There are few places more soothing or beautiful in midsummer than the Baltic coast of the German state of Schleswig-Holstein. The sun sets around 10 p.m. and sea breezes keep temperatures cool while most of the Northern Hemisphere sweats. In Kiel, the region’s largest city and most important harbor, happy crowds stroll the waterfront celebrating the start of Kiel Week, one of the largest sailing events in the world now in its 143rd year.
Yet even there, the shadows of the growing world crisis were evident. Sailboats in the regatta shared the harbor with a large military presence. The 53rd annual North Atlantic Treaty Organization joint fleet exercise in the Baltic was winding down as I arrived. For 21 days, an all-NATO force of more than 50 ships, 85 aircraft and about 9,000 personnel conducted naval operations and landing drills as Russian aircraft buzzed over them.