NATO will deploy small units in six eastern European countries to help co-ordinate a spearhead force set up in response to Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

The 28-nation military alliance will send troops in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Bulgaria and Romania, which will be the first of their kind there, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday, January 30, according to Mediafax.

These forward units will include a few dozen soldiers who will plan and organise military exercises. They will also command reinforcements, if needed.

Defense ministers from the 28 NATO member states will meet on February 5 to talk of a larger force which will be set up as a quick reaction force in any hotspots in Europe. This will comprise several thousand troops.

NATO forces conducted some 200 military exercises in 2014, according to the Secretary General’s yearly report. Soltenberg said the exercises will continue, as Russian war planes have increased their presence in European skies. NATO intercepted more than 400 Russian aircrafts last year.

editor@romania-insider.com