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Brunssum, The Netherlands – On 6th July 2023, the Commander of NATO’s Allied Maritime Command (MARCOM), Vice Admiral Mike Utley, Royal Navy, paid a visit to Headquarters Allied Joint Force Command Brunssum (JFCBS).

BALTOPS trains and tests our navies’ ability to control the sea.

Commander MARCOM is NATO’s principal maritime adviser and has operational command of NATO’s four Standing Naval Forces. His Headquarters is located in Northwood, north of London.

After welcomed by Commander JFC Brunssum, General Guglielmo Luigi Miglietta, VAdm Utley met with senior staff of the Headquarters. He then received briefings on the tasks and responsibilities of JFC Brunssum, and an assessment of the present security situation in particular at NATO’s Eastern Flank in the light of the ongoing Russian war against Ukraine.

A focus of the discussion was the way ahead for deepening the cooperation of JFC Brunssum and MARCOM to assure credible deterrence and strengthen NATO’s defence posture across all maritime domain, particularly in the Baltic Sea Region.

To underline the importance for such cooperation, Gen Miglietta mentioned the recent 52nd iteration of the BALTOPS maritime exercise in the Baltic Sea: “BALTOPS trains and tests our navies’ ability to control the sea. This sea control in turn gives our land and air forces the freedom to choose when and where they conduct decisive military action in order to defend Allied territory.”