Next year, NATO will organize the largest military exercise focused on collective defense since 1989, under the code name “Steadfast Defender”, and which will bring together more than 40,000 soldiers, NATO’s top military official, Dutch Admiral Rob Bauer, has announced. confirming the information published by the press, reports Rador Radio Romania citing Soiree.
Eurofighter Typhoon on NATO missionPhoto: Christophe Gateau / DPA / Profimedia
“To give you an example (of the readiness of NATO forces), in 2024 the Alliance will organize the largest collective defense exercise since the end of the Cold War,” Admiral Rob Bauer said at the weekend, after a meeting in Oslo of The NATO military committee that he chairs.
“More than 40,000 soldiers from the entire Alliance will train in Germany, Poland and the Baltic countries,” added Admiral Bauer, explaining that NATO has been preparing “a new era in collective defense” for years. “We have never been so strong and so ready to face crises and threats,” he continued.
According to several publications, this exercise is supposed to represent a show of force by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization based on Article 5 of the Washington Treaty, the founding treaty of the Alliance, which states that an attack against an ally would be considered an attack against everyone.
The Financial Times (FT) newspaper reported the other day, citing NATO officials, that the “Steadfast Defender” will bring together more than 50 ships, with 500 to 700 air missions. Sweden, which has been invited to join NATO but is still waiting for Turkish and Hungarian objections to be lifted, will also be present.
