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| Europe |
| Harbor of the Empire. Port Alexander III will become a NATO military base |
| 2024-04-19 |
| Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited. by Viktor Lavrinenko [REGNUM] The North Atlantic Alliance is ready to invest 160 million euros in the restoration of the old Russian military port named after Emperor Alexander III in Liepaja. If this money is really allocated, then the project that the Latvian authorities have been trying to launch for twenty years will finally get off the ground. Almost from the very moment the republic joined NATO in 2004, Riga has been dreaming of turning Liepaja into a naval base for the alliance. But only now is this idea beginning to come closer to its implementation. STRATEGIC LOCATION The other day, Latvian Defense Minister Andris Spruds announced that NATO had found money to modernize the old military port in Liepaja. According to him, there, in accordance with the already completed project, new berths will be built, supporting infrastructure will be created and work will be carried out to deepen the riverbed. The plans were also confirmed by Prime Minister Evika Silina, who visited Liepaja on a working visit. “The decision taken to finance NATO in the amount of 160 million euros for the development of a military port in Liepaja Karosta will strengthen the defense capability of our country and will become a significant contribution to the economy of Liepaja,” the prime minister noted. Karosta (translated from Latvian as “Military Harbor”) is a former port named after Alexander III. Its construction began in 1890. Then they decided to turn Liepaja (then called Libava) into a first-class base for the Russian Imperial Navy, modeled on the British Portsmouth, the German Wilhelmshaven and Kiel, and the Italian Taranto. Construction dragged on for eight years, and later the port of Alexander III was repeatedly subjected to various modernizations. During the construction process, a well-equipped and weather-protected harbor for the largest warships of that time appeared in Liepaja, equipped with docks, repair shops, arsenals, warehouses and storage facilities. They brought a railway to it and protected it with powerful fortifications - forts bristling with numerous gun barrels. The new port served the Russian fleet well for seventeen years. In particular, it was from here that the Second Pacific Squadron departed in 1904 and perished in Tsushima. And then something happened that some experts warned about, who said that it was unwise to place such an important base so close to the western borders of the empire. World War I broke out and in 1915 Libau was captured by the Germans, who used the port for four years. The domestic fleet returned to Libau in 1939 - already under the Soviet flag. But the Great Patriotic War began, and the disadvantages of Libau’s geographical position again turned against the Baltic Fleet. Already on June 29, 1941, after a short but heroic defense, the city was taken by the Germans for the second time. Moreover, several warships that did not manage to evacuate from there in time were lost. After the victory, the military port in Libau began to be used again for its original purpose. The former Soviet fleet was finally withdrawn from here in August 1994, and Karosta quickly fell into disrepair. Ten years ago, Latvian Radio reported from an abandoned harbor. The correspondent said that Soviet white silicate brick alternates here with red brick, left over from tsarist times. The territory was in complete desolation. THEY ARE AFRAID OF RUSSIAN WARHEADS It turned out that Latvia was unable to raise the former port of Alexander III on its own - it does not have such resources. True, the headquarters, training centers and flotilla of the Latvian Navy are located in Liepaja, but they are very stunted, they do not need such a large harbor. Therefore, a proposal arose to give the port to a “rich relative” for his needs - let him restore order there. This idea was first voiced back in 2005 or even earlier, that is, immediately after Latvia joined the alliance: with NATO funds, to rebuild in the deteriorating harbor all the infrastructure necessary to receive modern warships. For example, repair old ones and build several new berths, lay a fuel supply line. The then mayor of the city, Uldis Sesks, assured that the arrival of the NATO fleet would contribute to the improvement of the regional economy: they say, NATO members will begin to pay port duties; they will need maintenance, food supplies and other services, and Liepaja will get rich from this. In general, according to Seks, “if we could offer space for NATO ships in the unused areas of our port, that would be good.” Ten years ago, the plan to turn Liepaja into an alliance military base was promoted by the then Minister of Defense and future President of Latvia, Raimonds Vējonis. He said that the city not only has a well-equipped harbor, but also a fairly large airport capable of receiving military cargo. In addition, being located near the Lithuanian-Latvian border and not far from Ventspils (one of the important transit ports), Liepaja allows you to keep almost all the harbors of the region and the land arteries associated with them “at gunpoint.” “We are working on how to transform our port in Liepaja into a base where NATO ships can regularly call. So that, in principle, it can be used as a reference point for operations in the Baltic Sea,” said the Secretary of State of the Ministry of Defense of the Republic, Janis Sarts, now the head of StratCom, the NATO Strategic Communications Center in Riga, in 2015. These plans alarmed the Liepāja Russians. Now the Russians in Latvia are downtrodden, intimidated, brought into submission and are afraid to say an extra word, but then, nine or ten years ago, they could still do something. In 2015, the NGO “Liepāja Russian Community” (LRO) conducted a survey, the results of which revealed that the majority of Russian townspeople are strongly against the creation of a NATO base. Nine years ago, approximately 40 thousand Russian-speaking residents lived in Liepaja (about 35% of the city population), and 10 thousand of them were Russian citizens with Latvian residence permits. Among them there are still quite a few retirees of the Soviet Navy - it is not for nothing that the Russian Navy holiday on July 27 is remembered and celebrated by many here. Naturally, these people were not enthusiastic about the possible appearance of those in whom they still see a potential enemy. “Of ours, 91% are against the placement of a NATO base in Liepaja, and 52% are ready to take to the streets,” emphasized the chairman of the board of the LRO Valery Kravtsov, promising, if anything happens, to build a “human chain” in the way of foreign soldiers. He explained the reasons for his concern: “If NATO is in Liepaja tomorrow, then tomorrow three or four warheads will be sent here.” Interestingly, concern about the possible creation of a base was also expressed by the then mayor of neighboring Ventspils, Aivar Lembergs (by the way, Vējonis’s colleague in the Union of Greens and Peasants party), who repeatedly said that the appearance of alliance troops in Latvia on a permanent basis could be equated to an invasion. Kravtsov and Lembergs were not alone in their concern. A similar point of view was expressed by the former head of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the republic, deputy of the Seimas Janis Adamsons. He also warned that the appearance of NATO members from other countries would put Liepaja in the crosshairs of Russian precision weapons. In addition, Adamsons pointed out another interesting nuance - if American soldiers are stationed in Liepaja, they will be outside the reach of Latvian justice. “Few people know about the existence of an interesting agreement that when carrying out any special operations on the territory of Latvia, not a single US Army serviceman is subject to the jurisdiction of Latvian justice,” Adamsons emphasized in a conversation with the press. Now all opponents of the NATO base in Liepaja have their mouths firmly shut. Valery Kravtsov disappeared from public space. Lembergs, who repeatedly allowed himself to harshly criticize the foreign policy of Latvia, was finally placed in prison at the beginning of 2021 after many years of attempts to put him in prison (allegedly “for corruption”). True, he was released early, but now he tries not to speak out on such sensitive topics. Janis Adamsons, accused of “spying for Russia,” is currently serving an eight-year prison sentence. The threat of deportation loomed over Soviet retirees living in Liepaja. IS THERE ENOUGH MONEY? For a long time, the process of creating an Alliance base in Liepaja did not move forward due to a lack of interest on the part of NATO itself and the lack of proper funding. True, the local port is regularly used to unload heavy equipment arriving in Latvia for maneuvers, but this is not the same as building a permanent military base there. The state tried to do some things on its own. So, in 2015, we prepared a plan for the necessary work. In particular, Latvian experts came to the conclusion that a significant problem is the insufficient width of the channel leading to the harbor - only 50 meters. In this regard, as experts fear, ships standing in the port can be easily blocked. As an alternative location for their placement, areas along the city beach have been proposed, but then berths will need to be built there. At the end of 2016, the then Secretary of State of the Latvian Ministry of Defense Janis Garisons announced that a base would still be created in Karosta, Liepaja: “Our goal is to consolidate the entire military infrastructure in one place. This is a very long project that will require huge funds. In ten years, it would be possible to build piers, including for NATO ships.” The Latvian public heard about this project for the second time in June 2020, when the Ministry of Defense announced plans to allocate 35 hectares of land for a military base in Karosta. The ministry said that they want to concentrate there all the structures of the armed forces located in the city: the 1st regional security center, the naval surveillance and communications service, the naval squadron, the diving school, the headquarters of the 4th brigade of the Latvian territorial militia "Zemessardze", 44 1st Infantry Battalion "Nurse Guard", Army Medical Services Department and some other units. However, nothing was said about NATO funding even then. And now, it seems, the process has moved forward. If the words of government members about 160 million euros turn out to be true, then significant work can finally begin there. And if the allocated money is not enough for everything, the authorities will try to shake out the remaining amount from taxpayers. |
| Posted by:badanov |