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NATO prepares for the largest military exercise in decades

2024-01-19 16:00:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

NATO will next week begin one of its biggest military exercises in decades, which is intended to show that the Western alliance is ready to defend its territory on the border with Russia, a NATO official said in Brussels. . In the exercise, which will last several months, a military personnel of 90 thousand troops will be engaged.

The exercise comes at a time when neither side is making progress in Russia's attack on Ukraine. NATO is not directly involved in this conflict, although many member countries have sent weapons to Ukraine and trained its military forces.

Months before President Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to attack Ukraine in February 2022, NATO began building up its presence with troops and equipment on its eastern flank, which borders Russia and Ukraine. This was the largest military buildup of the Western alliance since the end of the Cold War. The military maneuvers are intended to deter Moscow from targeting NATO member states bordering Russia.

The "Steadfast Defender 24" exercise "will prove that NATO can carry out complex operations in many areas and at any time for several months in a space of thousands of kilometers, from the farthest northern part of Europe to the central and eastern one" , said an official of the alliance with 31 member countries.

The troops will be deployed in Europe until the end of May, in the framework of what NATO calls "simulation of emergency scenarios of conflict with a nearby enemy". According to NATO's new defense plan, its main enemies are Russia and terrorist organizations.

"The alliance will demonstrate its capabilities in strengthening the Euro-Atlantic area through the transatlantic movement of its forces from North America," NATO's supreme commander, American General Christopher Cavoli, told reporters.

General Cavoli said the exercise will show "our unity, strength and determination to protect each other".

The chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Admiral Rob Bauer, said that this will show that "we can bring a record number of troops and conduct an exercise within a large territory, across the alliance and the (Atlantic) ocean from the States United in Europe."

Admiral Bauer said this is "a big change" compared to the number of troops in last year's exercises.

British Defense Secretary Grant Shapps said that, as part of the NATO exercise, Britain will commit 20,000 troops, warplanes, warships and submarines, some of which will be deployed in Eastern Europe from February to June. ./ VOA