US think tank suggests creation of nuclear weapons free zone in Baltic region
Although the risk of a nuclear conflict in the Baltic region is small, th is essential to reduce the danger even further, the US-based Stimson Center found in its latest report.
“First, NATO should strengthen the conventional military capabilities it is able to move quickly into the Baltic region, so that Russian leaders would be unlikely to believe they could seize Baltic capitals so quickly that NATO would be unable to respond,” the Stimson Center said in a report “Reducing the Risk of Nuclear War in the Nordic/Baltic Region, published on Tuesday.
“For instance, equipment for an armored brigade could be prepositioned in each Baltic nation and battalions rotated through on temporary deployments for joint exercises,” the report suggested, adding that a US division headquarters in Poland and full NATO fighter squadrons rotating through the Baltic and nearby nations are also options worth exploring.
In addition, the regions's governments should consider the possibility of establishing a Baltic Nuclear Weapons Free Zone (NWFZ). “Implemending such a zone would necessitate the removal of Russian weapons from Kaliningrad and NATO nuclear weapons from Germany; all other nations bordering the Baltic are already nuclear free,” the authors said.
You can read the full report here.
Editor: M. Oll