TALLINN (Sputnik) — In September 2015, the Alliance activated six NATO Force Integration Units, special command centers designed to facilitate the deployment of the bloc's forces in the region and coordinate the reaching, if necessary, in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania and Bulgaria as part of NATO's Readiness Action Plan agreed on at the 2014 Wales Summit.
According to Lt. Gen. Manfred Hofmann, the commander of the Szczecin-based Multinational Corps Northeast, the opening of the new command center and the confirmation of its full readiness to operate is a clear signal of NATO's unity and determination to protect both Estonia and the entire European northeastern border region.
About 20 officers out of 40, working at the headquarters, are Estonian soldiers, and the rest are members of the Armed Forces of the United States, the Netherlands, Canada, Norway, Poland, France, Germany, Denmark, the United Kingdom and Hungary.
