As of: January 28, 2024, 5:31 p.m
By: Bettina Menzel
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Two soldiers during a NATO exercise in 2021 at your US air force base in Italy.
In 2024, the defense alliance started its largest military exercise in decades.
© IMAGO / ZUMA Wire/US Air Force
NATO is holding its largest military exercise in decades.
Partly near the Russian border.
The Foreign Ministry in Moscow speaks of a “conscious escalation”.
Moscow - It is NATO's largest military exercise in decades: around 90,000 soldiers are intended to rehearse the emergency of an attack on alliance territory.
The large-scale exercise “Steadfast Defender” will last until the end of May, with individual exercises extending from North America to NATO's eastern flank near the Russian border.
Russia has recently reacted sensitively to this proximity to the border.
A spokeswoman for the Foreign Ministry in Moscow now warned of “tragic consequences.”
Ukraine war: According to the Kremlin, NATO military exercise is “deliberately aimed at escalation”
Against the backdrop of the Ukraine war, the 31 member states of the alliance as well as candidate Sweden will demonstrate their “ability to strengthen the Euro-Atlantic area through the transatlantic transfer of armed forces from North America,” said the commander in chief of NATO troops in Europe , US General Christopher Cavoli.
They are also demonstrating “unity, strength and determination,” said the NATO general.
The alliance's plans to hold the military exercise near the Russian borders are "provocative, increase the risk of military incidents and could have tragic consequences for Europe," said a spokeswoman for the Russian Foreign Ministry, Maria Zakharova, in Moscow on Friday.
However, the spokeswoman did not specify what consequences this would be.
This move to hold a military exercise near the Russian border was deliberately aimed at escalation, Zakharova further claimed, as the Russian state news agency Tass reported.
At the same time, the diplomat emphasized that Russia had no plans to attack NATO states.
“In this way, the alliance is trying to justify its existence in the eyes of millions of Europeans and Americans, its agenda to contain Russia, justify the insane increase in military spending and, of course, somehow distract the public,” it said.
NATO exercise in the Ukraine war: “Do not confuse the exercise content with military reality”
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022.
According to information from the German Press Agency, the scenario of the major maneuver is a Russian attack on Allied territory, which leads to the declaration of the so-called alliance case according to Article 5 of the NATO Treaty.
“The exercise content must not be confused with the current political and military reality,” said former NATO general Erhard Bühler in his podcast
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Furthermore, the scenario is not a prediction or an assessment of the future development of the security situation; rather, one is working with a fictitious opponent, continued Bühler.
According to the chairman of the NATO Military Committee, Rob Bauer, the exercise is “preparing for a conflict with Russia and terrorist groups.”
The alliance currently sees Russia as the most significant threat to the security of its allies.
Bauer also emphasized that there is not yet the necessary awareness in society that it is not just the military that needs to be able to operate in a conflict or war.
“The whole of society will be involved, whether we like it or not,” continued the chairman of the NATO Military Committee.
“I'm not saying that things will go wrong tomorrow, but we have to recognize that it is not a given that we live in peace,” Bauer continued.