A senior U.S. military commander declared Tuesday that America will stand shoulder-to-shoulder with its European partners in protecting the Baltic region, as NATO announced a significant expansion of its command structure there.
U.S. General Chris Donahue, who serves as the American commander of NATO’s land forces in Europe, made the pledge during an official ceremony held in the Estonian town of Valga.
“You’re ready to do more and following words with action, and the United States will be there alongside you,” Donahue said at the event.
He added a pointed message about what real deterrence looks like: “That is how deterrence is built: Not with words from a podium, but with boots in the mud.”
Donahue, who also holds the title of chief of the U.S. Army in Europe and Africa, is set to step down from his position on Thursday.
Until now, NATO troops stationed in Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and northern Poland have all fallen under the authority of a single multinational headquarters located in the Polish city of Szczecin, in the country’s northwest. That command structure, known as the Multi-National Corps Northeast, was established in 2017 — three years after Russia seized Ukraine’s Crimea region.
By establishing a second command zone, NATO will be able to dedicate more military resources specifically to the Baltic states. Initially, two multinational divisions based in Estonia and Latvia will fall under the authority of the German Netherlands Corps, headquartered in the German city of Muenster.
A military official, speaking without attribution, said the second corps would give NATO the ability to bring in “mass at speed” when defending the Baltic region.
When fully operational, an army corps typically oversees three divisions — roughly 40,000 to 60,000 troops. During peacetime, it generally operates as a reduced command framework, with key capabilities such as artillery, air defense, and medical units in place to enable rapid troop deployment when necessary.
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius attended the ceremony and described the restructuring as a powerful signal of the alliance’s resolve.
“It is a visible and strong demonstration of NATO’s unity, readiness, and of our collective determination to defend every inch of Allied territory,” Pistorius said in Valga.
The announcement comes as NATO has warned that Russia — which launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 — could potentially carry out a large-scale attack on allied territory as soon as 2029 if it maintains its current pace of military buildup. Russia’s government has denied any such intentions.
European nations have also faced mounting pressure to boost their own defense spending following repeated criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has accused European members of the alliance of not contributing enough to collective security.
