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NATO rejects media claims alliance unable of quick deployment

Spiegel wrote, that the transport infrastructures in the European member countries are weak and unable to provide for a quick deployment of forces across the alliance’s territory in case of a conflict

BRUSSELS, October 21. /TASS/. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization rejected claims published in Germany’s Spiegel the NATO forces are unable of quick deployment and relocation across Europe. NATO Spokesperson Oana Lungescu told TASS on Saturday "NATO forces are more ready and able to deploy than at any time in decades."

On Friday evening, Spiegel wrote, referring to NATO’s secret report, that the transport infrastructures in the European member countries (which have the most dense transport system in the world) are weak and unable to provide for a quick deployment of forces across the alliance’s territory in case of a conflict.

In response to a request to comment on the material, Lungescu said, "We do not comment on alleged leaks. NATO is the strongest alliance in the world because it's been able to adapt for almost 70 years."

"Responding to a more challenging security environment, NATO is implementing the biggest reinforcement of its collective defense since the end of the Cold War. This includes deploying four multinational battlegroups to the east of the Alliance, including the one led by Germany in Lithuania, and tripling the size of the NATO Response Force (to about 25,000 personnel - TASS), with a new 5,000-strong quick reaction force at its core," she said. "NATO forces are more ready and able to deploy than at any time in decades."

At the same time, according to TASS sources, some of the NATO member states, including in East Europe, have launched a campaign for organization of the so-called military Schengen to allow easier border formalities in relocation of foreign personnel and equipment across borders of European countries. This initiative aims, among others, at allowing convenient, free and smooth relocation across Europe of the US detachments.