{"id":47181,"date":"2018-03-08T20:15:52","date_gmt":"2018-03-08T20:15:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/03\/08\/top-general-says-balkans-not-baltics-the-most-vulnerable-to-russian-influence\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:54:00","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:54:00","slug":"top-general-says-balkans-not-baltics-the-most-vulnerable-to-russian-influence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2018\/03\/08\/top-general-says-balkans-not-baltics-the-most-vulnerable-to-russian-influence\/","title":{"rendered":"Top general says Balkans, not Baltics the most vulnerable to Russian influence"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The top general in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/news\/2017\/09\/13\/whats-putin-up-to-the-russian-military-buildup-on-europes-border-raises-tension\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">NATO<\/a> told senators this week that the biggest threat <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2018\/03\/07\/army-to-position-more-armored-vehicles-in-europe-speed-upgrades-to-equipment-at-home\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">Europe<\/a> faces in the near term is Russian aggression in the Balkans and future trouble in the Arctic region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">U.S. Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti agreed with Sen. Tom Cotton, R-Arkansas, that while the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.militarytimes.com\/flashpoints\/2017\/09\/13\/if-russia-started-world-war-iii-heres-how-it-would-go-down\/\" title=\"\" class=\"\" target=\"_blank\">Baltic region<\/a> is crucial, those nations are part of NATO and have a more stable position on the continents. Scaparrotti is more concerned with the support of Serbian people within the Balkans who are more susceptible to Russian influence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The four-star said he has seen an increase in Russian influence in that part of Europe over his year and a half as Supreme Allied Commander Europe, though allied work has maintained stability there, for now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cBut Russia\u2019s at work in the Balkans. I think we\u2019ve kind of taken our eye off the area,\u201d Scaparrotti said. He advised the members of the Senate Armed Services Committee that the allies continue their security reform and engagement, \u201cor that\u2019s an area we could have problems with in the future.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Slightly farther in the future lies the northern reaches of Europe and a key transit point \u2013 the Northern Sea Route through the Arctic Ocean. That area is now seeing Russians refurbish as many as nine Cold War-era bases and a push of advanced ice-breaker ships, along with the standing up of a Russian arctic-focused military command.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The issue is near to Sen. Dan Sullivan, R-Alaska, who asked about Russian motivations.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2018\/02\/05\/army-issues-new-skis-gear-for-soldiers-training-to-fight-in-the-cold\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"196\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/Cold-weather-soldier-kneeling.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">Army issues new skis, gear for soldiers training to fight in the cold<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Soldiers have known for generations that it\u2019s cold at Fort Drum, New York. But now that the Army has made it official, soldiers with the 10th Mountain Division are fielding new gear and hosting major training events to improve their ability to fight when it freezes.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Scaparrotti told the senator that the Russian official reasoning is to \u201cprovide safeguards and security for the economic well-being\u201d of the region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cIf you look at what they\u2019re putting into place, they would have the capability in the next two to three years to control the Northern Sea Route,\u201d Scaparrotti said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As these threats present themselves, increased funding requests continue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For fiscal year 2017, the request for the European Defense Initiative was $3.4 billion; for fiscal year 2018 that figure rose to $4.8 billion. The current request is nearly $7 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">That money is paying for many things, from increased operations to more and newer equipment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Over the past two weeks 3,700 soldiers from 26 nations have conducted Dynamic Front, the largest artillery exercise in Europe since the Cold War.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In October the largest NATO amphibious exercise, dubbed Trident Juncture, will include more than 30,000 troops, including U.S. Marines in an operation off the coast of Norway, said Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller in a separate hearing earlier this week.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/marinecorpstimes\/news\/your-marine-corps\/2018\/02\/20\/the-bone-chilling-battle-ahead\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"162\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/mar-cover-1-1.jpg-1.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">When hell freezes over: How the Corps plans to win a cold weather fight in Russia or North Korea<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The Corps turns its eyes toward a cold-weather fight.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">This week, Lt. Gen. John Murray told attendees at the McAleese &amp; Associates \u201cDefense Programs\u201d Conference that the Army plans to add gear to outfit a second armored combat brigade, putting two ABCTs worth of vehicles and equipment in prepositioned stocks in Belgium and the Netherlands, as reported by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.armytimes.com\/news\/your-army\/2018\/03\/07\/army-to-position-more-armored-vehicles-in-europe-speed-upgrades-to-equipment-at-home\/\" title=\"\" class=\"selected-link\" target=\"_blank\" data-original-title=\"\">Army Times<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those stocks would complement the existing brigades in Europe and, once personnel arrived, would put an entire armored division at the disposal of Allied forces, Murray said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Supreme Allied Commander, U.S. Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, told senators he sees the Balkans and the Arctic as key threat areas as NATO follows Russia&#8217;s provocations in the region.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":85605,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":70,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":{"2":{"categories":["your-military","news"],"primary_category":"your-military"}}},"categories":[100,12,25,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3366],"class_list":["post-47181","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"Arctic threat a near-term problem, too","legacy_arc_id":"Q4QQJB45G5FLBDYRN4VUTD2YGY","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2018\/03\/08\/top-general-says-balkans-not-baltics-the-most-vulnerable-to-russian-influence\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.0 (Yoast SEO v28.1) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Top general says Balkans, not Baltics the most vulnerable to Russian influence - Army Times<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The Supreme Allied Commander, U.S. Army Gen. 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