Baltic Sea Security Regional and Sectoral Perspectives ______________________________________

The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission— the governing body of the Convention on the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea Area, known as the Helsinki Convention (HELCOM). [...] 22 | BALTIC SEA SECURITY reinforcement of the defense capabilities in the three Baltic countries.7 Those are all positive developments to enhance the Alliance’s deterrence posture in the region and are critical contributors to the defense of the Baltic States, whose security, when endangered, will impact the security of all the other European countries surrounding the Baltic Sea. [...] Surveys conducted in 2019 by the Körber Foundation and the Center for Military History and Social Science of the Federal Armed Forces (ZMSBw) shed light on the ambivalent attitude of the German public toward the country’s role on the international scene.5 The majority of Germans feel safe (10 percent) or somewhat safe (52 percent) at the national level; the international environment is perceived a. [...] A 8 The southern option refers to the US Army moving from Benelux to Poland south of the Baltic Sea, and the northern option refers to USMC moving from Norway across Sweden and the Baltic Sea to the Baltic States. [...] The reinforcement of US troops in the Baltic States can be done both from the south, via Poland and the Suwałki Corridor, and from the north, via the northern Baltic Sea.