LONDON, November 10. /TASS/. The United Kingdom and nine Nordic countries have signed a Northern Navies Initiative agreement to establish a maritime partnership aiming at strengthening security in Northern Europe, the North Atlantic and the Baltic Sea, the government said.
"The threats we face are multiplying and that we must rise to the challenge before us," First Sea Lord General Sir Gwyn Jenkins said, adding that the signing of the agreement was the result of nine months of work.
The partnership will be based on the model of the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), operating since 2014 under the command of the United Kingdom. The regional association includes Great Britain, Denmark, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway, Finland, Sweden and Estonia.
The Northern Navies Initiative also seeks to make the JEF NATO’s maritime vanguard in the North Atlantic, High North and Baltic, which will be able to act proactively. At the same time, the naval forces of the ten countries will be able to act as a single unit and "transition seamlessly into NATO command should the Alliance need to mobilise at scale."
For the sake of containing Russia
Russia is not mentioned in the government's statement, but on November 8, speaking about the upcoming signing, Chief of the Defense Staff Air Chief Marshal Richard Knighton said that this agreement is aimed at deterring Russia.
The Russian Embassy in the UK, in response to Jenkins' announcement of the plans back in April, said that Moscow sees them as an attempt to confront Russia in the Baltic region and increase "the degree of Russophobic hysteria in Europe." "Any actions undermining Russian interests will be met with the strongest response," the embassy warned.
Earlier, the diplomatic mission consistently rejected all London's accusations of allegedly hostile activities, repeatedly pointing out that Moscow poses no threat to the United Kingdom.