British troops hold cold-weather exercises with NATO-seeking Sweden and Finland
British forces have been taking part in cold-weather military exercises with Nato-seeking Sweden and Finland.
Exercise Vigilant Knife was staged against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, which has focused national security on potential threats from Russia.
“While Europe is at war, it is more important than ever to strengthen our international partnerships,” said British Defense Secretary Ben Wallace.
“We welcome Finland’s and Sweden’s application to join NATO and will continue to train together so we are ready to meet shared security challenges.
“Exercise Vigilant Knife is an invaluable opportunity for British personnel to develop their skills and experience in cold weather warfare, enabling them to be effective on the battlefield alongside their Finnish and Swedish counterparts.”
The British Ministry of Defense said the exercise offered a boost to “interoperability”, as both Sweden and Finland seek to join NATO.
The command post exercise took place in Rovaniemi and Rovajarvi in northern Finland between Monday and Friday last week.
Both Sweden’s and Finland’s applications to join the alliance have been delayed due to concerns from NATO member Turkey that the two Nordic neighbors would not extradite people they consider to be terrorists.
Turkey, which has veto power over new applicants, made its approval of the applications conditional on a number of demands, one of which was the issue of extradition.
Finland and Sweden submitted their NATO applications after Russia invaded Ukraine.
In an agreement signed by Sweden and Finland at a NATO summit in Madrid in late June, the two countries agreed to review Turkish extradition requests “quickly and thoroughly”.
Turkey believes that Sweden and Finland have been havens for Kurdish militants.
Turkey vetoed Finland and Sweden joining NATO in June, putting the countries on the fast track to the 30-nation alliance.
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the adoption of the two countries would create a plan for the alliance “in a more dangerous and unpredictable world”, changing regional security and strengthening its presence in Europe.
Updated: September 4, 2022, 11:07 am