Germany on October 21 inaugurated a NATO naval command center in the port city of Rostock (Germany) to enhance the alliance's defense readiness in the Baltic Sea region, amid tensions between NATO and Russia.

On October 22, the Russian Foreign Ministry said it had expressed "strong objections" to the German ambassador about the establishment of a NATO center in Rostock, according to AFP.

Photo: TASS screenshot

"In Washington, Brussels and Berlin, they must realize that the expansion of NATO's military infrastructure in the former East Germany will have the most negative consequences," the Russian Foreign Ministry stressed in a statement.

The Russian Foreign Ministry also said the new center was a "blatant violation" of the 1990 German unification treaty, which stipulates that no foreign armed forces are to be deployed in the region. There is no word yet on Germany's reaction.

Speaking at the inauguration of the new NATO center, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said on October 21 that the German-led Baltic Command would be ready to lead naval operations in times of peace, crisis and war. "The importance of this region becomes even more evident in the context of Russia's continued provocations in our neighborhood," Pistorius said.

The new center in Rostock will be headed by a German admiral and staffed by 11 other NATO countries. It will have 180 staff including representatives from Britain, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Poland and Sweden, according to AFP.

According to German officials, the purpose of this campaign is to coordinate naval activities in the region, while providing NATO with a real picture of the maritime situation in the Baltic Sea.