Some 4,000 U.S. and European troops from 14 nations took part in the annual Baltic Operations navy exercise that opened Thursday in Poland’s Baltic Sea port of Szczecin. BALTOPS began in 1972 as a NATO exercise. Former Eastern Bloc nations joined in 1993, as they opened efforts to become alliance members. Noble Jump aims to show the deployment skills of NATO’s Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, established after the 2014 NATO summit in Walesa to provide rapid response to threats on NATO’s eastern flank. The exercise is providing proof that the alliance is “able to deliver a rapid deterrent response to any situation that threatens it,” NATO said in a statement.

Source: National Post June 01, 2017 17:37 UTC