NATO in the Baltic - Understanding Geopolitics, Kaliningrad, and the Ukraine War
Russia's problem is this: Scaremongering and Threats Won't Work on a Far More Powerful NATO!
THOUGHT CO: “Russia's smallest oblast (region) of Kaliningrad is an exclave located 200 miles away from the border of Russia proper. Kaliningrad was a spoil of World War II, allocated from Germany to the Soviet Union at the Potsdam Conference that divided Europe between the allied powers in 1945. The oblast is a wedge-shaped piece of land along the Baltic Sea between Poland and Lithuania, approximately one-half the size of Belgium, 5,830 mi2 (15,100 km2). The oblast's primary and port city is also known as Kaliningrad.
Founding
Known as Konigsberg prior to Soviet occupation, the city was founded in 1255 near the mouth of the Pregolya River. The philosopher Immanuel Kant was born in Konigsberg in 1724. The capital of German East Prussia, Konigsberg was the home to a grand Prussian Royal Castle, destroyed along with much of the city in World War II.
Konigsberg was renamed Kaliningrad in 1946 after Mikhail Kalinin, formal "leader" of the Soviet Union from 1919 until 1946. At the time, Germans living in the oblast were forced out, to be replaced with Soviet citizens…”
MAP BELOW: From Kaliningrad, seen as red in the north at the Baltic, to the Crimean peninsula at the southern tip of Ukraine, to the east, the Russian mainland, the Russian navy and air forces, as well as the Russian army, surround the entire continent and the seven seas of Europe.
A predatory, historically-opportunistic nation seeking empire with a long history of ill will toward the west, is a grave military threat to European security, as well as the Americas and the world. The red triangle you see can threaten and strangle international shipping and commerce, the passage of goods, services and people, and the reach of the American military in support of its allies (to insure security to the three continents with which the U.S. does business), as well as its allies’ support of the United States.
—
VOX: “Kaliningrad is the latest spot in Europe caught up in spillover tensions from the Ukraine war.
That Kaliningrad flared up is not all that surprising considering, well, geography. Kaliningrad is a chunk of Russia wedged between Lithuania and Poland, who are both members of the European Union and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). It is heavily militarized. Russia has deployed nuclear-capable missiles to the oblast, or administrative region, and it is the base for Russia’s Baltic Fleet, and its only year-round ice-free port. Minor close calls have happened before in the region, so when war broke out in Europe, Kaliningrad was always a point of potential volatility.
It is a reminder that Russia’s Ukraine invasion — and the West’s intense mobilization in response — always risked worsening tensions outside of Ukraine.”
—
JANES: Hungarian Gripens showcase new capabilities in NATO Baltic
“Hungarian Air Force (HuAF) Saab JAS 39C Gripens returned home on 2 September following a four-month deployment to Šiauliai Air Base, Lithuania, during which airmen found the Litening targeting pod and new data links to be especially valuable.
GRIPENS - STATE OF THE ART!
As part of NATO’s Baltic Air Policing commitment, four Gripens armed with two Air Intercept Missile (AIM)-120C5 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles (AMRAAMs) and two shorter-range AIM-9L Sidewinder AAMs stood on a persistent Quick Reaction Alert (QRA) to defend the airspace of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. One of each pair standing the alert was also equipped with a Litening III laser designator pod.
As the lead nation, the HuAF remained on full-time QRA throughout its mission…
According to the detachment commander, Brigadier General Csaba Ugrik, it was a busy deployment. “We flew over 400 sorties, including 43 Alpha scrambles that saw us intercept over 50 Russian military aircraft.”
Gripen in the Hungarian Air Force - Saab
“About pilot training, Major General Nandor says it’s a long process. First a new pilot has to spend at least a year in Szolnok to be tested for his or her suitability. Then they are sent to Canada for two years, followed by the final training in Sweden. The pilots then return home to spend at least a year before they can participate in live missions.
“In total, it’s a minimum of at least a five-year training period.
The last time the Hungarian Gripens were alerted more than 40 times during their Baltic mission.”
© Andrew G. Benjamin, Budapest, Hungary
—
FURTHER READING
FUNDING UKRAINE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE DEMOCRATS. IT HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH RONALD REAGAN'S PEACE THROUGH STRENGTH
—
THE GREAT AMERICAN RETREAT - Part III
The Case for War: The Age of Empire is Over
—
THE GREAT AMERICAN RETREAT - Part II
THE UKRAINE-RUSSIA WAR HAS SPLIT THE CONSERVATIVE MOVEMENT - EXACTLY AS THE KREMLIN WANTED IT!
—
RUSSIA’S & CHINA’S LONG TERM STRATEGIC PLANS FOR EUROPE & ASIA INCLUDE PSYOPS TO DIVIDE THE WEST
The war in Ukraine is not a partisan, not an ideological, but a global security issue.
—
IS UKRAINE IN THE NATIONAL INTEREST?
We examine the narratives & inventions vs the realities
—
LIBERTARIAN MISES ORG MISSED UKRAINE, AND LANDED IN RUSSIA
PARROTING THE KREMLIN'S TALKING POINTS in MISES' “Unpleasant Facts”
—
PUTIN REMEMBERS RUSSIA'S PAST so HE CAN REPEAT IT!
—
BECAUSE WITHOUT AMERICA THERE IS NO FREE WORLD
—
UPDATE September 14, 2023 THE CONTRARIAN VIEW
THE BALTIC SHOULDN’T BE A NATO LAKE - Real Clear Politics
—
PLEASE FORWARD THESE TO TWITTER, GETTR, MINDS, TRUTH, RUMBLE, FACEBOOK AND OTHERS!
—
© Andrew G. Benjamin is in finance, real estate and equities, a former advisor to New York City mayor ‘s office (Subcommittee on Taxation, Finance and the Budget). Benjamin wrote extensively about politics, transnational and domestic, intelligence and military affairs, security and strategy, economic issues, Mideast, terrorism, technology and high end audio.