US planes as reinforcements in the Baltic countries and in Poland

(BRUSSELS2) At the request of the Baltic countries and Poland, the US Air Force has begun to deploy fighter planes in the area. A decision taken by Chuck Hagel, Secretary of State for Defense, on Wednesday.

12 F-16 planes in Poland arrive next week

12 F-16 planes must arrive in Poland next week announced this morning the Polish Minister of Defense, Tomasz Siemoniak, guest in the political program of the Polish radio, this morning. " At our request, the Americans accelerated » the deployment of these planes which « had to participate in an exercise and considerably increased it ". Details are not yet known, but " we are working on it added the Minister. The American ambassador to Poland Stephen Mull confirmed, on Radio 3, that these planes will be present " as long as needed ».

Six F-15 planes have just arrived in the Baltic countries...

Six US F-15C Eagle planes from the Lakenheath base (United Kingdom) had already landed at the Šiauliai air base (Lithuania) yesterday, Thursday (March 6), as announced by the Estonian and Defense Lithuanian. Planes, accompanied by two KC-135 planes (*), which transported the personnel. They thus come to reinforce the 4 planes already present on the spot (which come from the same base of Lakenheath) and ensure the police of the air of the Baltic sky. A classic mission, carried out in turn by the NATO countries every 3 or 4 months. The Belgians were thus on duty before and the French in the summer of 2013. The F-15s will take part in the NATO regional exercise "BRTE" (Baltic Regional Training Event which will take place at the beginning of April involving all the countries of the region , including Sweden and Finland (which are not members of NATO).

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A presence linked to the Ukrainian-Russian crisis

In itself, this American air presence is therefore not a total novelty (apart from the air surveillance mission in the Baltic countries, the United States has an agreement with Poland). But it is above all the situation in the region, with the bellicose remarks of the Russians on Ukraine as well as the military maneuvers in the region (Kaliningrad in particular), which provoke this reaction. This was confirmed by the Lithuanian Defense Ministry. It's a " response to developments in the region and a demonstration of long-term American commitment to NATO and European security".

Comments. Clearly, this deployment of 18 planes in total reassures the countries of the East, which are particularly worried, that the American "pivot" towards Asia does not mean a complete disengagement from Europe. This presence is the sign that Washington is not (totally) disinterested in the European continent. We can also notice that the Europeans themselves are absent from this manoeuvre, not only the countries open to dialogue (French, Italians, Germans...) but also the Swedes or the British, despite being followers of a position vis-à-vis from Moscow. We can also note that this maneuver does not really contribute to a "de-escalation" of tension in the region - as desired by the Europeans - but rather to a message of "firmness" in relation to Russian power. A point that we do not really wish " comment to the European Diplomatic Service. " Our message is the one set by the European Council yesterday “So said the spokesperson for Catherine Ashton to a question from B2.

(*) NB: It will be necessary to check whether these KC135 planes - which are mainly tankers - will remain on site. This would provide the F-15 with a flight duration capacity or an elongation (action distance), superior...