A major US-led exercise in Poland and the Baltic states has kicked off. It comes amid interest from Poland in welcoming a permanent US military presence on its territory.
The "Saber Strike" exercise, which involves Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and 17 additional participating Allied and partner militaries, got underway on Sunday. It is "a clear demonstration of the commitment and solidarity of the Alliance," according to the US Army Europe. "Saber Strike 18 is not a provocation of Russia but an exercise with our Allies."
The massive drills got underway just days after it emerged that Poland is willing to spend as much as 1.7 billion euros ($2 billion) to cover the costs of a US base in the face of perceived Russian aggression.
"Yes, we are interested in the presence of American forces in our country and we have submitted — including to think tanks — some options that we could offer if such decisions were adopted," said Pawel Soloch, head of the office of national security at the Polish presidency.
The proposal triggered a response from Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov. "In general, when we record gradual expansion of NATO military structure towards our borders, when NATO infrastructure directly approaches our borders, this certainly does not contribute to security and stability on the continent in any way," Peskov said.
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.
Image: picture alliance/dpa/M. Kul
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The United States boosted its presence on the alliance's eastern flank after Russia annexed Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. The US Army set up a new European headquarters in Poland in 2017 to command 6,000 US troops in the region, one of the largest deployments of US forces in Europe since the Cold War.
Israel, which a not a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), is taking part for the first time in the drills, which are scheduled to run until June 15.
