NATO is preparing to launch major exercises with its newest member nations as Finland, Sweden, and Norway are being prodded to demonstrate and illustrate that their forces are prepared to defend their borders, as well as how effectively they would do so.
Military vehicles including trucks and support vehicles, all belonging to the 7 Light Mechanised Brigade unit of the British Army, aka 'The Desert Rats', are loaded by members of the Royal Logistics Corps' 17 Port & Maritime Regiment onto the MV Anvil Point, at the at the Marchwood Military Sea Mounting Centre near Southampton, southern England, on February 13, 2024, to take part in military exercises in Europe under the NATO umbrella exercise, 'Steadfast Defender'. Some 90,000 NATO troops will take part in the months-long Steadfast Defender 24 exercise designed to test its defences in the face of Russia's war on Ukraine. The exercise is designed to simulate the 31-nation alliance's response to an attack from a rival like Russia.
The exercises have been codenamed Nordic Response 2024 and began on Sunday with drills lasting until March 14.
Nordic Response will involve over 20,000 troops and is part of a larger NATO readiness exercise called "Steadfast Defender", which will run through May.
Sweden was prepared to participate even before it was fully ratified into the North Atlantic Treaty Organization last week.
The military alliance created to counter the Soviet Union now stands at 32 member nations. Finland applied for NATO membership in 2022 following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Several weeks ago, The Hill reported that the Estonian Foreign Intelligence Service released a report stating that Russia was planning to double its forces on the borders it shares with NATO members.
The report also stated that Russia was planning to create a new corps that would include 45,000 troops at NATO borders in northern Europe.
Nordic Response is set to predominantly take place in the northern territories of Norway, Sweden, and Finland, engaging in multiple domains with over 50 ships and exceeding 100 aircraft. For more than 200 years, Sweden has had a policy of nonalignment and stayed out of major conflicts.
Russia shares a border with Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Turkey and Finland.
Finland shares an 800-mile border with Russia.
"It is time to face the facts and say out loud what has been in the air for some time. Russia is a threat to the democratic world," Finnish Minister of Defense Defense Antti Häkkänen on Monday. "Gone are the days when we assumed our safety was guaranteed as long as we stood still and didn't move."
