Bornholm the Soviets took the position that the stationing of foreign troops on Bornholm would be considered a declaration of war against the Soviet Union, and that Denmark should keep troops on it at all times to protect it from such foreign aggression. This policy remained in force after NATO was formed, with Denmark as a founding member. The Soviets accepted the stationing there of Danish troops, which were part of NATO but viewed as militarily inferior elements of the alliance, but they strongly objected to the presence of other NATO troops on Bornholm, in particular of US troops. On 5
Boundaries between the continents of Earth under plate tectonics in the realm of geology.) The geographical notion of a continent stands in opposition to islands and archipelagos. Nevertheless, there are some islands that are considered part of Europe in a political sense. This most notably includes the British Isles (part of the European continental shelf and during the Ice Age of the continent itself), besides the islands of the North Sea, the Baltic Sea and the Mediterranean which are part of the territory of a country situated on the European mainland, and usually also the island states of Iceland and Malta. Russia's Vaygach Island and Novaya