2024-03-13 01:54:03
Caption,
Swedish soldiers take part in the first test of new NATO military plans in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Article information
- Author, Jonathan Beale
- Role, BBC Defense Correspondent
- Reporting from Northern Norway
-
9 hours
There was a time when NATO made efforts to avoid directly mentioning Russia when conducting its military exercises. In particular for fear of creating a provocation. But the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine changed all that.
Now, alliance exercises are done with Moscow in mind. One of the key stated objectives of Operation Steadfast Defender is to deter Russia.
It is NATO’s largest exercise since the end of the Cold War, involving 90,000 military personnel and taking place across Europe’s eastern flank over the coming months.
Steadfast Defender is also the first test of NATO’s new military plans, designed to deploy troops and equipment at a speed and scale to support any ally under attack. And it is a reaffirmation of NATO’s purpose: that an attack on one member would trigger a response from all.
Donald Trump may have questioned that purpose of NATO, but the United States remains its backbone.
The first stage of the exercises is taking place in the remote, snowy Finnmark region of northern Norway. It is not far from the 193 km border that country shares with Russia. However, in this scenario Finnmark is being invaded by a fictional enemy called Occasus.
Eivor, a 21-year-old Norwegian medical student and part-time soldier, says her grandparents had to flee this same region when the Nazis invaded in World War II.
Caption,
Evior is a member of the Norwegian territorial guard who is also participating in exercise Steadfast Defender.
“I prefer to stay here and fight,” he says. He is not expecting the Russians to invade “but of course you always have to be alert.”
It is the first major NATO exercise involving Swedish and Finnish forces as full members of the group.
There is palpable enthusiasm among its troops for being part of one of the largest military alliances. They are also more willing to identify the threat.
During preparations to take a beach in a fjord, a Finnish marine stressed that it made no sense for his country to “be alone once morest Russia.” Another adds: “Russia is somewhat afraid of NATO.” A Swedish colleague says he feels “super safe” now that his country has joined the alliance.
Caption,
The series of military exercises include gunboats in a Norwegian fjord.
It is a sentiment that is also shared by its politicians.
The defense ministers of Sweden, Finland and Norway celebrated their new Nordic unity as they watched part of the exercise: a symbolic border crossing of Finnish troops into Norway to repel the fictional invaders.
Everyone was smiling as they posed for photos in front of a rocket launcher.
Caption,
(L to R) Finnish Defense Minister Antti Häkkänen, Norwegian Defense Minister Bjørn Arild Gram and Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson
Swedish Defense Minister Pål Jonson had no qualms regarding rubbing salt on Russia’s self-inflicted wounds. He described Sweden and Finland joining NATO as “the mother of all unexpected consequences” for Moscow.
He noted that Russia had desperately tried to prevent the accession of those two previously non-aligned countries. But he had failed.
However, the truth is that Finland’s membership has also brought Russia closer to NATO, with a shared border of almost 1,300 kilometers that the allies will now also have to defend.
How real is the threat?
No one is saying that Russia is an imminent threat. Particularly since its forces are currently locked in Ukraine. But there is a perception that, in the long term, Russia might also target a NATO country.
One of Sweden’s top military commanders has no doubt that Moscow’s ambitions go beyond Ukraine.
Caption,
Finnish marines are participating in the exercises that will last three months.
Lt. Gen. Carl-Johan Edstrom says it’s a matter of time: “I’m sure Russia is a threat, that’s right, and we need to be stronger in the next 5 to 10 years.”
NATO, he says, should use that opportunity to strengthen its armed forces.
Several other European military chiefs and politicians have also warned of the possibility of Russia attacking a NATO ally within the next decade.
For Vice Admiral Doug Perry, one of the top US military commanders overseeing the exercises, it is clear that “the European continent is already at war.”
For now, it is confined to Ukraine. But he notes that NATO needs to “assess Russian behavior and Russian capability. If we add the two we must be prepared.”
He thinks the recent accessions of Finland and Sweden to NATO are a reflection of that threat.
The Nordic countries, like the Baltic states, seem to have a keener sense of danger. That comes from living closer to Russia.
They are the ones who are stepping up defense investment faster than the others. They are also the States that best understand the cost of war, having lived the bitter experience of invasions in the past.
Caption,
Elisabeth, 20, is part of the Norwegian territorial guard.
In these Nordic States, defense also involves the population, something that does not happen in other parts of Europe. All have some form of military service, meaning all generations have military experience and many continue to serve in the reserves.
But not everyone in NATO is so well prepared. Elsewhere in Europe, including the United Kingdom, armies are having trouble recruiting.
Among the professional troops participating in these exercises are members of Norway’s internal militias, who are mostly part-time soldiers.
In these maneuvers they act as the enemy, moving quickly through the snowy hills on snowmobiles and sleeping outdoors in sub-zero temperatures. Most of them are young, this is not a territorial guard of old volunteers.
Josefine, a 21-year-old kindergarten teacher, says that “we have a lot of people with military experience and that makes me feel safer, because we are everywhere.”
For her part, Elisabeth, a 20-year-old nurse, comments that “it is important to have people who really want to defend Norway, so that we all feel safe.”
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