Daily Times

BERLIN: NATO would currently be unable to protect the Baltics against a Russian attack, the commander of US ground forces in Europe, General Ben Hodges, said in a news report Wednesday. “Russia could take over the Baltic states faster than we would be able to defend them,” Hodges was quoted as saying in a German-language article by news weekly Die Zeit. The general said he agreed with an assessment by military analysts who claimed that Russian forces could conquer the capitals of Baltic states Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia within 36 to 60 hours. Hodges also said NATO forces had found numerous deficiencies during the recent “Anaconda” military exercise in Poland, according to the article from Thursday’s edition of Die Zeit, released early to AFP. Heavy military equipment could not be moved fast enough from western to eastern Europe, said the general, who also voiced concern about the alliance’s communication technology. “Neither radio communication nor email are secure,” he was quoted as saying. “I assume that everything I write on my BlackBerry is being monitored.”