New NATO Regional HQ in Romania; Russian Encirclement Proceeds

This week, the new NATO Southeast Multinational Division began work in Bucharest, the first of five NATO regional offices to be in operation by the end of the year. The Romanian facility, which opened Aug. 31, is intended as a command-and- control center. The next will be Lithuania and Poland (heavy equipment), followed by two more. According to news reports by Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, NATO has sped up encircling Russia with military bases—provocative to war.

The German newspaper gives details from the Baltic News Network. A BNN article yesterday reports that NATO has planned to set up bases in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Romania, and Poland. “It has planned to discuss this initiative in more detail during the NATO summit in Wales September 5th and 6th. These bases will be used for logistics, reconnaissance and mission planning, and will boast permanent multinational staffs of between 300 and 600 employees per base,” Romania’s Business Review said citing an unnamed source. Moreover, in a bid to show off how the US protects its allies, “the Pentagon has deployed two MQ-1 Predator long-range unmanned surveillance drones and 70 airmen to Latvia on a training mission, the US Department of Defense said,” Russia Today reported yesterday.

The BNN article went on to note that, in addition to bases, NATO has also “planned to set up a rapid Reaction Force of approximately 4,000 soldiers. These forces would be sent to a crisis region within seven days, as reported by the source.” The newspaper also reported that NATO member states have reached an agreement in regard to a secret program. “In this 20-page long document, Russia is mentioned as ‘a threat to Euro-Atlantic security’.”

The new NATO Multinational Division Southeast in Bucharest, will coordinate with NATO’s operations in Romania and Bulgaria, according to todayu’s Rumania-Insider.com. “Some 280 military staff will work in this center, including 75 from other NATO member states. Romania’s Dacica 1st Infantry Division handed over command to the Multinational Division Southeast” on August 31.