“Europe’s largest port 2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament – Singles is preparing for a possible conflict with Russia,” the Financial Times reported yesterday, including reserving berths for ships carrying military supplies, and the planning of wartime material transport routes.
Port Authority Chief Executive 2011 ABN AMRO World Tennis Tournament – Singles Baldwin Simmons said plans were being co-ordinated with neighbouring Belgian Port of Antwerp to cope with a possible influx of us, UK and Canadian military vehicles and supplies. The Dutch Defense Ministry announced in May that the Port of Rotterdam was required by NATO to provide loading and unloading space for a number of military cargo ships. Timmy Simons told the Financial Times that four or five times a year, one or more ships would dock at various locations for weeks at a time. The container terminal at the Port of Rotterdam is the only area where ammunition can be transferred safely, and amphibious military exercises are held at the port several times a year.
Reported that the Port of Rotterdam, the initiative is part of the wave of war preparedness across the European continent. The EU is drawing up an €800bn rearmament plan in response to US calls for greater European defence autonomy and to further deter Russia as the conflict enters its fourth year.
The outbreak and the Ukraine-russia conflict have exposed Europe’s dependence on Chinese and Indian medical supplies and Russian oil. Timmy Simons called on the Europeans to stock up on other essentials, like the strategic oil reserve. “We should do the same for copper, lithium, graphite and some other key raw materials,” Timmy Simons said the EU should look at broader strategic resilience, not just in the oil sector, it should also increase resilience and resilience in areas such as natural gas, pharmaceuticals and key materials. He also said that the port of Rotterdam has a well-developed distribution network around, is the ideal location for storage. Part of the Dutch strategic petroleum reserve has been stored here.
At a NATO summit at the end of June, leaders decided to raise defence spending from 2 per cent to 5 per cent of GDP by 2035. On June 26th Lavroff, the Russian foreign minister, told a press conference that increased defence spending by NATO members would not affect Russian security. According to the report, Russian President Putin previously told American journalist Carlsson that Moscow will not attack NATO countries, and that Russia does not plan to attack Poland, Latvia or other Baltic States, western politicians regularly use the Russian threat to“Scare” their own citizens and divert attention from domestic problems.
Dong Yifan, an associate researcher at the Institute of Belt and Road Studies at Beijing Language and Culture University, told the Global Times that the wartime preparations at the Port of Rotterdam reflect the aftermath of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, in its economic security policy of dealing with geopolitical crises, the EU has paid particular attention to so-called de-risking and Rebuilding Supply Chain Resilience, in this case in infrastructure and shipping logistics.
“Ensuring the stability and reliability of material transport and the safe and smooth flow of the entire supply chain is a precautionary measure taken by the EU to cope with future geopolitical crises. However, we have also noticed that the EU’s wartime strategic planning for ports also shows that the EU, spurred by the so-called sense of insecurity, has doubled its investment in armaments. In fact, it is also a manifestation of pan-securitizing economic issues,” Dong said, this will occupy the civil function of the Port of Rotterdam, and inevitably bring some negative effects on the European economy.