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Bundeswehr Has 'Nothing to Do Near Russian Border' as Part of NATO Mission

© AP Photo / Mindaugas KulbisLithuania NATO Exercise
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Bundestag MP and a member of the Parliamentary Committee on Defense, Alexander Neu, strongly opposed the deployment of German troops in the Baltic States.

In an interview with German radio Deutschlandfunk, the member of the Left Party expressed his criticism toward the placement of German troops in Lithuania and said that it could significantly worsen the situation in the region.

"German soldiers, Bundeswehr, have nothing to do near the Russian border," the politician stressed. "There are always talks about NATO borders are threatened by Russia. On the other hand, one could also say that the Russian border is threatened by NATO as well. It is NATO, which has expanded to the east and has responded to the criticism of the Russians with deterrence, and that is a situation which we condemn very strongly," the politician stressed.

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Earlier, German authorities expressed their readiness to deploy Bundeswehr soldiers in Lithuania as part of NATO's mission aimed at "containing" possible Russian aggression, a move that had been criticized by almost two-thirds of the German population. According to German magazine Der Spiegel, in this regard Berlin has been a subject to strong pressure from Washington.

Commenting on the issue, Neu said that the US influence in Germany has remained strong. For instance, there are still US tactical atomic bombs stationed in Germany, which not only pose a threat to the regional security due to their very existence, but also will soon be modernized.

"We, the Left Party, demand the withdrawal of US atomic bombs from Germany," the politician stressed.

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Further, Neu criticized the behavior of Poland, Romania and the Baltic countries which have called for the placement of additional NATO forces on their territories and agreed to deploy elements of the US ballistic missile defense system, thus sharpening the confrontation with Russia.

Earlier, several other experts stated that the US "is flexing its muscles" by bringing NATO forces to the Russian border. If Poland and the Baltic States will further be involved in this process and allow the deployment of the additional NATO forces on its territory, then they shouldn't be surprised to watch Russian forces moving close to their borders as well, experts claimed.

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