Headquarters Multinational Corps Northeast has been operating since September 18, 1999 – the year when Poland joined NATO. The Corps was established by a treaty signed by the Ministers of Defence of Poland, Germany and Denmark.
“For 25 years, Multinational Corps Northeast has been living proof of a promise that ties all of us together. An attack on one of us is an attack on all of us. This promise of the North Atlantic Treaty Article 5 is carved in stone and unbreakable,” said the Corps’ Commander Lieutenant General Jürgen-Joachim von Sandrart in his address.
Currently, more than 20 NATO member states are represented at the MNC NE Headquarters and their involvement in the Corps is steadily increasing. Based on the letter of intent signed during the ceremony, Lithuania declared to further integrate its army into the NATO Force Structure through MNC NE.
“Lithuania is ready to become the fourth framework nation of the Corps, showing its willingness to shape the fate of the north-eastern flank as we look to the future,” stated von Sandrart.
Deterring aggression and ready to defend at a moment’s notice, Headquarters Multinational Corps Northeast is NATO’s Regional Warfighting Headquarters responsible for the Alliance’s land forces in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland.
Following the Russian invasion of eastern Ukraine and the annexation of Crimea, NATO leaders assigned Multinational Corps Northeast a specific region of responsibility – the Baltic Sea region, making it the first regionally-oriented command in NATO’s history. The aim was to provide greater security for more than 40 million people by having a high-readiness headquarters in place to train and command Allied ground troops in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland.
As Russia’s aggressive actions continued, culminating in its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Multinational Corps Northeast became NATO’s key security guarantor in the North-east, with combat-ready forces on the ground, including the Multinational Divisions in Poland and Latvia, the Estonian Division and four Multinational Battlegroups.
On September 27, following the jubilee ceremony, MNC NE’s personnel received decorations and commendations, and families took part in a fest at the Baltic Barracks.