Calling challenges by name

For almost a decade, the Baltic Commanders' Conference has provided a platform for western Baltic Sea neighbours to exchange experiences. The aim is also to jointly implement projects.

Kiel-Wik naval base, middle of the last decade. Two flag officers, both former speedboat drivers and therefore at home in the Baltic Sea, one commander of the fleet, the other flotilla commander, stand in the staff building of Operational Flotilla 1 and look out over the berths at the base. There are far too few boats to practise demanding scenarios on their own in addition to their ongoing duties. Too little capacity to organise complex, multi-dimensional training projects. Admittedly, this was not a fundamentally new realisation and, above all, one that both had already come to as Chief of Staff of this very operational flotilla, but Russia had annexed Crimea in the meantime and was becoming increasingly robust in the Baltic Sea. Shouldn't all Baltic navies have the same problem, regardless of whether they are NATO members or not?