Recently, NATO has announced the beginning of major military exercises in Finland under the name "Northern Answer". These maneuvers, which will conduct Norway, provide for the involvement of 50 ships, 100 aircraft and 20,000 servicemen. Of these, 4 thousand are Finnish military.
This is the first such a large -scale military training in Finland, which indicates an increasing concern for the Alliance on Security in Northern Europe. The main purpose of these exercises is to increase the readiness and ability of the Alliance to respond to possible threats in the region.
NATO NATO Nordic Response 2024 will be held near Russia's northern borders. They start March 4, with more than 20,000 servicemen from 13 countries. In particular, maneuvers will be held for the first time in Finland and will last until March 15. About it reports the Finnish agency Yle.
Northern Answer will be under the leadership of Norway. It is reported that for Finland, which has 1340 kilometers of the common border from the Russian Federation, this event is of great importance because it will first participate in maneuvers of this scale.
"12-day exercises are of great importance for Finland, as it is not only the greatest exercises that have ever been attended by the Finnish defense forces abroad, but for the first time when Finland as a NATO member worked out the Alliance's collective defense," the agency said.
Maneuvers will also be held in the northern regions of Norway and Sweden. They involve Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States. More than 50 ships, including frigates and submarines, as well as more than 100 aircraft, are expected to be sent for training. And the contingent, which will be involved in maneuvers, reaches a number of 20,000 servicemen, of which four thousand are Finnish military.
A number of Russian officials responded to the west. In particular, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Maria Zakharova stated that Nordic Respense 2024 threaten the escalation of tension in the Northern region and will not remain unanswered by Moscow.
"The next militaristic actions of the Norwegian authorities are threatened with additional escalation of tension in the European Carctic region. In addition, they harm the safety of Norway itself, which in fact voluntarily abandons its own independence and sovereignty," Zakharova said at a briefing on February 7.
For his part, Dmitry Medvedev, Deputy Chairman of the Council of Russia, said that Western politicians and NATO leadership decided to “take a fright”, adding at the same time that it was “the convulsion of flabby western muscles”.
Nordic Response 2024 will take place within a large -scale event called Steadfast Defender 2024. Within the exercises that occur from January 31 to May 31, they work out a response to hypothetical military aggression against NATO member country, which is automatically activated by Art. 5 North Atlantic Treaty.
Maneuvers are notable for not only the longest, but also the largest training of the Western Military Bloc since 1988, that is, the end of the Cold War.
