Worthy Christian News > World News > NATO With Largest Exercise Since Cold War Amid Fears Of Large Conflict

NATO With Largest Exercise Since Cold War Amid Fears Of Large Conflict

By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News

THE HAGUE/BRUSSELS/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – The NATO military alliance has begun its largest exercise since the Cold War, involving 90,000 troops as several European nations prepare for a possible war with Russia.

The war game running through May will bring together “a record number of troops that we can bring to bear. [It is] an exercise within that size, across the alliance, across the ocean, from the U.S. to Europe,” said NATO Military Committee chair Admiral Rob Bauer, who adding there was a need to prepare for war.

The exercise, called “Steadfast Defender 2024″, comes as Russia continues its invasion of Ukraine, China threatens to attack Taiwan, and the Israel-Hamas war seems to escalate into a broader Middle East battle rapidly.

NATO officials said the exercise is designed to simulate the 31-nation alliance’s response to an attack from a rival like Russia.

The 90,000 troops participating in the drills are backed up by at least 1,100 combat vehicles, 80 aircraft, and 50 naval vessels from all 31 NATO member countries and candidate Sweden, confirmed NATO’s Supreme Allied Commander, U.S. General Christopher Cavoli.

As Steadfast Defender 2024 began, Germany, the Netherlands, and Poland agreed to develop a military corridor that would make it easier to move troops and equipment between Europe’s North Sea ports and NATO’s eastern flank.

The Dutch Ministry of Defence said in a statement seen by Worthy News that the countries signed a declaration of intent this week to develop the corridor at a time of growing hostility with Russia.

MILITARY TRANSPORTS

They also pledged to study how military rail transports can be prioritized over routine civilian traffic, a complicated effort in Germany and the Netherlands with Europe’s busiest railways.

The three nations plan to tackle “infrastructure choke points,” such as low bridges, and slash bureaucracy around permits for cross-border transport of ammunition and other dangerous goods, the Dutch Ministry of Defence added.

“Russia’s invasion of Ukraine two years ago made European countries realize they need to be prepared to move their military across the continent,” Dutch Defense Minister Kajsa Ollongren said in separate remarks.

She has admitted that boosting the military across Europe hadn’t been high on the agenda for years following the collapse of the Moscow-led Soviet Union in the 1990s.

But with Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, she said, the Netherlands, as a military transit country, must be able to quickly move equipment from its ports to the hinterland of NATO.

Steadfast Defender 2024 will test her nation and others to see whether they are prepared for warfare.

Despite remaining logistical issues and years of underfunding, General Christopher Cavoli tried to sound optimistic about the outcome of the NATO exercise.

GROWING ABILITY

“The alliance will demonstrate its ability to reinforce the Euro-Atlantic area via trans-Atlantic movement of forces from North America,” he stressed.

“Steadfast Defender 2024 will be a clear demonstration of our unity, strength, and determination to protect each other, our values, and the rules-based international order.”

It comes after Germany’s defense minister warned this month that an increasingly belligerent Russian President Vladimir Putin could attack the NATO military alliance in less than a decade.

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told German media, “We hear threats from the Kremlin almost every day … so we have to take into account that Vladimir Putin might even attack a NATO country one day.

While a Russian attack is not likely “for now,” the minister added: “Our experts expect a period of five to eight years in which this could be possible.”

In recent weeks, military leaders in countries ranging from the Netherlands to non-EU member Britain have also said their societies should prepare for a war.