in eastern Europe, according to German news agency DPA. Another center is set to be established in the US.
As part of NATO's European build-up, the military alliance will create a new command center in southern Germany and another in the US state of Virginia, the DPA news agency said in an exclusive report on Friday.
The move comes as a response to Russia's military assertiveness in Crimea and eastern Ukraine. The crisis which started in 2014 already saw Germany and the US deploy troops to NATO's eastern flank, including Poland and the Baltic states.
Citing a confidential NATO report, DPA said the alliance still had doubts over its capability to respond quickly and adequately to a potential Russian assault.
The new German compound would serve to alleviate such problems. The base would be build in the city of Ulm, which already hosts a multinational military headquarters for conducting crisis deployments across the world.
NATO officials are set to announce the decision at a ministerial summit next week in Brussels, according to the agency. German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen is planning to attend the meeting.
NATO leaders hope the new command post would start construction in July and open as early as October next year. However, it would only become fully operational in 2021.
The alliance officials have yet to decide about the exact number of soldiers for the new post, DPA said.
NATO will also build a new command post in Norfolk, Virginia, to protect naval ways and sensitive infrastructure between North America and Europe. The infrastructure also includes transatlantic internet cables that carry data between the continents.
dv/rt (dpa)
Germany's NATO missions
Since West Germany's accession to NATO, Berlin has supported numerous operations involving the trans-Atlantic alliance. Since 1990, Germany's Bundeswehr has been deployed on "out of area" missions as well.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Hanschke
Germany's role in NATO
West Germany officially joined the trans-Atlantic alliance in 1955. However, it wasn't until after reunification in 1990 that the German government considered "out of area" missions led by NATO. From peacekeeping to deterrence, Germany's Bundeswehr has since been deployed in several countries across the globe in defense of its allies.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/M. Hanschke
Bosnia: Germany's first NATO mission
In 1995, Germany participated in its first "out of area" NATO mission as part of a UN-mandated peacekeeping mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the deployment, German soldiers joined other NATO member forces to provide security in the wake of the Bosnian War. The peacekeeping mission included more than 60,000 troops from NATO's member states and partners.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/H. Delic
Keeping the peace in Kosovo
Since the beginning of the NATO-led peacekeeping mission in Kosovo, some 8,500 German soldiers have been deployed in the young country. In 1999, NATO launched an air assault against Serbian forces accused of carrying out a brutal crackdown against ethnic Albanian separatists and their civilian supporters. Approximately 550 Bundeswehr troops are still stationed in Kosovo.
Image: picture-alliance/dpa/V.Xhemaj
Patrolling the Aegean Sea
In 2016, Germany deployed its combat support ship "Bonn" to lead a NATO mission backed by the EU in the Aegean Sea. The mission included conducting "reconnaissance, monitoring and surveillance of illegal crossings" in Greek and Turkish territorial waters at the height of the migration crisis. Germany, Greece and Turkey had requested assistance from the trans-Atlantic alliance.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/M.Schreiber
Nearly two decades in Afghanistan
In 2003, Germany's parliament voted to send Bundeswehr troops to Afghanistan in support of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). Germany became the third-largest contributor of troops and led the Regional Command North. More than 50 German troops were killed during the mission. Germany withdrew the last of its troops in June 2021 as part of the US-led exit from Afghanistan.
Image: picture alliance/AP Photo/A.Niedringhaus
German tanks in Lithuania
Forming part of NATO's "enhanced forward presence" in the Baltic states, 450 Bundeswehr soldiers have been deployed to Lithuania since 2017. The battalion-size battlegroups there are led by Germany, Canada, the UK and US to reinforce collective defense on the alliance's eastern flank. It forms the "biggest reinforcement of Alliance collective defense in a generation," according to NATO.
