Alliance establishes a second command structure for the Baltic region amid ongoing tensions with Russia.

NATO announced on Wednesday the creation of a new command structure aimed at enabling the rapid deployment of forces to the Baltic states in the event of a regional crisis, based on contingency planning scenarios involving a potential conflict with Russia, which has repeatedly denied any plans to attack Europe.

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Germany and the Netherlands, in coordination with NATO, agreed to assign the German-Dutch Corps to a military headquarters based in the German city of Münster to support the defense of Latvia and Estonia.

Until now, NATO forces stationed in the three Baltic states and northern Poland operated under a single command headquartered in the Polish city of Szczecin. The new arrangement establishes a second command structure intended to facilitate the rapid deployment of large troop contingents in the event of a security crisis in the region.

According to NATO, the corps functions during peacetime as a reduced headquarters equipped with artillery, air defense, engineering and medical capabilities. In the event of a conflict, however, it could mobilize between 40,000 and 60,000 troops.

Military sources said the main obstacle to reaching the agreement had been the shortage of specialized units, including long-range artillery, air defense assets, combat engineers and medical personnel. Berlin and Amsterdam, together with other partners, committed to developing and deploying these capabilities.

NATO has not announced when the new command structure will become operational, nor has it disclosed how many troops would be assigned to the headquarters in the event of a military escalation.

Russian authorities have repeatedly stated that they have no plans to attack Europe. President Vladimir Putin has argued that concerns about an imminent conflict with Russia reflect what he described as unfounded fears among European political elites.

The announcement follows the launch of NATO’s Amber Shock 26 military exercises on May 3. The drills involve more than 3,500 personnel from several Alliance member states in northeastern Poland, near Russia’s Kaliningrad territory, and are intended to test NATO’s response capabilities in the event of regional deployments.

The new command structure expands NATO’s military organization in the Baltic region and is intended to strengthen the Alliance’s ability to respond rapidly to potential security contingencies on its eastern flank.

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