Sunday

3rd Dec 2023

Merkel sets limits to Nato solidarity with Baltic states

  • Merkel laid a wreath at Latvia's Freedom Monument (Photo: bundeskanzlerin.de)

German chancellor Angela Merkel has said Nato will defend Baltic states if need be, but will not build permanent military bases in the region.

She spoke on Monday (18 August) on a visit to Riga in which she also laid a wreath at the Freedom Monument, a memorial to the Latvian War of Independence against Russia in 1918.

Read and decide

Join EUobserver today

Become an expert on Europe

Get instant access to all articles — and 20 years of archives. 14-day free trial.

... or subscribe as a group

"I want to stress that ... Article V of the Nato contract - the duty to provide mutual support - is not something which just exists on paper, but is also something which must be filled with life”, she told press after meeting Latvian prime minister Laimdota Straujuma.

She noted that German jets will start Nato air policing operations in Latvia on 20 August and that Nato is to build up a rapid reaction force to be used if Russia tries to destabilise its Baltic neighbours on the Ukraine model.

"I absolutely understand the concerns of the populations in Latvia, but also in the other Baltic states, and Poland, too”, she said.

She ruled out building permanent Nato bases in the region because, she noted, this would violate a 1997 Russia-Nato accord on troop deployments in Europe, however.

"We won't have a permanent stationing of combat troops but we will boost our participation in other ways ... we will do what it takes to guarantee that, should Latvia come into difficulties, Nato will be able to help straight away".

For her part, Straujuma said Russia’s attack on Ukraine has "fundamentally changed the security environment in Europe … trust has been lost”.

She noted that she is “pleased that Ms. Merkel has affirmed that the words [Nato’s Article V] are not just words on paper" and that the German leader “promised” to help Latvian dairy producers struck by Russia’s import ban on EU food.

Merkel’s remarks on Article V and the rapid reaction force echoed statements by Nato’s military chief, Philip Breedlove, on Sunday.

Meanwhile, Pavlo Klimkin, Ukraine’s foreign minister, said on Monday that Merkel plans to visit Ukraine on 23 August in what he described as a "very interesting" trip.

The Ukraine conflict and the EU-Russia confrontation show little sign of abatement despite German diplomatic efforts.

Ukraine’s president, Petro Poroshenko, told press also on Monday that Russia has in the past few days sent 1,200 trained militants to east Ukraine.

Its parliament speaker, Oleksandr Turchynov, said on a visit to Lithuania that Ukraine plans to join the EU in the next five years and to join Nato - a red line for Moscow - later on.

"I believe Ukraine has to not only be an EU member but also a Nato member. It would be a strong guarantee against Russia's future intentions”, he told the BNS news agency.

"If, earlier, people [in Ukraine] were divided in their opinions [on Nato membership], Russia's actions have changed it, including in the country's eastern regions”.

With the EU on Monday pledging an extra €125 million for producers hit by the Russian food embargo, the German central bank noted the EU-Russia chill is holding back Europe’s economic recovery.

“Geopolitical tensions in eastern Europe owing to the Ukraine conflict as well as in other parts of the world are now appearing to weigh more heavily on corporate sentiment”, it said in a regular report.

“It is striking that the downward trend in exports to Russia already started at the beginning of 2013, with the value of these exports falling by nearly one fifth by May 2014. Quite clearly, the conditions necessary for prosperous trade with Russia began worsening some time before the Ukraine crisis".

Russia loses seat on board of chemical weapons watchdog

Russia lost its seat on the board of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons for the first time in the organisation's history — while Ukraine, Poland, and Lithuania were elected to the executive council.

Opinion

'Loss and Damage' reparations still hang in balance at COP28

There is still work to be done — especially when it comes to guaranteeing the Global North's participation in financing Loss and Damage, and ensuring the Global South has representation and oversight on the World Bank's board.

Latest News

  1. Israel's EU ambassador: 'No clean way to do this operation'
  2. Brussels denies having no 'concern' on Spain's amnesty law
  3. Dubai's COP28 — a view from the ground
  4. Germany moves to criminalise NGO search-and-rescue missions
  5. Israel recalls ambassador to Spain in new diplomatic spat
  6. Migrant return bill 'obstructed' as EU states mull new position
  7. Paris and Berlin key to including rape in gender-violence directive
  8. What are the big money debates at COP28 UN climate summit?

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. Nordic Council of MinistersArtist Jessie Kleemann at Nordic pavilion during UN climate summit COP28
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersCOP28: Gathering Nordic and global experts to put food and health on the agenda
  3. Friedrich Naumann FoundationPoems of Liberty – Call for Submission “Human Rights in Inhume War”: 250€ honorary fee for selected poems
  4. World BankWorld Bank report: How to create a future where the rewards of technology benefit all levels of society?
  5. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsThis autumn Europalia arts festival is all about GEORGIA!
  6. UNOPSFostering health system resilience in fragile and conflict-affected countries

Stakeholders' Highlights

  1. European Citizen's InitiativeThe European Commission launches the ‘ImagineEU’ competition for secondary school students in the EU.
  2. Nordic Council of MinistersThe Nordic Region is stepping up its efforts to reduce food waste
  3. UNOPSUNOPS begins works under EU-funded project to repair schools in Ukraine
  4. Georgia Ministry of Foreign AffairsGeorgia effectively prevents sanctions evasion against Russia – confirm EU, UK, USA
  5. Nordic Council of MinistersGlobal interest in the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations – here are the speakers for the launch
  6. Nordic Council of Ministers20 June: Launch of the new Nordic Nutrition Recommendations

Join EUobserver

Support quality EU news

Join us