20,000 soldiers, 13 countries: Newly enlarged NATO starts drills in Finland, Norway and Sweden from today

NATO will commence an exercise aimed at defending its recently extended Nordic domain starting Monday, with over 20,000 soldiers from 13 countries engaging in drills spanning nearly two weeks across the northern territories of Finland, Norway, and Sweden.

According to Associated Press, citing Finland’s military, the Norway-led Nordic Response 2024 will involve more than 4,000 Finnish soldiers, marking the largest foreign exercise participation by the NATO newcomer.

“For the first time, Finland will participate as a NATO member nation in exercising collective defense of the alliance’s regions,” AP quoted the Finnish Defense Forces as saying in a statement.

In April 2023, Finland, which has a 1,340-kilometer (830-mile) border with Russia, made a historic decision to join NATO after decades of military neutrality. With approval from all NATO members, neighboring Sweden is in the process of completing formalities to become the alliance’s 32nd member, expected to be finalised in March.

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Previously named “Cold Response,” the biannual NATO drill has long been held in the Arctic regions of northern Norway.

However, “thanks to the NATO expansion with Finland and eventually Sweden, we are now expanding the exercise to a Nordic Response,” AP quoted the Norwegian Armed Forces as saying on its website. This year, the drill is hosted equally by Finland, Norway and Sweden.

The participating nations in the exercise that runs through March 15 are Belgium, Britain, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Sweden and the United States.

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Roughly half of the participating troops will drill on land. The rest will train at sea, with over 50 participating submarines, frigates, corvettes, aircraft carriers, and various amphibious vessels, and in the air with more than 100 fighter jets, transport aircraft, maritime surveillance aircraft and helicopters, according to the Norwegian military.

The combined joint training will focus on the defense and protection of the Nordic region, Norwegian military officials said.

“We need to be able to fight back and stop anyone who tries to challenge our borders, values and democracy,” AP quoted Brigadier Tron Strand from the Royal Norwegian Air Force, Commander of the Norwegian Air Operations Center, as saying in a statement.

“With the current security situation in Europe, the exercise is extremely relevant and more important than ever before,” he added.

“The High North represents an important and strategically located area for NATO” and the Nordic Response 2024 exercise “increases Nordic preparedness and the capability to conduct large-scale joint operations in challenging weather and climate,” NATO said on its website.

Finland’s new president, Alexander Stubb, will inspect the drill together with Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre in northern Norway on March 7. It’s the first foreign trip for Stubb since he was sworn in as Finland’s new head of state and its supreme military commander on March 1.

With inputs from agencies