A major military exercise involving 30,000 NATO and partner nations began on Monday in Norway amid a crisis between the West and Russia over the war in Ukraine.
The long-planned Cold Response 2022 exercise aims to test Norway’s ability to receive reinforcements from outside in the event of aggression from a third country, in accordance with Article 5 of the NATO Charter, which obliges its members to come to the aid of one of their own.
“This is a defensive exercise,” said General Yngve Odlo, head of the Norwegian Operations Command, who is leading the exercise.
“This is not a military operation with an offensive purpose,” he said into the microphone of the TV2 channel.
Russia refuses to send observers
Biennial naval, air, amphibious and land exercises take place in large areas of Norway, including beyond the Arctic Circle, while remaining several hundred kilometers from the Russian-Norwegian border.
Russia turned down an offer to send observers there. “Strengthening NATO’s military capabilities near Russia’s borders does not contribute to strengthening the security of the region,” his embassy in Oslo commented last week.
The Russians have “quite legitimately deployed maneuver monitoring capabilities” and “I really hope they are respecting the existing agreements,” General Odlo said.
About 3300 French soldiers
As with previous editions, Cold Response 2022 welcomes the participation of Sweden and Finland, who are not militarily members of the alliance but have moved closer to NATO in recent years. The Russian invasion has revived the debate about possible membership there.
The exercise, which will last until April 1, also involves about 200 aircraft and 50 ships. They began with operations at sea and the deployment of part of NATO’s rapid reaction force ashore, a position taken by France this year.
In particular, almost 3,300 French soldiers and the landing helicopter carrier Diksmuide are announced.