NATO Further Expands Buildup in Baltics

Lithuania DM: Russia Could Invade 'In Hours'

by Jason Ditz

After harping on about the “imminent” Russian invasion of Eastern Europe for over two years, NATO still shows no signs of slowing down their plans to increase military spending alliance-wide and throwing more and more troops at the Baltic states and Poland.

This latest push comes amid a “biggest since the Cold War” NATO military exercise in Poland, which practiced an invasion across Polish territory from West to East, into Russian territory. The troops scrambled to bridge the Vistula River and move on to the border.

Lithuanian DM Juozas Olekas continued to talk up the possibility of a Russian invasion, saying Russia could pretend they’re conducting a massive defensive exercise on their border and conduct an invasion of Lithuania “in hours.”

NATO has been adding thousands of Western European and US troops to the Baltic states, though analysts seriously doubt whether it’s possible to put enough troops in those tiny states to really make them “Russia proof.”

As a practical matter, that’s irrelevant anyhow, since the “invasion” isn’t happening, and is just a NATO talking point to justify its continued existence, and its ever-growing military spending.

http://news.antiwar.com/2016/06/13/nato-further-expands-buildup-in-baltics/