NATO holds naval exercise BALTOPS on Baltic Sea with Finland & Sweden in attendance

Amid ongoing brutal war in Eastern Europe, North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) launched a naval exercise on the Baltic Sea with more than 7,000 sailors, airmen and marines from 16 nations in attendance. The US-led naval exercise will also have the participation of Finland and Sweden - two aspiring to join the intergovernmental military alliance. Initiated in 1972, the annual BALTOPS naval exercise is not held in response to any particular threat. Meanwhile, NATO argued that by including both Sweden and Finland, it is embracing the opportunity in an "unpredictable world" to strengthen its joint force resilience and power with two Nordic aspirant nations.

A top US military official said in Sweden, the host of the BALTOPS 22 exercise, that it was especially vital for NATO to express support to the governments in Helsinki and Stockholm. His statement came ahead of the naval drill, which comprises 45 vessels and 75 aircraft. "It is important for us and the other NATO countries to show solidarity with both Finland and Sweden in this exercise,” US Gen. Mark Milley, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, remarked, as per the Associated Press (AP). 

US terms Baltic Sea as one of the world's main seaways

Addressing a press conference with Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, the US General emphasised the Baltic Sea's strategic importance as one of the world's main seaways. According to Milley, Finland and Sweden joining NATO would be "extremely troublesome" from Russia's point of view as it will put Moscow in a precarious military position because NATO countries would almost entirely encircle the Baltic Sea's shoreline. Finland and Sweden, as close NATO allies, have participated in the naval exercise since the mid-1990s. Notably, BALTOPS 22 is scheduled to culminate in the German port of Kiel on June 17.

Turkey opposes Sweden & Finland's NATO membership bid

It is pertinent to mention here that NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg accepted Sweden and Finland's membership applications amid fears that Russia would damage Nordic countries. However, Turkey has blocked their membership bids, accusing them of providing safe haven to members of the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), which Turkey and its Western allies consider a terrorist organisation. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan Tayyip Erdogan has also asked NATO partners to recognise and support Ankara's security concerns.

Image: AP