Under the plausible pretext of NATO, Partnership for Peace ...
During the exercise, under the specious pretext of cleaning the Baltic waters of explosive objects left over from the First and Second World Wars, the process of preparing the ports of the Baltic countries to receive NATO reinforcement forces was continued, potentially reducing Russia's security at its western borders. For the first time, the international maneuvers of naval mines of the European countries participating in the NATO Partnership for Peace program Oupen Spirit were initiated by Germany in the 1997 year and have since become traditional every year. They became the most important component of the international cooperation of the countries of Europe in cleaning the coastal waters of the Baltic countries from explosive objects, which during the First and Second World Wars, about 17 thousands of units were exposed.
In the 22 held August - 2 September, the Oupen Spirit-2011 exercise was attended by German, Polish, Latvian, Estonian, Swedish, Belgian, French, Norwegian, and Russian naval ships, all in all - 20 anti-mine ships, more than 800 personnel. Study area: territorial waters of Latvia. The general management of the exercise was carried out by the Commander of the Naval Forces of Latvia, Captain 1 of the rank Rimantas Strimaitis. Over the entire period of the active phase of the exercise, the sea area with a total area of about 200 square miles was surveyed. It was discovered and destroyed 12 mines and two torpedoes from the Second World War.
Clearing the coastal waters of the Baltic countries from explosive objects in order to increase the safety of navigation is certainly a useful goal of the Open Spirit exercises. However, this is only one side of these teachings. But according to experts, one of the important tasks of the Open Spirit exercise (translated by Oupen Spirit), about which little is said openly, is the expansion of the possibilities to ensure the reception of NATO reinforcement forces in the ports of the Baltic States in a special period in accordance with the Orel Defender "developed at the block headquarters for the defense of the Baltic states. Today, it is known that the scheme, built in NATO’s defense plan for the Baltic countries, suggests that if there is a threat of a military conflict in the Baltic countries, military contingents from the NATO response forces will be involved, the deployment time of which will be up to 30 days. Then, in this area, it is assumed, as necessary, to receive reinforcement forces from the US, British, German and Polish military contingents. In order to prevent and eliminate losses even on the approaches of NATO ships to the ports of the Baltic States, to ensure the ships' entry to the ports themselves, their unloading and parking, the options for "clearing" sea approaches to the shores of the Baltic states are being worked out, the entire infrastructure of the ports for receiving and landing NATO naval ships.
And in this context, each Oupen Spirit teaching is another stage in the process of preparing the ports of the Baltic countries for the reception of NATO forces, mine-sweeping forces for carrying out transport ships in an emergency situation of mine action in the territorial waters of the Baltic countries. Thus, in preparation for the Oupen Spirit-2011 exercise in the Latvian port of Mersrags, the funds allocated by the European Union were used for infrastructure development: additional berths were built and dredging works were carried out on the entrance channel, which made it possible to place in the port water area all ships involved In the sea, during the exercise, joint maneuvering of ships, fuel and water intake on the move, organization of communications and interactions, combat trawling using controlled anti-mine devices, relby against naval targets. Created as a result of the teachings of the electronic database will allow in emergency period significantly reduces the time to assess the threat of mines in the wiring areas convoys troops to the main ports of the Baltic countries.
The "Open Spirit" exercises in the coastal waters of Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania are held alternately every year. In 2012, the exercise is planned to take place in the territorial waters of Estonia, where, according to experts, the largest number of mines and other explosive objects remain. And this means that, under the specious pretext of the next Open Spirit Spirit exercise, one more step will be taken to improve the infrastructure of the Estonian ports in the immediate vicinity of St. Petersburg for use in the reception of NATO forces in accordance with NATO’s Baltic defense plans, which potentially reduces the security of Russia on its western frontiers.
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