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NATO's secret plan to defend Poland against Russia

This is the Polish daily Gazeta Wyborcza who has just revealed it: the Atlantic Alliance has just updated one of its military plans to ensure the security and territorial integrity of Poland and the Baltic countries. The enemy is not designated. But we suspect that it is not Finland that is targeted... but rather Russia. And the Poles do not hide it.

9 divisions to defend Poland in case of aggression

Not all details are known. They are "top secret", we are assured on the Polish side, but thanks to the leaks (well organized), we know the essentials. In the event of an attack on Poland, according to this plan, called "GW", NATO would engage up to 9 divisions: 4 of them would be Polish, the others belonging to Western countries, in particular British, German and American.

As deployment can take place by all means (land, air, sea), various ports and airports have been designated as strategic. This is the case of the Polish port of Swinoujscie (near Szczecin, on the Baltic), a modernized port with NATO funding, just like that of Gdynia, which can accommodate ships of larger tonnage (over 200 meters long). The German ports of Rostock, Wismar, Stralsund, or even Hamburg could also serve as a "sea" landing point for the armed forces of the Alliance. The role of maritime defense was then provided by British and American ships.

On the air safety side, the Polish air system is connected to the NATO system and to the Baltic air surveillance system (provided on a rotational basis by the main NATO allies). Finally, the NRF (NATO Response Force) may be involved in defending Polish territory. But the Poles do not seem reassured, however. " The NRF is a force on paper according to the Polish Minister of Defense, who insists that exercises be held on the ground, as soon as possible, in Poland. This point should still be discussed at the Lisbon summit.

Brunssum's command changes hands

According to this plan, Baltic States and Poles would take command of NATO's joint forces in Brussum (Netherlands) which is responsible for the security of Central and Eastern Europe. A command that should not disappear in the next reform of NATO.

Of course, this plan should not be given more value than it has. This document is one of the various and numerous planning documents that have always existed within the Atlantic Alliance. The last plan for Poland dated back to 1999, when that country joined NATO. And it deserved an update, in particular to include the Baltic countries (Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia) which have since joined (in 2004). But its revelation, very timely, still testifies to a certain desire of the Eastern countries to maintain the Alliance in its original virtue: an instrument of defense against Russia, the neighbor to the East, sometimes cumbersome. This while Russia would like to obtain a commitment from the Alliance to limit its armed forces.

For the countries of Eastern Europe, the solidarity clause, contained in article 5 of the Washington Treaty, is the fundamental aspect of the Alliance and must remain predominant over the other aspects of the revision of the strategic concept. . They reiterated this again during the meeting of the Visegrad countries in Karlovy Vary this weekend. And they will undoubtedly hear this voice heard at the Lisbon meeting, which should precisely see the military organization celebrate its reconciliation with Russia, after two years of "sulking" due to Georgian intervention.

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

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