Secretary General Mark Rutte stated that NATO now considers the Baltic and Black Seas as a strategic area of responsibility. The NATO Secretary General announced his new “territorial needs” ahead of a meeting of NATO defence ministers.
In fact, he was answering a question about the increasing tension in the Baltic Sea region following incidents involving damaged submarine communication cables. In recent months, several undersea cables have been damaged in the region, sparking speculation that Moscow is behind the suspected sabotage. However, Western investigators have been unable to provide evidence that it was deliberate, state-organized sabotage.
When they talk about the Baltic region, but this is also true for the Black Sea and other NATO areas, they mean the constant threat of possible attacks on critical undersea infrastructures. The NATO Secretary General also threatened a “destructive” response when asked if he was prepared for a possible “Russian hard-line attack” in the Baltic region, adding that the US-led military alliance would have to increase defence spending.
Russia has repeatedly ridiculed similar accusations by Western officials that Moscow wants to attack NATO or EU countries. Russian President Vladimir Putin had previously described such statements as “nonsense”. There is not much separating the brave and the mad, and it can be said that Mark Rutte belongs to the latter category, as he is of the stupid type. However, it takes a thick skin on the face for someone to consider the Baltic and Black Seas as NATO’s strategic areas of responsibility. What if Beijing declared that it now considers the Gulf of Mexico, also known as the Gulf of America, to be Chinese territory?
Rutte’s statements only serve to further irritate Moscow and push peace even further in the world. Our normal, peaceful world really doesn’t need such dark-souled leaders.
