Scholz 'impressed' by naval exercises in Baltic Sea during visit

Chancellor Olaf Scholz got his first comprehensive picture of the capabilities of the German Navy from the frigate Mecklenburg-Vorpommern off the Baltic coast on Monday.
He was "very impressed by the performance, by the hard work" he had seen, he said afterwards. He would do everything to ensure that the navy was also well equipped.
The chancellor reaffirmed the promise to permanently spend 2% of Germany's gross domestic product (GDP) on defence.
A submarine, a corvette and a mine-hunting boat from the German Armed Forces as well as the French fleet tanker Somme and the Spanish frigate Alvaro de Bazan were expected to take part in the exercises.
In addition, Eurofighters and Tornados from the German Air Force were also scheduled to take part in manoeuvres.
At the same time, Russia kicked off a manoeuvre with 40 ships and 25 combat aircraft in the Baltic.
Scholz, however, does not expect the situation between NATO and Russia in the Baltic Sea to escalate as a result of the large-scale manoeuvres. "I do not have this fear," he said.
"It is being handled very responsibly on the part of our forces."
Addressing Russia, however, Scholz also said: "Of course, it is also a signal that we are sending with the manoeuvre, the exercise here - namely that we have the strength to organize [NATO] alliance and national defence. And that is what is understood."
At the beginning of the year, Germany took over the leadership of NATO's rapid reaction force, in which the navy in the Baltic Sea is also involved.
The Mecklenburg-Vorpommern is currently the flagship of the spearhead of the military alliance, officially called the Very High Readiness Joint Task Force.
The task force was set up in the course of the first major Ukraine crisis after 2014 and has since been a central element of the deterrence strategy against Russia.