Global Courant 2023-05-31 07:16:22
NATO aircraft and troops from Norway, UK, US and Sweden take part in arctic exercises
NATO countries have begun military exercises in the Arctic with a pledge to defend their newest member, Finland, which is organizing its first joint training since joining the Western alliance in April.
Nearly 1,000 allied troops from Norway, the United Kingdom and the United States – as well as NATO candidate Sweden – joined about 6,500 Finnish troops and about 1,000 vehicles for exercises this week, marking Finland’s largest modern land force exercise over the Arctic Circle .
Major General Gregory Anderson of the 10th Mountain Division of the 10th Mountain Division, who oversaw NATO exercises just two hours from the Russian border, at one of Europe’s largest artillery training grounds in Rovajarvi, northern Finland, said his country was ready to defend Finland.
“We are here, we are committed. The US military is training here with our newest NATO ally to build that capability, to help defend Finland if anything happens,” Anderson said Tuesday.
According to the NATO Air Command, some 150 aircraft from 14 NATO members and partner countries are also participating in the exercises of the Arctic Challenge 2023.
The purpose of #ACE23 is the training of participating troops to conduct disparate aircraft combat safely and effectively in large composite air operations.
The 48th Fighter Wing heritage F-15E Strike Eagle is also part of the ACE23 force. @HQUSAFAFAF @NATO_AIRCOM pic.twitter.com/QmSB9LDrYJ
— Ilmavoimat (@FinnishAirForce) May 30, 2023
Finland’s addition to the NATO bloc has doubled the length of the border the military alliance shares with Russia amid rising tensions between Moscow and the West following the full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
“It’s no doubt at all. We have prepared plans on what to do if we want to be part of the defense of Finland,” said Major General Karl Engelbrektson, commander of the Swedish Land Forces.
Sweden is Finland’s closest military partner and it was Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year that convinced Sweden and Finland to abandon the long-held policy of military non-alignment and seek the safety of NATO’s collective defense commitment.
Finland formally joined NATO on April 4, with Moscow threatening “countermeasures”. Sweden hopes to be a member of NATO by the time of the alliance summit in Vilnius, Lithuania in July.
Sweden has been what NATO describes as an “official invitee” since 2022, which allows attending meetings and coordinating activities with other NATO allies. Full membership will take place once all NATO allies have ratified Sweden’s application for membership, the bloc said.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg expressed cautious optimism on Tuesday that Sweden’s entry was “within reach” by the July 11-12 NATO summit.
“There are no guarantees, but it is absolutely possible to reach a solution by then and enable the decision on full membership for Sweden,” Stoltenberg told reporters in Oslo on the eve of a meeting of foreign ministers NATO affairs in preparation for the summit.
Turkey has ratified Finland’s NATO membership, but has yet to do so for Sweden.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan says Sweden has not yet met all of his country’s demands to secure its support for membership, particularly because of what he sees as Sweden providing a safe haven for members of the Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK). ) and the Democratic Union Party. (PYD) in Syria, both of whom are considered “terrorists” by Ankara.
Ilmari Laukkanen, a 20-year-old Finnish conscript who operated a field gun during the exercise but takes care of a family farm near the Russian border in his civilian life, said he would be willing to fight for Finland’s new allies if the need arose.
‘Of course I would. When we get something good, we give it back,” Laukkanen told Reuters news agency.
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