NATO-ITALY/EXERCISES As Russia reasserts itself, NATO opens biggest exercises in years

Record ID: 135380

  • Title: NATO-ITALY/EXERCISES As Russia reasserts itself, NATO opens biggest exercises in years
  • Date: 19th October 2015
  • Summary: ***WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY*** (SOUNDBITE) (English) NATO DEPUTY SECRETARY, GENERAL ALEXANDER VERSHBOW, SAYING: "The last time NATO regularly held exercises of this magnitude, we were in the midst of the cold war facing the Soviet threat. Now we have a far more unstable and potentially more dangerous situation. In the east, Russia has illegally annexed Crimea, it
  • Embargoed: 3rd November 2015 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Italy
  • Country: Italy
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA2JYSEC55G7WUORQ0M1LHG92MD
  • Aspect Ratio: 16:9
  • Story Text: NATO and its allies opened their largest military exercise in more than a decade on Monday (October 19), choosing the central Mediterranean to showcase strengths that face threats from Russia's growing military presence from the Baltics to Syria.
    As planes flew over a gala ceremony for NATO's military and political leaders at an air base in Trapani, southern Italy, Russia's resurgence was the central topic of concern, pushing NATO to embark on its biggest modernisation since the Cold War.
    "The last time NATO regularly held exercises of this magnitude, we were in the midst of the cold war facing the Soviet threat," NATO's Deputy Secretary General Alexander Vershbow told the ceremony.
    "Now we have a far more unstable and potentially more dangerous situation," he continued to say. "In the east, Russia has illegally annexed Crimea, it continues to support the separatists in eastern Ukraine, and it now appears to have entered the war in Syria firmly on the side of (Syrian President) Assad. And to our south from Syria to Libya, failed and failing states have opened the door to extremists and terrorist groups eager to fill the vacuum."
    Looming over the exercises involving some 36,000 troops, ships and aircraft over five weeks is the issue of how far Russia's growing military presence from the Baltics to Syria can limit NATO's ability to move around by sea and air.
    From the Baltics, where Russia has a naval base in Kaliningrad, through the Black Sea and annexed Crimea, to Moscow's intervention in Syria, Russia has stationed anti-aircraft and anti-ship missiles able to cover huge areas.
    "We are very concerned about the Russian military build-up," Vershbow later told a news conference.
    "The increasing concentration of forces in Kaliningrad and the Black Sea and now in the eastern Mediterranean, does indeed pose some additional challenges that our planners are going to have take seriously into account as we consider how to live up to the pledge that we have made to defend any ally against any threat. A lot of experts talk about the so-called anti-access area denial capability that Russia is developing, and this indeed will have to be a key factor as we decide what is necessary both to defend every ally and to deter Russia from even thinking about aggressive action against NATO," he said.
    NATO officials insist the alliance is ready and able to defend any of its 28 allies from any threat, while its combined strength is far greater than Russia's military capacity.
    Still, privately NATO officials and diplomats worry the alliance needs to be more agile to combat multiple threats beyond its borders, a fact underscored by Libya's collapse, the rise of Islamic State militants and Syria's civil war.
    They see the emergence of a Russian strategy to set up defensive zones of influence, so-called anti-access area denial, with surface-to-air missile batteries and anti-ship missiles that can prevent forces from entering or moving across air, land and sea.
    That could prevent NATO countries including the United States setting up a no-fly zone to protect Syrian refugees from bombings in northern Syria, for instance.
    NATO's top commander General Philip Breedlove said the Trident Juncture exercises and the testing of a new rapid-reaction force would send a clear message to any aggressor.
    "Any attempt to violate the sovereignty of one NATO nation will result in a decisive military engagement with all 28 allied nations," he said.
    "Our focus in NATO is that our measures remain defensive, proportional and appropriate. But what we also make clear is that NATO's commitment to collective defense is rock solid," Breedlove added.
    After more than a decade of NATO-led combat operations in Afghanistan, the U.S.-led military alliance is shifting to defend its territory. Control of its outer regions is seen as critical.
    One powerful new tool that the exercises will test is a 5,000-strong "spearhead" force comprising air, maritime and special operations components as part of a 40,000-strong rapid reaction force.
    Libya's collapse, the rise of Islamic State militants, Syria's civil war and the European Union's failure to stabilise its southern neighbourhood are now NATO's problems too and NATO member Turkey shares borders with Syria and Iraq.
  • Copyright Holder: REUTERS
  • Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2015. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
  • Usage Terms/Restrictions: None
Register