Any resemblance to actual events is purely coincidental. While the war is raging in Ukraine, NATO and its partners are sharpening their weapons to test in Norway their ability to come to the aid of one of their own.
Some 30,000 soldiers, 200 planes and around 50 ships from 27 nations… Cold Response 2022, the biggest exercise involving NATO this year, will help Western armies to get tough in combat in extreme cold on land, at sea and in the skies, including in arctic latitudes, starting March 14.
If these maneuvers were planned for a long time, the Russian invasion of Ukraine gives them a particular impact.
“The exercise is extremely important for the security of Norway and the allies: we are training for the reinforcement of Norway by the allies,” Norwegian Defense Minister Odd Roger Enoksen told AFP.
“It does not stand because of the attack launched by the Russian authorities on Ukraine, but given the backdrop, it takes on added significance,” he notes.
Guardian of NATO’s northern borders in Europe, the Nordic country wants to test its ability to receive reinforcement from the allies in accordance with Article 5 of the Alliance’s Charter which obliges all its members to come to the aid of one of the theirs in case of attack.
Officially non-aligned but increasingly close partners of NATO, Sweden and Finland are also taking part in Cold Response, which will last until April 1.
Avoid misunderstandings
“I find it totally natural, perhaps now more than ever, to train together to show our ability and our will to defend our values and our way of life”, underlines the head of the Norwegian operations command, General Yngve Odlo. , who is leading the exercise.
On the Russian side of the 196 kilometer Russian-Norwegian border in the Arctic is the Kola Peninsula, home to the powerful Northern Fleet, a huge concentration of nuclear weapons and countless military installations.
“There is currently no explicit military threat against NATO or Norwegian territory,” says Enoksen. “The situation in Europe, however, has not been so unpredictable for a long time.”
To avoid any misunderstanding, the exercise Cold Response, of a “purely defensive” nature, it is insisted, has been duly notified and will remain at a respectful distance from Russia.
General Odlo spoke with Vice-Admiral Alexander Moiseyev, commander of the Northern Fleet, but Russia declined the offer to send observers.
“The strengthening of NATO’s military capabilities near Russia’s borders does not contribute to strengthening the region’s security,” said the Russian embassy in Oslo.
In similar circumstances in the past, Moscow has, beyond declarations, marked its dissatisfaction by jamming GPS signals or by announcing missile tests, thus prohibiting access to certain international maritime and airspaces.
“Rough environments”
The invasion of Ukraine surprised most experts and some are now wondering: in his avowed nostalgia for Soviet greatness, could Russian President Vladimir Putin go after other former territories of the USSR like the Baltic States?
Cold Response “allows us to perfect our training, to show our unity, our desire to work together in rough environments which can be environments that we know further east”, underlines French General Yvan Gouriou of the Reaction Corps fast-France.
“So the exercise has all its relevance in the current framework,” he insists.
France is participating with nearly 3,300 soldiers under a double hat: in its own name with the amphibious helicopter carrier Diksmuide, which is moving with troops and equipment, but also in the name of the NATO rapid reaction force that Paris is leading this year.
Another part of this force has left for Romania as part of the Atlantic Alliance’s reinforcement of its eastern flank.
Overall, the number of participants in Cold Response has melted: more than 40,000 soldiers had been announced at the start, but Covid and geopolitical emergencies have reshuffled the cards.
The American aircraft carrier Harry Truman and its escort were thus retained in the Aegean Sea where they contribute to the police of the sky. Not very far from the Ukrainian theater.