NATO meets to increase Eastern Europe presence

BRUSSELS, Feb. 5 (UPI) -- A NATO conference convened in Brussels Thursday will reveal plans to strengthen its military presence in Eastern Europe.

The one-day meeting is meant to reassure NATO members it is responding, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said Wednesday, to ""the aggressive actions we have seen from Russia, violating international law and annexing Crimea. I very much underline that this is something we do because we have to adapt our forces when we see that the world is changing."

More information on previously announced plans to organize "spearhead" forces of up to 5,000 personnel for rapid deployment, and procedures to organize regional command centers in Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia, Romania and Bulgaria, each a NATO member, is expected. The plans are seen as a potential deterrent to Baltic and Eastern European countries from Russia, which annexed Crimea and is involved in a conflict in Ukraine.

In opening remarks Thursday, Stoltenberg repeated NATO's commitment to its members bordering Russia.

"This is a very critical time for security in Europe, and across the world. In Ukraine, violence is getting worse and the crisis is deepening. Russia continues to disregard international rules and to support the separatists with advanced weapons, training and forces. So we are adapting our posture and our forces to this changing security environment, to conduct NATO's full range of missions and to deal with challenges from any direction. We have already increased our military presence in the eastern part of the Alliance. Today, we will take further steps to make our forces more ready and more responsive".