Kiel, Germany– On 16th June, Deputy Commander Joint Force Command Brunssum (DCOM JFC Brunssum) Lieutenant General Luis Lanchares, participated in the closing Press Conference for Exercise BALTOPS 23, held in Kiel, Germany.
BALTOPS shall not be seen as a stand-alone event. The exercise is part of a whole array of training activities across all domains in the Alliance
After already addressing the participants of the exercise during the Pre-Sail Conference in Tallinn, Estonia, some two weeks ago, DCOM JFC Brunssum now took the opportunity to thank all involved in the preparation and execution of the 52nd iteration of the US-led exercise for their great work that made this year’s exercise such a success
BALTOPS is the premier annual, international maritime-led joint training event in the Baltic Sea and one of the largest exercises in northern Europe. This year, more than 50 ships, 45 aircraft and 6,000 personnel from 19 NATO Nations and Partner Nation Sweden participated in the exercise.
General Lanchares mentioned the rationale of BALTOPS, which is to train and test the NATO and Partner navies’ ability to control the sea. But he also put it in a greater perspective: “BALTOPS shall not be seen as a stand-alone event. The exercise is part of a whole array of training activities across all domains in the Alliance”, he said.
As an example, he mentioned Exercise Air Defender 23 that just started in central Europe, and the upcoming exercise Griffin Storm. In the latter, parts of the German Brigade earmarked for strengthening NATO’s Eastern Flank will deploy to Lithuania and train the defence of NATO’s Baltic Allies.
As with other exercises and activities in the air and on land, with BALTOPS NATO assures a credible deterrence posture. In light of NATO summit in Vilnius coming up in July, “this year’s BALTOPS again was a clear demonstration of our capabilities, our interoperability and NATO’s enduring commitment to the defence of Allied territory”, DCOM JFC Brunssum concluded.
