Submitted by Lukas Ramonas, via The Baltic Word…
This week was marked by a lot of sad news about the spread of coronavirus in different parts of the world. And Germany was no exception.
Thus, the coronavirus was confirmed in North Rhine-Westphalia – a couple from the Heinsberg district was diagnosed with coronary virus infection. As it turned out, 3 people who came into contact with the infected couple also turned out to be sick, as well as a soldier in Cologne and a doctor in Mönchengladbach.
As the threat of a massive coronavirus epidemic in Germany grows, so does concern among the country’s political leadership. One of high officials who took care of this problem is Dr. Alexander S. Neu, Chairman of the Left Party of Germany (Die Linke), member of the Bundestag Defense Committee. Neu called for the immediate termination of the Defender-Europe 20 maneuvers. This statement is connected with the reported cases of the coronavirus near Cologne and in Heinsberg.
“Defender-Europe 20” must be stopped immediately. Even without the appearance of the virus, this exercise is irresponsible and violates the principles of Germany peace policy. Now there is the risk of the epidemic spreading.
The threat of coronary virus infection is currently very high in the cities of Duisburg and Krefeld. However, military units are to move precisely over these two cities. And later these units will reach the Baltic States. On the one hand, it is not understandable if daycare centers, administration facilities and schools are closed, but on the other hand, we can see that the military operates in this region as usual without principal need for it.”
As we know the United States and South Korea postponed joint military exercises that had been slated to start next week due to the coronavirus crisis after the U.S. military reported a local employee had tested positive in the southeastern city of Daegu.
The South Korean employee is the third case of COVID-19 associated with the U.S. garrison there, a senior official said Thursday.
Only one American soldier has been infected so far. The widow of a military retiree who had base access also contracted the pneumonia-like illness, U.S. Forces Korea said earlier this week.
In other words, the infection of one soldier was a serious enough reason for Washington to postpone the military maneuvers. By the way, the military has played an important role in disease spreading during all of the greatest epidemics of the past. It is much more difficult to stop the epidemic without restricting military movements.
That is why it is very important to cancel upcoming large-scale NATO maneuvers Defender-Europe 20. Nearly 40 thousand troops will take part in the exercise.
These maneuvers will be the largest transfer of troops directly from the United States to the European continent in more than 25 years. But it could be the largest transfer of a particularly dangerous coronavirus to Europe and the Baltic states.
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