BERLIN, 17 September 2021, (TON): German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier expressed concern about the increased, in his opinion, Russian military activity on the eastern borders of NATO.

Steinmeier said “how much we need NATO as a strong alliance, we see every day in the Baltic Sea region. I am concerned that military activity on the EU’s borders is on the rise again.”

The FRG president said “not a day goes by without Russian military aircraft taking off into the skies over the Baltic Sea. More and more often they violate the airspace of your countries [the Baltic States],”

In his opinion, the security situation and the threat of incidents “have not been as serious for a long time” as after the annexation of Crimea to Russia and the aggravation of the situation in Donbass.

Steinmeier assured the heads of the Baltic states that they are not alone in this situation. “Whoever threatens the Baltic states, he also threatens the whole of NATO, threatens Germany. Therefore, the Bundeswehr leads the NATO forces in Lithuania, therefore the German Air Force is guarding the airspace in the Baltic Sea region,” Steinmeier argued.