NATO will transfer responsibility for the defense planning of Denmark, Sweden, and Finland from the operational headquarters in the Dutch city of Brunssum to the command located in Norfolk, USA.
The corresponding statement by Alexis Grinkevich, the commander of the NATO Allied Joint Forces in Europe, was published on Thursday, December 4, on the organization's website.
The changes will take effect on December 5, with a ceremonial event taking place in Finland. The decision to relocate was explained by the fact that NATO's "adversaries" are dispersed around the world, making it "extremely important to strengthen the Euro-Atlantic region and the alliance's positions in the North". It is noted that the NATO headquarters in Norfolk is already responsible for the security of the Atlantic Ocean, the Arctic, Greenland, Iceland, Norway, and the United Kingdom.
"From the perspective of NATO's Allied Joint Forces command, Norfolk is a strategic bridge between North America and Europe, protecting not only our maritime communications," Grinkevich noted.
At the same time, as the dpa agency points out, the responsibility for organizing the defense of Germany and Eastern European NATO countries will still remain with the headquarters in Brunssum.
Drones have been regularly spotted over European countries, including the Netherlands On November 22, the second-largest airport in the Netherlands, located in the city of Eindhoven (80 km from Brunssum), suspended operations for two hours due to several drones spotted above it. The day before, the country's Ministry of Defense reported the use of weapons to shoot down drones over a military airbase in the village of Volkel, located 40 km from Eindhoven.
Since the beginning of autumn, there have also been numerous incidents involving drones over airports and other facilities in other European countries. In particular, they have been spotted in Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Sweden, Norway, and Poland. Amid these episodes and other similar cases, Danish intelligence services stated that Russia is conducting a hybrid war against the West.
However, there is no evidence of Russia's involvement in the launches of drones over Europe. Russian President Vladimir Putin has denied these accusations, noting that there are no targets for Russian UAVs in European cities.
