Boris Pistorius, Photo: dpa picture alliance / Alamy / Alamy / Profimedia
The German Minister of Defense, Boris Pistorius, declared on Tuesday that Russia no longer sails in the Baltic Sea as it used to, after this region has largely become a NATO space following the accession of Finland and Sweden to the Alliance, in 2023 and 2024, respectively, informs EFE, taken over by Agerpres.
“Until Finland and Sweden joined NATO, the Baltic Sea was more of a European sea, more of a NATO sea,” but “now it's a NATO sea, at least for the most part, and we see the reaction of Russia, which is very worried, although without reason,” Pistorius said.
“Russia is aware of what is happening and is afraid to access the Baltic Sea, to enter and exit,” added the German politician alongside his Swedish counterpart, Pal Jonson, at the Berlin Security Conference, a meeting dedicated to the security and defense sector.
Swedish navy and allies have detected a Russian submarine in the Baltic Sea and are tracking it with ships and fighter jets
Pistorius emphasized that the Baltic Sea is a space where it is possible to navigate, but “peacefully, with identifiable ships, without a ghost fleet and without disrupting or damaging our infrastructure”, alluding to the ships that Russia uses to avoid international sanctions after the invasion of Ukraine, and to the cases where infrastructures under the Baltic Sea have been damaged in recent years.
For his part, Jonson said that before Sweden and Finland joined NATO, “Europe's northern flank was an area shrouded in uncertainty and unpredictability in terms of military planning.”
