NATO Builds-Up its Forces On The Russian Border

Reservists called up for exercises in early December on the training grounds of the Estonian Defense Forces in Männiku, Estonia. PHOTO: ROOMET ILD/ESTONIAN DEFENSE FORCES

Wall Street Journal: NATO’s Jittery Baltic Members Move to Beef Up Own Defense

Volunteer forces grow amid Russia’s aggressive posture, worries about U.S. commitment

TALLINN, Estonia—Marion Ots, an advertising agent and mother of two, was at a birthday party last month when she realized that hers was the only family there without someone in the local volunteer militia. So she joined.

“Basically, I am ready to engage in battle,” said Ms. Ots, 34 years old.

Across northeastern Europe, people are signing up for military training, fearing a resurgent Russia across the border and worried about how committed to their defense the U.S. will be under President-elect Donald Trump.

“I have a wheelchair: I’ll put a goddamn gun on it and go fight [President Vladimir] Putin personally if America won’t,” said 85-year-old retired army chief Aleksander Einseln, who recently pulled his old field uniform from the closet to check if it still fits.

The defense forces are ragtag: Estonia’s 16,000-member league, called the Kaitseliit, doubles as a volunteer firefighting corps. The 9,000 people in Latvia’s Home Guard includes 1,100 aged 55 or over.

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WNU Editor: As military build-ups go .... this move by NATO is small. But the message it is sending is very loud.

More News On NATO Building Up its Forces On The Russian Border

U.S. Lending Support to Baltic States Fearing Russia -- NYT
Are NATO members strengthening defences as possible Russian aggression in Baltic Sea looms? -- International Business Times
Dutch F-16s arrive in Lithuania to take over Baltic air policing mission -- IHS Jane's 360
Four Dutch F-16 Jets Arrive in Lithuania for NATO Air Policing Mission -- Sputnik
Lithuania confirms presence of US special forces as a ‘deterrence against Russian aggression’ -- RT
Nato told to take on Russia’s ‘military hooliganism’ as Putin boosts weapons at EU border -- Express
US sends special forces to RUSSIAN BORDER as Nato is poised to strike back against Vladimir Putin’s ‘aggression’ -- The SUN
Russian minister Andrei Kelin says Moscow and Nato 'need to restore normal relations' -- International Business Times
Modernizing The U.S. Army Could Make Nuclear War With Russia Less Likely -- Loren Thompson, Forbes
Can U.S., Russia avert Cold War II? -- Patrick Buchana, Ashbury Park Press