NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen has welcomed the participation of Ukraine, Sweden and Finland, which are not members of the Alliance, in the largest current exercise of the organization - Steadfast Jazz 2013.
He said this at the Drawsko Pomorski military base in northwestern Poland on Thursday during a demonstration as part of the Steadfast Jazz exercise which is testing air, land, maritime and special forces components of the NATO Response Force (NRF) between November 2-9.
“I also welcome the participation of three valued partners - Finland, Sweden and Ukraine,” Rasmussen said.
He added that this is a NATO exercise, but officers from our partner countries, Finland and Sweden, were there too. “And today, troops from Ukraine took part in this live exercise”, the Secretary General said.
The Secretary General noted that the exercise will serve as the graduation test for the commanders and headquarters of the 2014 NATO Response Force, the Alliance's quick-reaction force. He stressed that the exercise will keep the NATO Response Force ready for action and make sure that troops from across the Alliance are able to operate together whenever they are needed.
He pointed out that Poland and the Baltic states are organizing such a large-scale exercise of the Alliance in their territories for the first time.
Steadfast Jazz involves a total of 6,000 troops. Around 3,000 of the troops involved participated in the live exercise and 3,000 headquarters personnel are involved in the command and control drill. The exercise is to certify NATO's Joint Force Command Brunssum to lead the NRF in 2014.
Ukraine is represented by 89 amphibious soldiers in the exercise.