NATO to begin military and surveillance exercises in the Arctic this week, agency says

NATO warship sails during military training in the Arctic in January 2025. Disclosure/Nato NATO is expected to launch a mission in the coming days to reinforce its military and surveillance capabilities in the Arctic, five officials told Reuters news agency. The movement comes after tensions between the President of the United States, Donald Trump, and Europe over Greenland. ✅ Follow the g1 international news channel on WhatsApp The launch of the “Arctic Sentinel” mission could take place this week due to a meeting in Brussels between the defense ministers of the alliance’s member countries which is scheduled to take place on Thursday (12), according to three European diplomats, a military officer and a person familiar with the matter interviewed by Reuters. According to diplomats, the “Arctic Sentinel” could involve military exercises, increased surveillance, deployment of additional vessels and aerial assets in the region, including drones. The mission is “part of the Alliance’s efforts to further strengthen our deterrence and defense in the region, particularly in light of Russia’s military activity and China’s growing interest in the High North,” a NATO official told Reuters. According to this official, the mission should begin operating soon. See the videos that are trending on g1 The start of the “Arctic Sentinel” mission comes weeks after the start of Trump’s onslaught against Greenland, an autonomous territory that belongs to Denmark. The North American president said he wanted to make the island part of the USA and did not rule out the use of military force to do so. The attack caused a crisis between the US and Europe and threatened the existence of NATO, which would effectively end if one member country attacked another. (Read more below) NATO said last week that it had begun planning the mission, following talks in Davos between Trump and the alliance’s secretary-general, Mark Rutte, which eased strong tensions related to Trump’s ambition to acquire Greenland. Officials told Reuters there had not yet been any final decision for the exercises and that commanders were still working on different options. However, the Supreme Commander of NATO’s Allied Forces, US Air Force General Alexus Grynkewich, said on Monday that planning is in the “final stages”. Grynkewich stated that he will receive a report on mission planning from NATO’s Joint Forces Command this Tuesday (10). “If the briefing goes well, maybe we will have something we can announce later this week about how we move forward,” he told reporters. Authorities, however, told Reuters that the mission should focus more on more effectively utilizing existing NATO (North Atlantic Military Alliance) resources in the region, rather than adding large contingents of new forces. Greenland: Trump x Europe Greenland flag in Nuuk Evgeniy Maloletka/AP In his attack on Greenland, Trump accused European NATO allies of lags in Arctic defenses in recent years, which has led to greater military presence and economic interest from Russia and China in the region. Danish and European officials refuted Trump’s arguments and said they were doing enough. At the same time, it appears that NATO’s move to carry out military exercises and increase surveillance capabilities in the Arctic seeks to address Trump’s criticisms. A Norwegian intelligence report released earlier this month stated that Moscow is investing to increase its forces in the Arctic. Since the beginning of tensions between Trump and Europe over Greenland, several NATO countries have sent some troops to the Arctic island in a show of unity to defend the territory’s sovereignty before the USA. These troops even had the function of arranging the logistics for a broader mobilization such as that of the “Arctic Sentinel”. Additionally, France and Canada opened consulates there this week.

Source link